Dozens of civic-minded Queens residents gathered at Borough Hall on Nov. 10 to submit their ideas to address needs in their communities as part of New York City’s first-ever $5 million citywide participatory budgeting process.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards welcomed them, as well as a large number of young people, at the Helen Marshall Cultural Center and explained how they could be more involved in how their hard-earned tax dollars are spent by the city government.
“Sometimes people come to us, and they’re like, ‘fully fund this,’ and we have to work with specific agencies to get that done,” Richards said. “I love this process of educating the public on how things actually work in this city.”
The NYC Civic Engagement Commission (CEC) runs the citywide initiative through boroughwide idea-generating sessions. Before the crowd broke into work groups at eight different tables to pitch their proposals, Richards praised them for participating.
“I just want to thank you for being here and not just being a spectator but being on the field and in the game to improve your community,” Richards said. “It’s a great process, but it can be cumbersome sometimes, too. But at the end of the day, it teaches all of us to work collectively together, and when the government and the people come together, it can benefit communities across Queens.”
When Mayor Eric Adams launched the initiative in mid-September, he explained that it would build on the foundation laid by the CEC last year, which engaged residents of 33 neighborhoods hardest hit by COVID-19.
“Participatory budgeting is one pathway for engagement that enables communities to move their voice into action on decisions that impact their lives,” CEC Executive Director Dr. Sarah Sayeed said. “We believe that by working together with people affected by policies, we can identify and solve our collective challenges and build the interdependence required for a healthy and resilient democracy.”
Residents of western Queens had their say in how $1 million in capital funding would be spent in Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán’s District 22 in May. She endorsed the CEC’s citywide implementation of the process.
“One of the most important ways we can cultivate a more democratic, safer, healthier New York City is by making sure that everyday people who live and work here have a say in how we budget our resources,” Cabán said. “Participatory budgeting is more than a smart way to allocate funding to local organizations and services, it’s a long-term investment in a future where the people have the power. Our neighborhoods don’t need the wealthy and well-connected to decide what’s best for us; we can decide for ourselves.”
Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar added that civic participation fosters greater faith in government and a deeper desire to help one’s community.
“Citywide participatory budgeting takes civic participation to unprecedented heights, for the first time giving all New Yorkers the power of the purse to develop their own solutions to the challenges they face,” Rajkumar said. “I have so many constituents who will love joining the participatory budgeting process, from the idea generation stage, all the way to implementation, and know it will inspire many more to have their first meaningful engagement with their government.”
