Forest Hills Will Decide How To Spend $1M Starting This Saturday

QUEENS, NY — Residents of Queen's District 29, which covers Rego Park, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills and Richmond Hill, will vote on how to spend part of the public budget to improve their community.

Voting will begin March 25 and continue until April 2.

This is the sixth cycle of District 29's Participatory Budgeting program, which has proven successful in major cities across the nation.

Districts taking part in participatory budgeting provide the program with at least $1 million, which the public can use to fund the projects that addresses their needs. This year, District 29 residents will vote for five out of the 10 projects that will be presented on the ballot. Participating council members promise to fund projects that receive the most votes until the budget is used up.

Projects on the ballot are decided through a yearlong process of community meetings sponsored by Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz of District 29 to ensure that each member gets to voice their opinions and make informed decisions.

The projects on this year's ballot include AV renovations in school auditoriums, installing exercise equipment around Yellowstone Park, placing countdown clocks at bus stations and extending curbs around District 29 to increase pedestrian safety.

Scroll down for a full list of ballot items and voting locations

• $260,000 to install ADA-compliant doors at the entrance of four District 29 library branches: Rego Park, Forest Hills, Richmond Hill and North Forest Park
• $200,000 to update the technology at the four libraries: Rego Park, Forest Hills, North Forest Hills and Richmond Hill
• $700,000 to upgrade libraries/media centers at P.S. 220, P.S. 206 and P.S. 54
• $315,000 for technology upgrades at P.S. 139, P.S. 220, P.S. 175, P.S. 196, P.S. 206, P.S. 99, J.H.S. 157, J.H.S. 190 and Forest Hills High School
• $600,000 to upgrade AV systems or acoustics in P.S. 196, P.S. 220, P.S. 99, P.S. 206, P.S. 174 and P.S. 144
• $200,000 to install fitness equipment in Yellowstone Park
• $500,000 to resurface certain existing pathways in Forest Park that are badly eroded. Adding bike racks and trash bin holders
• $250,000 to install circuit training stations in Forest Park
• $175,000 to install countdown clocks at select bus stations, which will inform riders how far away the next bus is. There will be 15 clocks in total for the lines Q10, Q64, Q23 and Q60
• $600,000 for curb extensions on the southeast corner of 67th Avenue and 102nd Street, which will make it safer for pedestrians to cross the street by limiting the crossing distance

Lead image courtesy of the Participatory Budgeting Project