Queens Residents Will Be Able to Hear Participatory Budgeting Proposals on Feb. 28

Local residents will be able to hear about community projects proposed by their neighbors at a Feb. 28 meeting at Hillside Manor.

Last July, Councilman Mark Weprin, D-Oakland Gardens, introduced participatory budgeting to residents of northeast Queens.

The program allows residents to exchange ideas and work together to create proposals for community upgrades and, eventually, vote on which projects should be funded.

The councilman said the initiative would enable northeast Queens residents to designate $1 million in resources for the community.

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

Last fall, Weprin and Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, held neighborhood assemblies during which their constituents suggested ideas on improvements for the community. In April, a public vote will be held on the proposals.

At next week’s meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m., attendees will be able to learn about the participatory budgeting process as well as which projects will be on the April ballot.

The meeting will be held at Hillside Manor, which is located at 188-11 Hillside Ave.

Weprin and Halloran, who ran for Congress in Forest Hills last year, are two of the three Queens council members who are in the participatory budgeting pilot program. The third is Councilman Eric Ulrich, who ran for state Senate in Forest Hills last year.