Here Are Brad Lander's Participatory Budgeting Winners

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Sewing circles, schools, less litter and a new subway station elevator were all top of the list for this year's round of Participatory Budgeting, which lets residents decide how to spend a portion of city funding in their neighborhood.

With thousands of votes cast, residents of Councilman Brad Lander's District 39, which stretches from Carroll Gardens down to Borough Park, chose four capital projects to put a total of $1.5 million funding towards and five projects for the $50,000 dedicated to more longterm expenses.

The Participatory Budgeting process, which starts each fall, had residents spend months brainstorming, researching and pitching their ideas for the ballot. Voting took place between March 30 and April 7.

"Each year, PBNYC reminds us about the good we can do when we come together with our neighbors, across lines of differences, roll up our sleeves, and get involved," Lander said in an email about the results. "It is grassroots democracy at its very best: Open to all, for the good of us all."

Here are this year's winners:

Capital projects:

1. $250,000 for a "down payment" on an elevator for the 7th Avenue F and G station with 3,958 votes
2. $500,000 to renovate P.S. 58's play yard, which was one of the last in the district to have an unshaded tarmac as a playground, with 3,272 votes
3. $600,000 to replace tiles in the hallways and rooms of P.S. 130's second, third, fourth and fifth floors, with 3,052 votes
4. $140,000 to give M.S. 51 all-gender bathrooms and new water fountains with 2,880 votes

Expense projects:

1. $8,000 to put new trash bins district-wide to improve the "rampant" litter problem, with 4,181 votes
2. $6,500 to put diaper changing stations at parks and playgrounds throughout the district that don't already have them, with 2,214 votes
3. $10,000 for nonprofit Sakhi for South Asian Women to lead sewing circles for survivors of domestic violence, with 2,176 votes
4. $16,000 for nonprofit One World Project to train Spanish-speaking teens to be educators, with 1,977 votes
5. $7,600 for nonprofit Muslims Thrive to lead bilingual mental health first aid training, with 1,892 votes