Upper East Side Got Millions In New NYC Budget: Here's Where It'll Go

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The record-high $101 billion budget passed by the City Council on Monday includes millions of dollars flowing to the Upper East Side for new park restrooms, library improvements, school renovations, and other projects.

Passed thanks to an early agreement between Mayor Eric Adams and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams last week, the package was described by the mayor as a "Get Stuff Done" budget. It will cover the 2023 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

Besides major citywide items like subway safety and tax credits for low-income families, the budget also includes smaller neighborhood funding allocated by the Upper East Side's two Council members: Keith Powers and Julie Menin.

It includes some long-awaited projects, like money for a comfort station at soon-to-be-renovated Ruppert Park and funding for a rooftop play area at P.S. 290.

Patch reviewed the 2023 capital budget document and picked out some notable neighborhood funds in each part of the Upper East Side:

District 5 (Menin: Yorkville, Lenox & Carnegie Hills, Roosevelt Island)

Parks:

• Ruppert Park renovations and new comfort center: $4,000,000
• John Jay Park walkway repavings and multi-purpose play area renovations: $1,00,000
• Carl Schurz Park pathway repavings: $300,000

Transportation:

• New bus and pedestrian infrastructure along 79th Street crosstown bus route: $700,000

Libraries:

• Technology upgrades at three libraries in the district: $250,000

Police:

• Four new NYPD security cameras around District 5: $160,000

Housing and health:

• NYCHA Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center: $300,000
• 334 East 92nd Housing Development Fund: $315,000
• Hospital for Special Surgery, new equipment for pediatric unit: $960,000 (along with speaker's office, Manhattan Borough President's office)
• Coler Hospital, new fire alarm system: $150,000

Schools:

• Julia Richman Education Complex, pool locker room renovations and new physical education space: $3,000,000 (along with Speaker’s office, Manhattan delegation)
• P.S. 290 Manhattan New School: $1,000,000
• P.S. 151 Yorkville Community School, water bottle filling stations: $400,000
• Wagner Middle School: $250,000
• M.S. 114 and P.S. 138, schoolyard resurfacing: $225,000
• M.S. 177 Yorkville East Middle School, bathroom renovations: $225,000
• Lower Lab School: $182,000
• Yorkville Community School: $64,000
• P.S. 138: $54,000
• $50,000 each for the following schools: Bayard Taylor School, Robert L. Stevenson School, P.S. 198 Isador E. Straus, Roosevelt Island School, Ella Baker School, P226M Junior High Annex, Vanguard High School, Manhattan International High School, Talent Unlimited High School, Urban Academy Laboratory High School, Life Sciences Secondary School, East Side School for Social Action, Eleanor Roosevelt High School

District 4 (Powers: Carnegie Hill, Lenox Hill)

Parks:

• New trees and tree guards around District 4: $50,000

Culture:

• Park Avenue Armory Conservancy: $337,000
• Guggenheim Museum and Foundation: $750,000
• Metropolitan Museum of Art: $5,000,000 (along with speaker’s office, Manhattan delegation, Councilmember Gale Brewer)

Libraries:

• Unspecified library funding in District 4: $250,000

Universities:

• CUNY Hunter College campus beautification efforts: $100,000
• CUNY Hunter College Performing Arts Hub: $150,000
• Hunter College Campus Schools playground renovation: $150,000

Schools:

• P.S. 59, new green roof: $825,000 (via mayor's office)
• P.S. 6 Lillie D. Blake, technology and library upgrades: $440,000
• P.S. M169 Robert F. Kennedy: $250,000
• Robert F. Wagner Middle School, renovations to gymnasium, auditorium stage, window curtains: $250,000
• P.S. 77 Lower Lab School: $77,000
• P.S. 267 East Side Elementary School, technology upgrades: $121,000
• P.S. 267, water bottle filling stations: $80,000

The budget also includes many smaller allocations to neighborhood groups like the Asphalt Green, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and Carnegie Hill Neighbors, viewable in the expense budget document.

"I am ecstatic that this year’s budget brings back over $21 million in funding for our district to support parks, schools, libraries, hospitals, community centers, public housing, and safer and cleaner streets," Menin said in a statement.

Powers, too, touted the "landmark" budget, saying in a message to constituents that it "puts us on a safer, cleaner, and better path forward."

The new budget was not without controversy — six members voted against it due to a $215 million decrease in public school funding, as well as increased spending on the NYPD.

In apparent retaliation for their no-votes, Council Speaker Adams to reportedly blocked seven Council members from accessing $41 million in additional funds that they could have used to fund projects in their districts — a move that may pose hardships for local organizations that had expected to receive the funds, as Patch reported Tuesday.

Related coverage: Ruppert Park's Latest Redesign Adds Dog Run, Pleasing UES Board