The West Side Campaign Against Hunger will get $250,000 to pay for a mobile food pantry after receiving the most votes in Council member Helen Rosenthal’s participatory budgeting contest. In all, four projects out of the 15 that made the finals will get funded. Participatory budgeting is a process that allows residents to vote on citizen-proposed capital projects funded by the city. Residents voted earlier this month.
Here are descriptions of the four winning projects:
1. Mobile Food Pantry for West Side Campaign against Hunger
COST: $250,000
LOCATION: West Side Campaign Against Hunger is located at 86th street between Broadway and West End Avenue– the mobile food pantry will travel to sites throughout the district
DESCRIPTION: This van will serve as a mobile food pantry that will go around the district to provide healthy food and social services to those in need.
2. Hudson River Greenway Bike Safety Improvements
COST: $200,000
LOCATION: Hudson River Greenway from 72nd to 84th street (Riverside Park)
DESCRIPTION: The improvements will include: signage, pavement markings, gates and bollards where required, and repave and regrade sections of the existing park paths to accommodate an alternative bike route to alleviate congestion.
3. Countdown Clocks at Crosstown Bus Stops
COST: $240,000
LOCATION: Crosstown Bus Stops throughout the district. 96th, 86th, 79th, & 66th St.
DESCRIPTION: The crosstown bus countdown clocks will be installed at select Upper West Side stops on the 96th Street, 86th Street, 79th Street, & 65th Street crosstown routes.
4. Turf Athletic Field at MLK High School
COST: $300,000
LOCATION: Martin Luther King, Jr. Campus (122 Amsterdam Ave. on 65th St.)
DESCRIPTION: The project is for an initial design for the construction of an artificial turf athletic field. It will serve as practice space for multiple school sports teams & for community sport programs.
Photos via Helen Rosenthal’s office.
Great news about the mobile food pantry. Many homeless and elderly. Wish the 200k for count down clocks?! would be put into the food pantry. With the ability to use the QR code or texting the bus, that just seems like a big waste of money.
Agree that countdown clocks is a waste of money. Even if times are not accessible via mobile applications ( everyone is usually happy to share at the stop if someone does not have a smart phone ), hi-tech companies would have been happy to sponsor the project. E.g., 86 – google, 96 – apple, 79 – Microsoft and so on. Got to be a better use for 200k – security, street cleaning.
there was a vote. why didn’t you guys say this beforehand? WSR listed all the possible projects.
That is a huge sum of money to waste on countdown clocks. Are people really that anxious to know when the bus is coming? That money could have been spent on traffic signage or cameras at intersections to help prevent traffic accidents.
Yes Marie, people do get anxious about buses arrival time. I know I have when I’m waiting 20 minutes because you think a bus is going to come any minute. But I agree the count down clocks are a bit of a waste because as was mentioned people can find out that info on phone now.
Traffic Cams are definitely needed on the UWS. For a view of the current ones we have on the UWS see:
https://www.nycissues.org/TrafficCams.aspx
Agreed on the food pantry. I worked at a large one in East Harlem for many years and the need is enormous. It can be really challenging for many Pantry recipients to get to a site at a certain time…particularly if they have an unpredictable schedule….and there are often physical challenges — navigating stairs, carrying the groceries home etc etc that can add to the burden.
Great countdown clocks on W 96,86,79 and 66th. Thanks for skipping over the only crosstown bus I ride at 72nd St. That makes a lot of sense. Typical. I guess all the people waiting out there right now don’t count. Come on.
Agreed. The poky M72 suffers from neglect. Given how slow and infrequent its busses are, this line sure could’ve used the countdown clocks, too.
Love the countdown clock idea! Not everyone wants to mess around with their apps all the time.
You should also consider that huge numbers of bus riders do not have smart phones. I love it when someone tells me where the bus is, but not so much that I want to buy one of those phones. I know that Midtown bus stops have had this kind of information for years. So it’s about time.
YES!
I wish they could have tacked on the truck for garbage collection in Riverside Park. The cost of that project compared to the others was very minimal ($40k) and the benefit would have been great. I voted but I guess not enough others agreed with me.
If it makes you feel any better, I voted for that one, too.
With a simple 6 digit code to a simple six digit MTA number anyone with a cell phone can instantly look when the next bus is due to arrive.
And yes, Marie, at 11:15 at night I am really that anxious to know when the next bus is coming. But I agree that the money could be better spent on signage and cameras.
Good to update Riverside Greenway. It gets pretty sketchy in that area, with a lot of foot traffic (Boat Basin, ball fields, etc), joggers, tourists and serious cyclists all trying to use the path.
I know on my bike I refuse to ride along that stretch and stick to Riverside Dr. Just too dangerous. Hopefully this will help a bit.
Next step should be repaving the greenway b/w 102nd and 125th, where winters and tree roots have made it like a rollercoaster.
Countdown clocks are a waste of money given that one can pull up the route on my phone and literally watch the progress of buses as they move along their route.
While it is true that not everyone has a smart phone, it is easy to share the info with those that don’t and there is no need to spend money on something the majority of people already have access to in their pockets.
Athletic field is a great win for the community. Countdown clocks certainly would not have been my choice but I did not vote so I can’t complain.
I voted for the athletic field as well, but regarding its benefit to the community, won’t the high school students be the only ones allowed to use it?
Finally on the bike path improvements. However, I’m worried that they’ll take their sweet time and we won’t see the fruits of this for at least 1-2 years.