Chelsea Now - April 12, 2018

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YOUR WEEKLY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CHELSEA, HUDSON YARDS & HELL’S KITCHEN

WHAT’S ON THE BALLOT Real Time Rider Information at Bus Stops: Five additional electronic boards to display real time bus arrival information at key bus stops throughout District 3. | $250,000 | District Wide Historic Street Lighting for 7th Avenue South: Funds would install historic lamp posts on Seventh Ave. South, between Commerce St. and Carmine and Clarkson Sts. | $250,000 | Greenwich Village Historic District Basketball Court Renovations at Chelsea Park: This project would repave and repaint the court surface, install new hoops and add new seating | $575,000 | W. 28th St., btw. Ninth & 10th Aves. Tree Guards to Promote the Health of New and Established Trees: This project would install over 200 tree guards to protect valuable and vulnerable trees throughout District 3. | $242,000 | District Wide Renovate Park Surrounding Chelsea District Health Center: This project would restore the grounds of the City-run health center in Chelsea that reopens in spring. | $350,000 | 303 Ninth Ave Security Cameras at the NYCHA Fulton Houses: This project would fund the purchase of security cameras and monitors in the NYCHA Fulton Houses. | $500,000 | NYCHA Fulton Houses Security Cameras for NYCHA Elliott-Chelsea Houses: This project would fund the purchase of security cameras and monitors in the NYCHA Elliott-Chelsea Houses. | $500,000 | NYCHA Elliott-Chelsea Houses Gym Renovation at PS M721: This project would fund a new fitness center for special needs students who currently lack adequate recreation space. | $500,000 | 250 W. Houston St. Technology Upgrade for Public Schools: This project would support growing technology demands in every public school in District 3. | $350,000 | District Wide New Air Conditioning for Dance Studio at PS 11: The project would fund the installation of one split system AC unit in the dance studio at PS 11. | $400,000 | 320 W. 21st St. Technology Upgrade for Libraries: This project would fund technology upgrades — including new desktops, printers and more — at libraries in District 3 | $200,000 | District Wide

PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING IS $1M IN BETTERMENT THROUGH BALLOTING

Photo by Sam Bleiberg

L to R: Malachi, Lizbeth, Ashley, and Sean said a win for the Technology Upgrade project would further engage public school students in the learning process — and in an effort to facilitating engagement in the Participatory Budgeting process, the minimum age for voting has been lowered from 14 to 11. See page 4 for Sam Bleiberg’s visit to last week’s Project Expo.

BY SAM BLEIBERG Upgrades to parks and green spaces, new tech for libraries and schools, improved public safety, and better bus stop info all have a place among the worthy projects vying for your support this week, as part of Council District 3’s annual Participatory Budgeting process. The program allows locals, ages 11 and up, to cast their vote for five out of 11 ballot items. The top vote-getter is fully paid for, with other projects greenlit until the allocated amount of $1 million in discretionary funding has been distributed. District 3 residents can cast their votes at several area polling sites, at the district office, online (via pbnyc2018.d21.me) and, for the first time, at LinkNYC kiosks. Locally sponsored resident committees, NYC agencies, and nonprofits have been mobilizing voters throughout the week, and will continue to do so until voting closes on Saturday, April 15. “Participatory Budgeting is democracy in action,”

© CHELSEA NOW 2018 | NYC COMMUNITY MEDIA, LLC, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

said NYC Council Speaker (and District 3’s councilmember) Corey Johnson, in a statement to Chelsea Now. “It gives every constituent an opportunity to take part in the budget process, and it gives them the tools and the forum to address local issues in a grassroots way. It has already brought tremendous improvements to our neighborhoods, and that’s because of the creativity and the energy that the community puts into this process each year.” The process kicked off at last Thursday’s Project Expo. Residents gathered at PS 41, aka the Greenwich Village School (116 W. 11th St.), to hear directly from the project sponsors. Johnson’s district office hosted the outreach event, which brought together residents, volunteers, and students to share their visions for the community. Although the process officially began April 7, Expo attendees could cast their votes then BUDGETING continued on p. 4 VOLUME 10, ISSUE 15 | APRIL 12 – 18, 2018


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