East Harlem residents decide how to allocate more than $1.9 million in city capital funds
Upgrades to Jefferson Park basketball courts are among six projects selected through ‘participatory budgeting’ votes conducted by Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito
The basketball courts at East Harlem’s Jefferson Park are usually packed, but over the years the neighborhood ballplayers have grown accustomed to shooting hoops in deteriorating conditions, on cracked pavement.
Funding to revamp the park is finally on the way, and it’s the community residents who deserve some of the thanks.
The project was among six selected in a community vote that asked residents to decide how to spend more than $1 million in capital funds.
When the winners — which also included security cameras for four housing projects, laptops for nine schools, a mobile cooking classroom, a solar-powered greenhouse and a tech center — were announced at the Johnson Youth Center on Monday, youth basketball organizer Willie Kelly Sr. celebrated.
“This is great,” said Kelly, the commissioner of the Hoops by the River basketball league, which operates out of the Jefferson Park Basketball Courts on E. 111th St. near First Ave. “We want the kids to have somewhere decent to play.”
Kelly applauded the community vote — known as participatory budgeting — for giving constituents a chance to decide where funds go.
“I think the community should have a say-so,” said Kelly, 53. Now, he awaits the $300,000 funding to fix the cracked pavement, add lights and fiberglass backboards and make other needed improvements.
“It’s a matter of when they are going to start the process,” he said. “That basketball court hasn’t been renovated in over 20 years. It was definitely needed. You can’t play basketball on a court like that.”
This is the second year District 8 has conducted the participatory budgeting process led by Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito and Community Voices Heard. The voting took place between April 1-7.
“This is what it’s about: It’s about giving people the power,” said Mark-Viverito. “It’s the community’s needs. It’s what people are saying they want. You can’t say no to that, right?”
Residents were asked to choose from among 21 proposals.
Projects that missed the cut included: $500,000 to upgrade lighting inside the Douglass Houses; $150,000 to upgrade the auditorium at Manhattan Center High School; $400,000 for the Peaceful Valley Community Garden; $256,000 to make safety upgrades at the Heckscher Building, and $325,000 to install multi-media information kiosks around East Harlem.
By Michael J. Feeney / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/east-harlem-penny-thoughts-article-1.1312222#ixzz2Q1d8NHWU