Voting for Participatory Budgeting Started March 30

Voting for Cycle 8 of Participatory Budgeting New York City (PBNYC) will take place from Saturday, March 30, to Sunday, April 7.

PBNYC is a program that encourages City Council Members set aside at least $1 million from their discretionary budgets to be spent on capital projects selected by residents of their districts through direct democracy. As of 2018-2019, 31 of New York City’s 51 council districts take part. In District 38, councilman Carlos Menchaca has allocated $2 million to PBNYC this year.

Everyone who lives in the district and is at least 11 years old can vote, irrespective of immigration status. In District 38, there are 17 voting sites: seven in Red Hook and 10 in Sunset Park.

The polling stations in Red Hook are the Miccio Center, P.S. 15, P.S. 676, the Red Hook Initiative, the Red Hook Public Library, the Red Hook Neighborhood Senior Center, and the Red Hook Recreation Center. Most sites will offer ballots during regular business hours throughout the voting period. Voting will also take place online at pbnyc.org/vote.

For PBNYC, residents and local institutions like schools and nonprofits submit ideas in the fall, which Budget Delegates fashion into more detailed project proposals over the winter. District 38’s ballot features 11 possible projects, including five in Red Hook.

P.S. 15, which hopes to update its schoolyard’s artificial turf for $750,000 and install an “electronic box with outlets” in the playground for $75,000, accounts for two of the proposals. P.S. 676 and Summit Academy are looking for an upgraded public-address system ($650,000) and a dance studio ($400,000).  The Red Hook Initiative wants a permanent water hookup for the Red Hook Community Farm ($300,000).

The full list of projects can be found at council.nyc.gov/carlos-menchaca/pb/8. Every district resident is entitled one ballot. Each ballot allows for five votes, but no more than one vote can be spent on each project.