By Bill Parry
Residents in Sunnyside, Long Island City and Woodside will get to choose which community projects will be getting $1 million in public funding through the process of Participatory Budgeting. A Project Expo will be held on April 6 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Sunnyside Community Center, at 43-31 39th St., to give the community the opportunity to speak with project delegates, see project presentations and learn more about each proposal.
“After months of evaluating hundreds of ideas, I am proud to announce that the community has narrowed their proposals down to 27 community projects,” City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) said. “The proposals span a wide variety of community capital projects that residents truly care about.”
Among the 27 choices are $500,000 for a Long Island Bikeway, $600,000 for the renovation of Hart Playground in Woodside, $240,000 for smart boards at PS 166 in Astoria and $100,000 for real time passenger information at bus stops throughout the 26th District.
After the Project Expo, residents and stakeholders in the district will have the opportunity to participate in the vote the week of April 11 to 19 at a variety of locations throughout the District. Nine public meetings were held since last fall and hundreds took part in the process.
“This has truly been a community-driven process from the beginning and the projects that have been developed span across every neighborhood within the 26th District,” Van Bramer said.
— Bill Parry
