Here’s the Funding Coming to the UWS In the 2025 NYC Budget: Local Roundup

By Gus Saltonstall

The New York City Council on Sunday voted to approve the $112.4 billion budget that restored the majority of cuts originally proposed by Mayor Eric Adams.

There has been lots of reporting on the battle over funding for libraries, the arts, and early childhood programming, but what about the funds that will be specifically allocated to the Upper West Side and programs that serve the neighborhood?

As the neighborhood’s representative in the city budget process, Councilmember Gale Brewer played an important role in helping to secure funding for the Upper West Side’s District 6. Her office was a source for the following material.

You can check out the budget for yourself on the city’s website.

Sanitation:

• OneBlock, Inc. for Upper West Side cleanups
• Goddard Riverside Green Keepers Initiative
• Upper West Side Recycling Center for community recycling education
• Earth Matter composting in Riverside Park

Parks

• Broadway Mall for maintenance of the malls
• City Parks Foundation for plays in parks
• West 87 Street Park and Garden for events and maintenance
• Riverside Park Conservancy for park care and improvements
• New Yorkers for Parks supporting the Daffodil Project
• Friends of Hudson River Park for stewardship, public education, and recreation
• West Side Community Garden’s free garden programming

Capital Allocations for UWS Parks

• $4.67M for Matthew P. Sapolin Playground
• $1.5M to Riverside Park for W. 68 Street ADA ramp reconstruction
• $770,000 to Central Park Delacorte Theater for public bathroom renovation
• $375,000 to Riverside Park for water filling stations (funded by the vote of 6th District Participatory Budgeting participants)
• $200,000 for Verdi Square Park safety lighting (also Participatory Budgeting)
• $150,000 for trees and tree guards (also Participatory Budgeting)

Housing

• Funding for 11 NYCHA tenant associations
• TakeRoot Justice (Community Development Project) housing clinics and tenant rights workshops
• Goddard Riverside Community Center for community housing clinics
• Housing Conservation Coordinators for legal services for tenants
• Housing Court Answers for Housing Court assistance
• JustFix Inc. for tenant resources and rights
• Legal Aid Society for civil legal services
• Manhattan Legal Services for housing support
• NYS Tenants and Neighbors for restoring and preserving affordable housing

Capital Allocations for UWS Housing

• $50,000 Stryker’s Bay Apartments for courtyard repair work

Cultural Institutions and Libraries

• Jazzmobile for Summerfest concerts
• Juilliard School Community Engagement performance series
• Bloomingdale School of Music for student training
• Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for youth education
• Symphony Space for cultural literacy and heritage programming
• Vivian Beaumont/Lincoln Center Theater for Open Stages Education Program with public schools
• WP/Women’s Project Theater for Mainstage season programming
• Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Advent to support Music Mondays
• Film Society of Lincoln Center to support the Film Program
• Frog & Peach Theatre Co. for Mainstage programming
• The Center at West Park for the Inclusive Teen Concert
• New York Choral Society for performances and community engagement programs
• Metropolitan Opera Association’s Workforce Development Initiative
• New York Shakespeare Festival for the Shakespeare in the Park movie party
• Opera Ebony to support the Benjamin Matthews Vocal Competition

Capital Allocations for UWS Arts and Culture

• $7.57M American Museum of Natural History
• $7M Metropolitan Museum of Art
• $4.57M Children’s Museum of Manhattan
• $4.075M Art Students League of New York
• $1.075M Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center
• $1.2M Metropolitan Opera (Mayor)
• $500,000 Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center
• $1.575M Symphony Space upgrade
• $150,000 Aperture Foundation
• $75,000 Jazz at Lincoln Center
• $75,000 New York City Center
• $75,000 New-York Historical Society

Public Safety

• Her Justice Economic Empowerment Program
• Crime Victims Treatment Center for Survivor and Sexual Violence Prevention Program
• Violence Intervention Program to engage communities to end domestic violence
• NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project for the Intimate Partner Violence Counseling and Services Program
• Center for Anti-Violence Education’s Building Community Against Violence
• Connect Empowerment Program
• Fortune Society’s Domestic Violence Survivor programming
• Muslim Community Network for domestic violence awareness education
• Urban Resource Institute for their trauma informed abusive partner intervention program
• Justice Innovation to support the Midtown Community Justice Center

Education

• Advocates for Children parent hotline
• Horticultural Society to support gardening and nutrition in schools
• New York Sun Works for hydroponic classrooms
• Teens for Food Justice hydroponic farm at MLK school campus
• New York City Ballet for in-school residency
• PS 75 after school program sponsored by the PTA
• Simon Wiesenthal Center to provide anti-hate workshops
• Wellness in the Schools for Coach for Kids programs
• Young People’s Chorus to support in- and after-school music education
• Middle School 256 funds for field trips and Regents test prep books
• Middle School 258 funds for 7th grade trip and other enrichment activities
• Middle School 245 funds for artist residency programming
• PS 166 funds for the Met Opera residency program
• The Riverside School for Makers funds to support science programming
• PS 452 funds to support chess programming
• PS 84 funds to support interdisciplinary food production programming
• Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center/Lucy Moses School for Music and Dance to support music program at Special Music School
• Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York for music education at PS 199
• Research Foundation of the City University of New York to support drama-based interactive educational workshops at MLK Campus
• Arts in Action VAP to support after school fine arts classes
• Billion Oyster Project to support their School Network
• Catholic Charities Community Services College Readiness Program for Innovation Diploma Plus at Brandeis HS campus
• Chess-in-the-Schools digital chess education
• Special Olympics New York to support the training club at Mickey Mantle School PS M811
• Stephen Gaynor School for their phonics professional development program for teachers at PS 84 and PS 166

Capital funding will also go to 16 District 6 schools: Riverside School for Makers and Artists, Jessie Isador Straus School, The Center School, Emily Dickinson School, High School for Environmental Studies, The Anderson School, PS 452, Joan of Arc Educational Complex, Lillian Weber School, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, Manhattan Hunter Science High School, Brandeis School Campus Complex, Urban Assembly School for Green Careers, William Sherman (selected during Participatory Budgeting), West End Secondary School, and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Youth

• Continuation of the Goddard Riverside Outreach Program at NYCHA’s Amsterdam Houses/Amsterdam Addition which connects youth with education and employment opportunities ($100,000)
• Teens Take the City at the YMCA (and teen programming at the West Side Y)
• Strycker’s Bay Neighborhood Council for after-school programs
• Education Through Music programs
• Goddard Riverside Community Center for youth and after school enrichment programs
• Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation for the Youth Dance Program
• Friends of Israel Scouts for the Israeli-American Youth Movement
• Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for Autism Spectrum and Developmental Disabilities Programs
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art for Teens Take The Met

Older Adults

• ASA for senior services
• Council on the Environment/GrowNYC for Fresh Food for Seniors program
• New York Foundation for Senior Citizens for home sharing and respite care
• Jewish Community Center in Manhattan for bereavement programs
• Lincoln House Outreach for programs
• Medicare Rights Center for their Education and Enrollment Program
• Search & Care supportive services
• Project Open for senior accompanying services
• Health Advocates for Older People to support Healthy Aging
• Selfhelp Community Services for a Virtual Senior Center
• SPOP mental health programs for vulnerable older adults
• Vocal Ease for musical programs at senior centers
• Doula Program to Accompany and Comfort for the End of Life Program
• Goddard Riverside Community Center for programming for older adults
• DOROT to alleviate isolation of vulnerable older adults
• National Council of Jewish Women for the Lifetime Learning Program

Anti-Poverty

• Asian-American Federation for programming and services
• American Museum of Natural History for science programming to NYCHA families
• Ballet Hispánico free ticket program
• Shadow Box Theatre free ticket program

Human Services/Health & Mental Health

• American-Italian Cancer Foundation for breast cancer education and navigation outreach
• Congregation B’nai Jeshurun for food program
• West Side Campaign Against Hunger/West Side Center for Community Life to support food access
• SHARE to provide outreach, education and support to those with ovarian, cervical and uterine cancer
• All Angels’ Episcopal Church Community Meal
• Children’s Rescue Fund to support families in the NYC Homeless System
• Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist for Migrant Services
• Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty for Intimate Partner and Family Abuse Services, and the Social Services Program
• The Migrant Kitchen for meal distributions
• New York Immigration Coalition for healthcare access for victims of domestic violence
• William F. Ryan Community Health Center to support health access for victims of domestic violence
• Research Foundation of the City University of New York for CUNY Citizenship NOW Program
• West End Residences Housing Development Fund for housing and services for homeless older adults

Community Planning Advocacy

• Historic Districts Council for education regarding historic neighborhoods
• Landmark West! for “The Many Lives of San Juan Hill” programming
• New York Legal Assistance Group for mobile legal center
• Committee for Environmentally Sound Development for community engagement
• Wild Bird Fund for rehabilitation of wildlife
• Manhattan Community Board #7 for technology, staffing and training
• League of Women Voters to support civic engagement
• Columbus Avenue BID for seasonal and Open Streets programming
• Lincoln Square BID for seasonal programming
• BetaNYC for civic design, technology and data

Economic Development

• Manhattan Chamber of Commerce Foundation for Chamber on the Go
• Big Apple Greeter for their small business program
• Citizens Committee of New York City to support small businesses and organizations
• Urban Justice Center to support the Street Vendor Project

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