Northeast Queens Residents Will Vote Next Week on $1M for Community Projects

Beginning April 1, northeast Queens residents will have one week to vote on how to spend $1 million dollars of the city’s budget.

Last summer, Councilman Mark Weprin, D-Oakland Gardens, introduced a new process known as participatory budgeting to his district.

The process involves allowing members of the community to decide how to spend $1 million in capital discretionary funding.

As of next week, any resident in Weprin’s district who is 16 years of age will be able to cast a vote for a handful of community upgrade proposals. The winning projects will be included in next year’s city budget.

Voting will take place from April 1 to 7 at nine locations across the councilman’s district, including Weprin’s office, Fresh Meadows Library, Community Board 8Q, Bellerose Library, Cross Island Y, Community Board 13Q, Bayside Senior Center, Samuel Field Y and SNAP Senior Center.

Projects for which residents can vote include upgrades to the Hollis Library, Queens High School of Teaching, P.S. 266, P.S. 135, P.S. 33, M.S. 74, Martin Van Buren High School, the Union Turnpike traffic median curb reconstruction, portable security cameras throughout the district, Cunningham Park’s picnic area and elevated platform, Glen Oaks Volunteer Community Ambulance Corps and the Queens County Farm Museum.

Residents will be able to vote on five projects.

“Participatory budgeting gives the community an unprecedented opportunity to make decisions on how city dollars get spent in our community,” Weprin said.

Last fall, the councilman held a series of public meetings during which residents offered ideas on how to spend the $1 million. Then, community members who volunteered as budget delegates worked in committees to turn the projects into proposals that were vetted by city agencies.

The budgeting process was developed in Brazil and first implemented in the United States in Chicago. Eight city districts are currently taking part in the process.