Thank you for voting in participatory budgeting! Over the course of 10 days, 2,140 of you turned out to vote a total for a total of 6,963 votes. I am pleased to announce the top vote getters for the $1,000,000 were green roofs for PS/IS 217 and PS 151. Both projects will cost more than the $500,000 that each won this year and are likely to be back on the ballot next year or until they are fully funded.

So that you can learn more and better organize for next year, we are releasing the total votes for each project as well as paper ballot results by project and poll site. Wherever a project was tied to a physical location, we did our best to bring at least one poll site to that location. You can see the more detailed results below or download the Excel Spreadsheet or the Open Document Format Spreadsheet which can be viewed and edited for free using LibreOffice.

Learn more about Participatory Budgeting and if you are interested in becoming a Participatory Budgeting Delegate next year or simply becoming more engaged in the process, please contact 212-860-1950 or bkallos@benkallos.com.

Congratulations to the winners and all who participated. Profiles of our winners--and how they successfully mobilized the community--are below:

 

PS/IS 217

PS/IS 217, a unique international school on Roosevelt Island serving pre-k through eighth grade, wanted additional outdoor space and an educational green roof for their 543 students. Roosevelt Island is a tight-knit and highly-engaged community, so they mobilized together. 

The PS/IS 217 PTA, Girl Scouts troops 3001 and 3244, Roosevelt Island Garden Club, Roosevelt Island Parents' Network and Sharon Bermon from the NYPL Roosevelt Island Branch were just a few of the community members who came together to support the students.

Principal Mandana Beckman acknowledged the community efforts, saying " It truly does take a village and we have a great one here on Roosevelt Island.The Principal explained:

"Our PTA co-presidents used the 217 PTA website parent blog to deliver frequent messages about the project and the voting process.  Flyers, memos, even bookmarks were printed as reminders and sources of information.  The Main Street Wire and the Roosevelt Islander blog, featured several articles on the Green Roof and voting information. RI Residents Association (RIRA) discussed the process and the project in their regular news Wire column.  Nearly every business, club, group or organization, participated in spreading the word about the project and the opportunity to vote.  Flyers were also published and distributed on the Upper East Side and Midtown East to explain and support this project on New York’s other Island.  RI’s Earth Day Celebration drew in a large voting crowd on one of the ballot days. City Council Member Ben Kallos and his teams came out to the Island to meet with the community to talk about the project and encourage voters to participate."

"217PTA was thrilled to have the opportunity to engage our parents and students in Council member Ben Kallos’ Participatory Budget process," said PTA co-presidents Olga Shchuchinov and Natalia Starkova.

"The green roof will serve as a great educational resource for the community." Ali Schwayri, President of the Roosevelt Island Garden Club, said, "We believe in the benefits of the Green Roof for our community, and I speak for secretary, Julia Ferguson, and the entire membership, when I say we all look forward to sharing our expertise and passion."

Eva Bosbach, the Founder of the Roosevelt Island Parents' Network, and Jeff Escobar, President of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association both also noted how excited they were to support the projects. Community member Sharon Bermon said, "Dozens of individuals and organizations worked together to increase awareness of the Participatory Balloting process and to convince people to take the time to vote."

Local girl scouts on the Island also poured their energy into the project. Their troop leaders, Janine Schaefer of troup 3244 and Aiesha Eleusizov, leader of troup 3001, said:

"Girl Scout Troops 3001 and 3244 dedicated countless hours at the subway, in front of the school, at our community's Earth Day event and simply walking down the street passing out bookmarks about the community projects, meeting with constituents at our local Expo, drawing pictures about the Green Roof, making and posting on social media a YouTube video to encourage voting, and simply spreading the word to encourage Roosevelt Island residents to exercise their right to vote for the Green Roof project at PS/IS 217...This has been an excellent opportunity for our youth to learn first hand the power of the vote, the community and working hard to achieve your dreams."

Council Member Kallos did multiple mobile sessions on Roosevelt Island, as he did at dozens of locations across the district.

Congratulations, PS/IS 217!

 

PS 151

PS 151, or the Yorkville Community School, is a K-5 school that opened its doors in 2009 and now has around 500 students. The children were crunched for space to play, move, and enjoy the outdoors. Parent leaders, along with Principal Samantha Kaplan, became involved in the participatory budgeting process to gain the funds for the school green roof.

PTA Co-Presidents Nesli Ciner and Michael Rawlings, along with other parent leaders, got involved.

Council Member Kallos' office offered mobile sites to all locations with projects on the ballot--and PS 151 scheduled one. This mobile voting location was the most well-attended of all the mobile sites, thanks to the hard work of community activists, volunteers and students who peppered their

neighbors' doors with material advertising the vote.

Principal Samantha Kaplan said:

"This multi-step process began with me presenting my YCS roof top recreational space project plan to Council Member Kallos, as well as the PTA Executive Board. From there, three members of the Exec. board took the reigns and ensured that our school's project plan was present at all Participatory Budget Expos, as well as sharing with the larger community through varied messaging. This team effort helped to educate our community in regards to the specific needs this project would fulfill for our school and how their voice mattered through the process. The Participatory Budget allocation will now be combined with Capital funding we have received in the past, to begin planning for our new educational/recreational roof top space."

She stated that the school was extremely excited to have participatory budgeting through a strong show of neighborhood support.

"Yorkville Community School is ecstatic to have won the Participatory Budget Vote. Thanks to the  community support, ourstudents will now be able to enjoy a much needed outdoor play space and educational garden. I would also like to thank Council Member Kallos for providing the opportunity to engage in this community centered process."

Both green roof winners acknowledged that this was the beginning of a multi-year funding process that they were excited to embark upon. Council Member Kallos' office looks forward to working with them to make the green roofs a reality.

 

Results

Download the Excel Spreadsheet or the Open Document Format Spreadsheet which can be viewed and edited for free using LibreOffice.

Digital and Paper Ballots

Ballot #	Paper Votes	Digital Votes	Total Votes	Project Name
1	354	127	481	Cool Reading
2	143	95	238	Bright Minds
3	364	377	741	Study of Sight and Sound
4	618	136	754	Rooftop Recreation for PS 151
5	453	392	845	Green Roof for PS/IS 217
6	348	124	472	School Stage for Eleanor Roosevelt High
7	231	118	349	School's Cool for PS198/PS 77
8	256	140	396	STEM Education for High School
9	182	101	283	Security Cameras for Holmes Towers
10	378	106	484	Security Cameras for Lexington Houses
11	195	107	302	Community Garden for Lexington Houses
12	152	87	239	Full Court Press
13	215	121	336	Irrigate the Esplanade
14	311	160	471	Esplanade Greenway
15	118	97	215	Fun Fountain at St. Catherine's Park
16	247	110	357	Bus Bulbs on E86th St
Total Votes	4,565	2,398	6,963
Total Ballots	1,420	720	2,140

Paper Ballots by Poll Site

Ballot Items	DO	Carl Schurz Park	Eleanor Roosevelt HS	John Jay Park	Lenox Hill	Lexington Houses	67th Street NYPL	PS 151	PS/IS 217	R.I. NYPL	R.I. Senior Center	R.I. Visitor Center	R.I.	St. Cath. Park	Stanley Isaacs	Webster NYPL
1	69	39	21	7	4		8	75	11	2	10	6	8		21	74	Cool Reading
2	29	5	4	5	3	1	14	32	7		9	2	7	4	3	18	Bright Minds
3	21	9	5	3	3	1		21	51	12	106	60	57		5	10	Study of Sight and Sound
4	76	57	11	7	3		3	353	12	2	15	6	15	2	32	26	Rooftop Recreation for PS 151
5	29	12	6	4	2		4	33	78	13	102	66	84	2	9	9	Green Roof for PS/IS 217
6	47	51	131	9	1		6	28	6		14		6	3	12	35	School Stage for Eleanor Roosevelt High
7	91	15	8	9	4	2		32	7	2	12	7	9	4	22	9	School's Cool for PS198/PS 77
8	60	27	14	7	5	1	3	40	9	2	22	17	10	3	16	21	STEM Education for High School
9	41	18	8	1	1	4	7	34	6	2	10	12	9		13	17	Security Cameras for Holmes Towers
10	72	39	15	2	5	1	4	132	1	2	4	7	3		69	25	Security Cameras for Lexington Houses
11	53	16	9	1	5	3	1	41	3	2	5	5	5	2	34	11	Community Garden for Lexington Houses
12	45	10	6	9	2		7	29	4	1	7	2	3	4	6	19	Full Court Press
13	63	30	7	4		1	8	23	5		7	4	11	2	18	33	Irrigate the Esplanade
14	86	46	15	5	2	2	9	52	7	1	15	11	7	2	17	35	Esplanade Greenway
15	26	6	7	2	2		7	14	6	1	7	8	4	9	8	12	Fun Fountain at St. Catherine's Park
16	56	15	12	3	2	1	3	60	7	1	11	4	6	2	37	28	Bus Bulbs on E86th St
Total Votes	864	395	279	78	44	17	84	999	220	43	356	217	244	39	322	382
Total Ballots	231	94	137	19	9	4	18	367	79	16	112	69	86	9	75	98
Votes Per Ballot	3.7	4.2	2.0	4.1	4.9	4.3	4.7	2.7	2.8	2.7	3.2	3.1	2.8	4.3	4.3	3.9

Additional funding decisions will be made by July, and you are encouraged to check back then.