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Read the press release here.

UWS Residents Request Funding for New Computers, Trash Cans, Drains

By Emily Frost | October 23, 2014 2:56pm
 Residents can share ideas for projects in Districts 6 and 7 and the most popular ideas will get city funding. 
Upper West Side Particpatory Budgeting
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MANHATTAN VALLEY —  A computer center, bike racks and playground resurfacing were a few of the ideas floated by local residents Wednesday for how to spend $1 million under the City Council's particpatory budgeting program.

A few dozen "hardcore" residents, as City Councilman Mark Levine called them, braved the rain to have their say in the process, which asks locals to weigh in on how they think funding should be allocated, followed by a community-wide voting process to select the best ideas. 

"There aren’t enough places for the young people to hang out," said Manhattan Valley resident Madelyn Innocent, who suggested building a computer center at NYCHA's Frederick Douglass Houses with the money.

Patricia Jordan, a longtime resident, thought the neighborhood's trash cans could use an upgrade.

"The wire trash cans that they have are constantly overflowing... they’re a real eyesore," she said.

Others, like Jenn Beiser, wanted the funding to go toward innovative solutions to common problems. Beiser suggested installing bioswales, or sloped drains filled with vegetation and rocks, to decrease the flooding that happens near street corners. With a bioswale, water seeps into the ground rather than flooding the street when city drains get backed up. 

"The runoff and the puddles are a mess around Broadway... If you put a bioswale and some grass it could help with the runoff," she suggested.

"Who knows the community better than you? You’re going to come up with stuff we never would have dreamed of," said Levine, whose district spans from the Upper West Side to lower Washington Heights. 

This year, 24 City Council districts are engaging in participatory budgeting, compared with only 10 last year. 

Along with Levine, City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal is also hosting sessions to hear from people in her district, covering the lower portion of the Upper West Side, before all of the ideas are winnowed down through a public voting process and then selected sometime in April.  

Under city rules, the funding can only go toward capital projects, which typically involve new construction, infrastructure work or repairs, as opposed to funding for salaries, overhead or supplies. 

Ultimately, depending on the price of each project, which has to cost at least $35,000, there could be more than two-dozen projects funded in each district.

Councilmembers Levine and Rosenthal are each hosting seven sessions for the public to participate in and there are still a few upcoming, including:

Saturday, Oct. 25 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.

Mark Levine, District 7
Church of Intercession
550 West 155th St.

Tuesday, Oct. 28, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Helen Rosenthal, District 6
John Jay College, first floor
524 West 59th St.

Mark Levine, District 7
(Session focused on non-English speakers)
Wilson Major Morris Center
459 West 152nd St.
Saturday, Nov. 8, 12:00 - 2:30 p.m.

Mark Levine, District 7
(Session focused on youth)

Morningside Heights Library
2900 Broadway at 113th St.