BROOKLYN — New laptops for special-needs students and arrival-time clocks along a busy bus route are a couple of the projects residents can help decide should receive a cut of $1 million from the city budget.
Voting for participatory budgeting in District 33 — which includes DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights and Boerum Hill, as well as parts of North Brooklyn — started Saturday and runs through April 2.
The votes will determine how district City Councilman Stephen Levin will spend $1 million from the city budget to improve the area.
Last year’s participatory budgeting funds went toward computer carts for P.S. 261 in Boerum Hill, STEM labs for I.S. 318 in Williamsburg and P.S. 34 in Greenpoint, a sound studio for the Independence Towers community center in Williamsburg, sidewalk repairs around McGolrick Park in Greenpoint, and air-conditioning upgrades at M.S. 126 in Greenpoint.
District residents 14 or older can vote for their favorite projects online or in person.
For a list of locations where you can vote, click here.
Here’s the list of projects on the ballot this year:
► New Lockers for 13 Classrooms at M.S. 8: $115,000
M.S. 8 in Downtown Brooklyn currently has no lockers for its students. The upgrade would add lockers to 13 classrooms, giving students a place to put their textbooks and other items.
► Technology Upgrades for Two Special-Needs Schools: $250,000
New laptops would be provided to 165 students on the autism spectrum at P.S. 231 in Borough Park and P.S. 369 in Downtown Brooklyn.
► Traffic-Calming Measures at Atlantic and Third Avenues: $524,000
Traffic-calming measures would further protect pedestrians and cyclists in the existing “Slow Zone” at Atlantic and Third avenues in Boerum Hill.
► Real-Time Bus Clocks: $300,000
New electronic signs would provide live, up-to-date arrival times at 12 stops along the B62/B32 bus routes.
