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Read the press release here.

Help Decide How to Spend $1 Million in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights

 Residents at a participatory budgeting meeting in Bed-Stuy shared their ideas for the neighborhood.
Residents at a participatory budgeting meeting in Bed-Stuy shared their ideas for the neighborhood.
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DNAinfo/Camille Bautista

BROOKLYN — If you’re looking to make a difference in your neighborhood, now is your chance to help bring upgrades to local schools or smoother streets for central Brooklyn.

Councilman Robert Cornegy has allotted $1 million in capital funding to go toward improvements in in Bedford-Stuyvesant and northern Crown Heights under the participatory budgeting program, and residents can vote on which projects will receive funding starting this month.

Locals helped narrow down a list of projects this past fall and spring after taking ideas at about a dozen neighborhood assemblies.

Check out the list of projects on the ballot this year:

► Sumner Houses basketball court reconstruction, $500,000
A full reconstruction and resurfacing of the basketball court at Marcus Garvey Boulevard between Myrtle and Park avenues. Improvements would include hoops, netting and bleachers.

► STEM Initiative at Brighter Choice Community School and P.S. 308, $275,640
A STEM robotics lab at Brighter Choice Community School, located at Hart Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard. Funding would also go toward science carts at P.S. 308 on Quincy Street.

► Exterior signage upgrade at Marcy Library, $70,000
Stainless steel upgrades, digital signage and promotional banners at the library on DeKalb Avenue near Nostrand Avenue.

► Technology expansion at P.S. 256, P.S. 289 and P.S. 305, $225,000
New smart boards, smart tables, computer tables, computers, laptop carts, laptop bundles and printers for the three schools.

► Closed circuit TV security at Nostrand Avenue train station, $500,000
The installation of closed circuit security TV monitoring at the A and C train station.

► Fitness initiative at M.S. 35, $77,035
Basketball court renovations for two gyms at M.S. 35 on MacDonough Street near Lewis Avenue. Updates include changes to the fitness room, spin bikes, elliptical trainers and aerobics mats.

► Carpentry lab at Boys and Girls High School, $92,529
A new carpentry lab to be included in the Fulton Street school’s curriculum.

► Outdoor fitness equipment at St. John’s Recreation Center, $500,000
The creation of an outdoor gym at the recreation center, located at Prospect Place near Schenectady Avenue.

► Smooth streets for Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights, $250,000
Resurfacing streets with major cracks and potholes in parts of Community Boards 3 and 8.

► Celebrating local culture with signs at the Bedford and Crown Heights historic districts, $40,000
Directional signs to Weeksville from Downtown Brooklyn to center markers for landmarked neighborhoods.

Last year, more than 600 voters chose five projects to get a share of the public funds — the Marcy Library received funding for renovations and new laptops, smart boards and science carts were awarded to schools as part of the process.

Organizers are hoping for more input this time around, according to Stefani Zinerman, chief of staff for Cornegy.

“This is a way for us to get our young people voting early. People who can’t register to vote in the regular elections have an opportunity to vote in participatory budgeting and it gives them some sort of connection to the electoral process and having some say in their community,” she said.

Residents of the district, 14 and older, can vote for their favorite projects between March 25 and April 2. For more information on when and where to vote, see the flyer below.