Uptown School Improvements Funded Through Participatory Budgeting

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS-INWOOD, NY — Uptown residents voted for $1.5 million to be awarded to three improvement projects at neighborhood schools during this year's participatory budgeting cycle, local City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez announced Monday.

The projects that received the most votes during this year's cycle will result in a new courtyard at M.S. 528 on West 182nd Street and Wadsworth Avenue, a renovated gym at P.S. 189 on West 188th Street and Amsterdam Avenue and the creation of a certificate of technical education nursing program renovation at the George Washington Educational Campus on Audubon Avenue and West 193rd Street, Rodriguez said.

A project to make the historic Morris Jumel Mansion ADA-accessible was also awarded $500,000 through the budgeting vote.

"As Council Member of District 10 I have continued to work hard to ensure that my district receives the support and resources they need. I would like to give a special thanks to Borough President Gale Brewer for helping secure additional funding this year, ensuring our communities receive all the help they can get," Rodriguez said.

Five projects were on the ballot for the city's 10th council district — which spans the Washington Heights, Inwood and Marble Hill neighborhoods — so only one project was not funded. The project that did not win money proposed a renovation of the basketball courts at the Wallenburg Playground in Harlem River Park.

City Council District 10 has taken part in participatory budgeting since 2014. Last year's winning proposals funded a new playground and ADA-accessible ramp at the Dyckman houses and technology upgrades at district libraries.