Tell An Upper East Side Board What The Neighborhood Needs Most

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — For the first time, an Upper East Side community board is giving neighbors the chance to shape one of its most important tasks: telling the city what the neighborhood needs most out of the annual budget.

Community Board 8 is preparing to put together its District Needs Statement for the 2023 fiscal year: a document that lays out the district's top three issues and specific projects that could use city funding.

Now, the board is asking Upper East Siders to fill out a survey before 6 p.m. Tuesday to help inform CB8's budget committee, whose members will meet at 6:30 p.m. to begin shaping the list.

Past years' statements have been influential, according to CB8 chair Russell Squire, who pointed to the board's prior calls to fix up the East River Esplanade.

"Earlier this year we got funding for that, which was very much needed and a very welcome development," Squire told Patch.

In recent years, for its three most pressing issues, the board has consistently picked affordable housing, open space and the need for more school seats. That top-three list could change this year, depending on input from the public.

The upcoming District Needs Statement will be finalized this winter and take effect in October 2022.

The board's previous statement, for the 2022 Fiscal Year, was completed in February and will take effect within days. Its budget requests included money for new elementary, middle and high schools on the Upper East Side; adding traffic control agents and school crossing guards in the neighborhood; building an accessible ramp at the Yorkville Branch Library; and installing "rat-proof" garbage cans in the district.

Take the survey for Community Board 8's FY2023 District Needs Statement here, and view past years' statements here.