Neary 3,000 total District 22 residents or students, ages 11 and up, cast votes as part of the 2022 Participatory Budgeting effort led by the office of Council Member Tiffany Cabán.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the thousands of neighbors who came together in this inspiring exercise of direct democracy,” said CM Cabán. “No one knows the needs and hopes of our community better than the community itself, and the winning initiatives could not be more worthy, exciting, and meaningful.”

With $1 Million in capital funding and $50,000 in expense funding at stake, Cabán announced that the following initiatives received the most votes, and would be receiving the funding they need from her City Council office.

Capital project winners:

  1. 1,310 votes – Technology Upgrades for District 22 Schools PS 122, PS 151, PS 171, IS 126, IS 235 ($275,000)
  2. 864 votes – Street Tree Planting ($150,000)
  3. 778 votes – Astoria Houses Outdoor Lighting ($500,000)
  4. 721 votes – IS 126 Computer Lab Electrical Upgrades ($200,000)

Expense project winners:

  1. 1,191 votes – Weekly Farm Stand, The Connected Chef ($10,000)
  2. 1,158 votes – “Basics of Cooking” Series, Variety Boys and Girls Club ($18,000)
  3. 897 votes – Pop-up Arts Classes, Art House Astoria ($5,000)
  4. 814 votes – Astoria’s First Gender Justice Center, Malikah ($20,000) 

“I hoped volunteering for Participatory Budgeting would be a path into getting to know my neighborhood and reconnecting with New York City after a decade away, and it has been!” said Agnes Cwalina, Volunteer Participatory Budgeting Facilitator. “I was able to see what concerns and ideas fellow District 22 residents were voicing, meet fellow neighbors and the Council Member’s team, and start planning a more just future for our pocket of Queens.”

Participatory Budgeting first launched in New York City in 2011 with four Council Members empowering their constituents to vote on how to allocate a portion of their discretionary budgets. By 2019, a 33-member majority of the Council was participating. This year, Council Member Cabán’s office is one of 14 running a Participatory Budgeting program.