100 More Trees Coming To Park Slope's District In $1.5M Budgeting Haul

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Park Slope is about to see a lot more green.

An effort to plant 100 more trees in the City Council's District 39 — which includes Park Slope — is among the six projects that locals picked to shovel up to $1.5 million toward during the latest round of participatory budgeting, officials said.

Council Member Shanana Hanif announced the winners last week.

"If you haven’t checked them out, head over to our website and read through the winning project ideas," she wrote in a newsletter Sunday to constituents, along with a link to the winners.

Park Slope is part of District 39, along with Borough Park, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, the Columbia Waterfront, Gowanus, Kensington and Windsor Terrace.

Residents recently got the chance to vote on which projects that a $1.5 million pot of money would go toward — a process called participatory budgeting.

The projects this year all had a focus on what Hanif's office called "climate justice."

The "100 Trees" project will put $355,000 toward plantings in neighborhoods "for more shade, cleaner air, and a healthier community," according to a list from Hanif's office.

The winners this year, along with cost and descriptions, are:

1. 100 Trees for District 39. Plant 100 trees in our neighborhoods for more shade, cleaner air, and a healthier community. $355,000
2. Family Resource Center at PS 124. Create a resource center to serve students and their families with job application help, enrichment for non-school age children, and adult literacy $500,000
3. Rehabilitate the Bandshell Lawn. Restore the lawn surrounding the Prospect Park Bandshell with new drainage, irrigation, topsoil and grass for community use year-round. $250,000
4. Seed Funding for CHiPS Food Pantry Truck. (Mobile, Fourth Avenue Shelters.) Support our neighbors facing food insecurity by setting up a mobile food distribution to provide fresh and healthy food options. $20,000
5. Repair Café. (Big Reuse Center) Learn how to repair everyday objects like furniture, appliances, and clothes in order to prevent waste at a public six-month long series of workshops. $10,000
6. A Tree Grows in Gowanus: Stewarding Urban Forest. Eight community events to care for neighborhood trees by laying compost, mulching, watering, and removing trash to protect our trees. $5,100

More information about participatory budgeting in District 39 can be found here.