Help UES Council Members Spend $1M On Neighborhood

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Want the chance to help spend at least $1 million to fund public improvements in your neighborhood? You're in luck, because it's time to vote in this year's New York City Council participatory budgeting cycle.

Voting opens on March 30 and end April 7 for New York City's eighth participatory budgeting cycle, city officials said. Residents of the Upper East Side will vote on whether to fund projects selected as finalists by City Council members Keith Powers or Ben Kallos, depending on whether they live within the council's fourth or fifth district.

Projects selected as finalists for participatory budgeting address community needs such as housing and school improvements, park upgrades, public safety and senior services. Most projects don't carry a funding value of $1 million, so multiple projects can win funding. If certain projects prove popular, city council members may chose to allocate even more funds.

There are 12 finalists in Council District 5 (Kallos) and 13 finalists in Council District 4 (Powers) this year. Residents can vote online or in person at a number of different polling places in the districts.

Here's a list of projects on the ballot for district 4:

• Tech upgrades for district libraries: $250,000
• New bathrooms at Wagner Middle School: $200,000
• Gym upgrades at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis HS: $600,000
• Auditorium upgrades at PS 59: $200,000
• Library renovation at PS 6: $500,000
• Tech upgrades at district schools: $120,000
• New tree plantings and tree guards: $150,000
• Floor repairs at Dag Hammarskjold plaza: $40,000
• Asser Levy rec center improvements: $250,000
• Security cameras in Turtle Bay: $80,000
• Pedestrian safety improvements in the East 60s: $300,000
• Roadway resurfacing: $250,000
• Countdown clocks at bus stops: $200,000

And here are the projects on the ballot for district 5:

• PS 527 security cameras: $300,000
• JREC auditorium renovation: $750,000
• Laptops for 10 district public schools: $350,000
• New trees and guards for sidewalks: $225,000
• Roosevelt Island lighthouse restoration for public access: $800,000
• Funds for district parks: $250,000
• Lexington Houses NYCHA playground renovation: $800,000
• East 79th Street curb extensions: $300,000
• NYPD public safety cameras: $170,457
• NYPD security cameras in parks: $397,733
• NYPD security cameras for transportation: $170,457
• NYPD mobile command post: $400,000