WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT VOTING TODAY?

GOOD NEWS

The East Side is Getting Glam! A newly renovated bike and walking path is opening on the East side running from 38th street to 61st including a new waterfront pier and pedestrian bridge. West Side or East Side? You decide.

NYC’s Mental Health Crisis Shows Positive Signs Some early signs of progress from Mayor Adams contentious forced hospitalization policy for the mentally ill. Read how this group of 9 nonviolent homeless people are finally transitioning into long term housing and getting the care they need. Whether the process will be successful in the long term is up for debate.

Today’s Voting Day! Where to vote? This locator will tell you, make sure to vote for your local city council, district attorney, district leader and more!

WTF! NEWS

Hell is a Place in a Newark Airport Over 500 flights have been cancelled over the past 3 days across all 3 tristate area airports due to thunderstorms. Oddly enough, the sun is shining today…Conspiracy perhaps?

Apocalypto New York 🔥 Oy Vey. Governor Hochul declared yet ANOTHER air quality alert starting tomorrow, Wednesday June 28th due to the Canadian Wildfires. Get ready for smoky fog and haze. Stay inside and mask up.

GIVE US THE SCOOP

2. WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT TODAY’S ELECTION?

Today’s election is especially special because YOU get to vote on how nearly $30 million of the city’s budget should be spent in your community in a process called, participatory budgeting.

WHAT IS PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING?
This is a process in which community members aka YOU directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. The process began in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1989 and has now spanned across 3,000 different locations around the world. NYC first picked it up in 2011.

This year, over 29 City Council Members are giving their constituents a voice on over $30 million across the city. Suggestions on how to spend the money can be submitted by anyone in the neighborhood. Too many potholes in the street? Build a community garden? Getting the annoying neighbor to stop blasting their music at 4AM…well, maybe not the last one.

WHO GETS TO SPEND THE MONEY?
Council members get $5 million each budget year to devote to projects in their district. Those that opt in to participatory budgeting earmark at least $1 million for their constituents. Proposals are submitted every year from September to October, and are voted on today!

In today’s election however, proposals were submitted last year and voters will get to pick their top ranked proposals.

WAIT, WHAT DOES CITY COUNCIL DO EXACTLY?
Before we can break down what participatory budgeting is, let’s first break down what City Council is. The city council consists of 51 members, each of whom are elected in partisan elections by the city’s fifty-one districts (like today). Click here to see the district that you live in and the appointed council member. They are responsible for:

•Adopting the city budget
•Approving mayoral appointees
•Overseeing the use of municipal properties
•Levying taxes
•Making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances

City Council members are here for YOU. They are your advocates and they want to listen. If you’ve ever had trouble getting your passport renewed, your city council member can help with that. If you needed help getting health insurance or have trouble with your landlord, you could call or email your city council member and they can assist you! Literally!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

If you voted already – did you see any interesting proposals? If not, what would you do with $1 million in your community? We’d love to know! Write back!

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