Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, who represents the Northern part of the Upper West Side, is trying a novel approach to budgeting: she wants to know the community’s ideas for how to spend more than $1 million in capital funding. And she’s actually going to let you vote on the ideas.
It’s called “participatory budgeting,” and Mark-Viverito is one of four City Council members giving it a try.
If nothing else, it’s a nice way for elected officials to get a handle on what really matters to our community, particularly as city budgets are strapped.
To give your point of view and see what’s been proposed so far, go to the HI New York Youth Hostel at 891 Amsterdam Avenue (104th Street) Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. The final votes will come on March 25 and March 31 at a time and place to be determined, according to Mark-Viverito’s website.
Here’s a document with a list of the ideas that have already been generated (there are hundreds!). Among the ideas is an anti-drug mural to be painted on 109th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Central Park West, barbeque pits for Central Park, and improvements to the skate park on 101st Street between Columbus and Amsterdam.
