CROWN HEIGHTS — Four neighborhood elementary schools are set to receive more than $600,000 for renovations and new technology thanks to citizen-driven budget requests, Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo announced this week.
Residents in the 35th Council District chose four projects in this year’s participatory budgeting process, a constituent-led effort to decide where $1 million would be spent in the area.
Topping the list with 1,024 votes was a $300,000 proposal for renovating bathrooms at two schools in the district, P.S. 9 in Prospect Heights and P.S. 316 in Crown Heights, Cumbo’s office said on Friday when the results came in.
The second project to win funding with 651 votes was a $310,000 project to put a new computer lab in P.S. 375 and upgrade “ancient AV technology” in the auditorium at P.S. 532, the original proposal said.
Cumbo said the participatory budgeting process — a first for her district — was an “overwhelming success” in its inaugural year, with votes cast by 1,660 residents to decide which of 19 proposals would get public funding.
Two other projects in the 35th Council District won funding outside of Crown Heights. P.S. 20 in Clinton Hill will receive $36,500 for “learning walls” and the Willoughby Senior Center in Fort Greene will get $500,000 for a new HVAC system, Cumbo’s office announced.
For more information about participatory budgeting this year and to see a full slate of proposed projects, visit ideas.pbnyc.org.
