Community Board Funded Projects Announced Throughout Manhattan

MANHATTAN, NY — A Manhattan state senator announced Thursday the first-ever projects selected by community boards that will receive state funding. It was the first time community boards were selected to help distribute state funding across multiple projects throughout the city.

State Senator Brad Hoylman, whose district stretches from Greenwich Village to the Upper West Side in Manhattan, offered local community boards the chance to advise on allocating $1.5 million in state capital funding.

Hoylman called the first-time initiative the Community Board Budget process.

"Nobody knows better how to spend our precious capital dollars than our local community boards. Empowering community boards to identify local capital needs enables them to have a direct impact on the future of their neighborhoods," Hoylman said in a news release. "I'm grateful to our community boards for the time and care they took to select a wide array of projects in public housing, schools, and parks that will benefit our neighborhoods for decades to come."

Selected projects include gym, school, and park improvements in Community Board 2, improvements to a community center in Community Board 3, replacing water pumps in NYCHA housing in Community Board 4, new school equipment for a high school in Community Board 5, and playground improvements in Community Board 7.

"Thank you Senator Hoylman for your dedication to seeking local input and asking CB2 to provide direction recommendations for local capital projects," said Carter Booth, the Chair of Greenwich Village's Community Board 2.

Here's a full break down of all the selected projects for the $1.5 million in state funding:

Community Board 2, Greenwich Village, West Village, SoHo

• JJ Walker Park ($62,500): Convert one handball court into a basketball court, replace the netting on top of the handball courts, fix the scoreboard, and install no-smoking signs in the park.
• Time Landscape ($62,500): Replace the fencing around the Time Landscape to make it more secure.
• Jefferson Market Library ($62,500): Replace, upgrade and modernize the lighting throughout the library.
• P.S. 3 ($62,500): Improve the gym and library within the building, and also upgrade the school's playground equipment.

Community Board 3, East Village, Lower East Side, Chinatown

• Campos Plaza Community Center Improvements ($250,000): Upgrade multiple areas of the community center located at 611 East 13th Street.

Community Board 4, Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, Hudson Yards

• NYCHA-Fulton Development ($125,000): Upgrade the water pumps at 401 West 16th Street, at 420 West 19th Street, and at 434 West 17th Street.
• Manhattan Bridges High School (125,000): Refurbish two science labs at the Manhattan Bridges High School located at 525 West 50th Street.

Community Board 5, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Penn Station

• School of the Future ($125,000): Install new auditorium seats in an aging and overused auditorium.
• Repertory Company High School for the Arts ($125,000): Use the funds to allow every student to have a laptop.

Community Board 7, Upper West Side

• Little Engine Playground ($250,000): Help NYC Parks replace and upgrade the children's park at Riverside Boulevard between West 67th and 68th Streets.