Dist. 2 votes bucks for bus clocks, schools

BY GABE HERMAN | The votes are in, and the winning projects have been announced for the City Council District 2 Participatory Budgeting process.

Nearly 4,800 votes were cast in the district during the voting process, from March 30 until April 7, according to Councilmember Carlina Rivera’s office.

Council District 2 includes the East Village, part of the Lower East Side, and a section of the East Side that runs from First Ave. to Fifth Ave. from 14^th St. up to 34^th St.

Dist. 2 votes bucks for bus clocks, schools 1 — A countdown clock at 10th Ave. and W. 34th St. Thanks to participatory budgeting, the East Side’s Council District 2 will be getting countdown clocks along the M9 and M14 bus routes. (File photo)

This was the district’s first year doing participatory budgeting. There are five winning projects in District 2 that will receive a portion of $1 million, the amount allotted for each participating district.

The District 2 winners include new bus countdown clocks along the M9, M14A and M14D routes; gym renovations at P.S. 188/Girls Prep, at 442 E. Houston St., near the F.D.R. Drive; an accessible lift at P.S. 40, at 320 E. 20^th St., between First and Second Aves.; mobile science carts for P.S. 34, at 730 E. 12^th St., between Avenues C and D; and street resurfacing throughout the district.

“I was very proud to see our community so involved in what really is civic engagement at its best,” Rivera wrote in a message to constituents, “where district residents as young as 11 directly decided how some of their taxpayer dollars would be spent in their community.”

The next cycle of participatory budgeting in the district will begin in the fall. Rivera’s office is currently accepting project idea submissions for this next round.