Council Member Levin Wants Your Advice On How To Spend $1 Million

By on October 16, 2012 11:06 pm in Government

City Council Member Stephen Levin has a kitty of $1 million in “discretionary capital funding” to spend in his district, which includes Brooklyn Heights, and he’s asking his constituents for advice on how to spend it. So, he’s called a meeting for Wednesday evening, October 17 (by the time you read this, that probably means “this evening”) from 6:00 to 9:00, at St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street, to hear your ideas.

According to the Brooklyn Heights Association:

Examples of the type of eligible project that might result from the participatory budgeting effort are: buying new library collections, new playground equipment for a park, computers for schools, a school or community space renovation, new street furniture (trash cans, benches, bike racks, street lamps), public art, intersection safety improvements.

The “viable” projects that come from this and similar meetings will be put on a ballot, and all residents of the council district 16 or older will be allowed to vote on them. Those receiving the most votes, up to a total of $1 million, will be assured of a place on the City’s forthcoming capital budget to be adopted next spring.

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  • hicksanthrope

    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PS8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PS8!!!!!!!!PS8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • willowtowncop

    Cut us all a check.

  • Che

    Well, if he does the same thing that he did last year, he will give it all to Vito Lopez’s charity in Bushwick.

  • HenryLoL

    I would like to see a better system for all those free newspapers on the corners. Also more garbage cans, and it would be great if we could get rid of those absurd tourist maps with the quote about living in Brooklyn by choice. Oh, and also take down all the signs welcoming visitors to brooklyn and then including some embarressing run-together like fuggetaboutit. One last thing: can we use some of the money to create a team that gets on top of grafetti?

  • Nancy

    Fix the sidewalk in front of Borough Hall. Its a disgrace

  • sonny

    Lend some support to the BH Library – security, air conditioning, technology – anything that would help keep the place open for regular hours and bring back some of the good children’s programs.

  • GHB

    Fix some sidewalks and add garbage cans

  • Monty

    Velodrome. Make it two.

  • jdf

    Agree about the library. Its absurd that it was clsoed for half the summer and all programs cancelled, most of which still have not resumed.

  • HenryLoL

    What about a free trolly (a quiet one) that takes people from BBP to Cobble Hill and around DUMBO….

  • Frank

    I would vote for a little bit of the $1m go to general upkeep and restoration of the HIllside Dog park. It’s recognized as the best in the city but it’s slowly deteriorating due to erosion and lack of maintenance. I know a lot of people on this message board are anti-dog and what they leave behind on the sidewalks, so why not spend some money to encourage people to bring them Hillside Park?

  • ABC

    Can someone post what was awarded the last go around and what was on the ballet (and how many votes a winning entry got). I’m trying to look this up but can’t find it.

    You’d think a united front could get something done. Capital improvements to the ibrary would be my choice, but could move to where ever my vote is most helpful.

    PS, PS8 wouldn’t be my pick — they’re about to start up a 2 year renovation after coming off the annex work — the end of cap improvements there will be welcome by the time they’re done.

  • HenryLoL

    I wish the library would be gutted and started from scratch. If that was a nice library I really feel that the whole community would use it. But a $1mm injection is not nearly enough there, so the money would just go to put yet another bandaid on that hole. Would barely buy a carpet.

  • JohnG

    Give it back.

  • stuart

    We need a nice piece of public art for the promenade. I don’t mean painted cows or used pianos.
    How about Washington looking out over the bay? Or the Roeblings, with a telescope checking out the Brooklyn Bridge towers?
    For such a supposedly upscale neighborhood we have no public art.
    There used to be a magnificent statue of Hamilton in front of the Hamilton Club on Remsen Street but that was moved in the 40’s to City Hall Park. Can we get him back?

  • Lisa

    I would like to see more and better garbage cans in and around Montague, Borough Hall and the Promenade. They are always bulging and many are barely recognizable as receptacles. if we could fund a private maintenance group to collect and maintaiin them it would contribute greatly to everyone’s quality of life.

    Nancy’s idea to fix the public space around Borough Hall is wonderful. That is a real missed opportunity. Remember what Madison Park used to look like?

  • MikeMike

    I agree with those suggesting the public space around Borough Hall. The pavers are crumbling and many are missing. It makes it very dangerous for anyone walking at night and could be disastrous for an elderly person. The garden area in front of Borough Hall also needs a face lift.

  • Judy Stanton

    In response to ABC’s question about what was awarded last year: Councilmember Levin is engaging his constituents in the PB process for the first time this year, so there isn’t a list yet for our district. However, on Council Member Brad Lander’s website you’ll find some information about the 7 projects which won the most votes in his 39th District. Here’s the link to that list: http://bradlander.com/blog/2012/04/02/and-the-winning-projects-are

  • Bob Stone

    Funding for a new study of the traffic pattern at Hicks and Atlantic. The welcome improvements for the safety of park goers have led to apparently unanticipated consequences as too many left-turning cars funnel from Hicks St. into one lane for the eastbound BQE upramp. The AM rush hour spillback onto Hicks (and backup on Atlantic Ave. usually leaves several vehicles stranded in the intersection with each light change. Cars trying to go north on Hicks frequently veer into the Atlantic Ave. crosswalk, endangering pedestrians.

    Now that the work’s been done, it’s unlikely that there will be a do-over, so rush hour traffic controllers should be assigned.

  • Wiley E.

    Yeah, make the velodrome a rollerskating rink. Bring back Joanie Weston of the San Francisco Bay Area Bombers. The Yankees sucked this year.

  • carol

    Second the suggestion about the sidewalk at Boro Hall. Homeowners get violations for much less dangerous sidewalks. The DOT requires bluestone sidewalks to be a minimum of 3″ in thickness – the Boro Hall stuff is much less than that. One set of rules for govt and another for taxpayers doesn’t create respect for the govt.

  • David

    1) Definitely agree that the signs “Brooklyn By Choice,” which were clearly conceived by someone who lives in Manhattan, need to be taken down.

    2) Of course the library should be open all summer!

    3) Rat poison.

    4) The start of a fund to cover the BQE (for noise reasons).

  • Mr. Crusty

    Take the “Brooklyn by Choice” signs down? Why do they offend you? Amazing what get people’s panties all bunched up.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/13189502@N02/ Eddyenergizer

    I Agree, the “Brooklyn by Choice” signs are insulting. It is a defense to an assumed negative opinion.

  • David on Middagh

    “Brooklyn by choice” is a silly blunder of a motto.