PARK SLOPE — How would you spend $1.5 million in taxpayer money — in 140 characters or less?
City Councilman Brad Lander is tapping into Twitter to invite 39th District residents to send him ideas for his participatory budgeting program, which lets citizens decide which neighborhood improvements should be funded with public dollars.
Lander will host a "Twitter rally" on Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. during which the public can send suggestions to @bradlander, using the hashtag #pbdistrict39.
The online forum is one of many ways 39th District residents can get involved in participatory budgeting.
Residents brainstormed ideas at a series of public meetings that ended Oct. 27, but they can still submit potential projects via Twitter, on an online map or by dropping a written suggestion in a collection box at a public library. Lander's staff will also collect suggestions at a table along the New York City marathon route on Nov. 2.
The deadline to submit ideas is Friday, Nov. 7.
Now in its fourth year, participatory budgeting has been used to fund new computers at the Windsor Terrace and Carroll Gardens libraries, an outdoor plaza at the John Jay Educational Campus, and an industrial shredder for a Gowanus composting center.
