Norwood Councilman Andrew Cohen announced on May 6 that he’ll be contributing funds for bus countdown clocks, pothole repairs, and technology upgrades for public libraries as per the public through Participatory Budgeting initiative. The projects add up to $600,000, part of the $1 million the public has a direct say in spending through the initiative.

The lion’s share, about $400,000, will go towards safety upgrades at Woodlawn Playground, with no specific projects for Norwood, unlike years before, which saw improvements to the Mosholu Public Library.

“No projects specific to Norwood were available to vote on,” said Cohen, at a news conference announcing the projects. “However, Norwood, will see the effects of district-wide street repaving and countdown clock installations.” The countdown clocks, a favorite of constituents, determine the length of time they have to wait for an MTA bus to arrive.

The announcement marks the resolution of District 11’s Participatory Budgeting process, commonly called PB, which kicked off in July 2014. The practice, developed in Sao Paulo, Brazil in a bid to involve disenfranchised communities in the city budget and infrastructure development, first came to New York City in 2011.

The process goes back to the summer of 2018. Residents of the district attended public meetings and workshops over the course of several months, developing proposals for capital projects—meaning building or repairing physical infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, schools or parks—funded by their Council member’s discretionary funds.

Council members are given a total of $5 million in capital funds each year, offering residents to decide how 20 percent of those funds, or $1 million, can be spent. Funding of these projects—which were ultimately reviewed by city agencies to determine their feasibility—will automatically be adopted in the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget.

In a way, the initiative also lifts the burden of crafting ideas from Council members, offering that chance to the public, who can offer a different kind of perspective. There was a total of 2,500 votes collected online and through regular, in-person voting that Cohen’s office received.  “It’s not really so much the voting as the idea generation. If it’s a good idea, I’m gonna find a way to do it,” Cohen said.

Following a weeklong voting period, in which any resident of the district aged 11 and over can vote on their top five projects, 10 projects were proposed.

The proposed projects in the 11th Council District included school library upgrades in Kingsbridge and Spuyten Duyvil, improvements to the dog run at Seton Park, security cameras for PS 37 in Spuyten Duyvil, traffic calming and road safety measures in Woodlawn Heights, and street repaving and countdown clocks for buses throughout the district. The proposed project sites were concentrated largely in Riverdale, Spuyten Duyvil and Woodlawn.

But how did Woodlawn, a quiet suburban-esque enclave in Cohen’s district, manage to drum up the most support for such a project? The answer lay in old fashioned community organizing, according to Anne Barbano, a Woodlawn resident, who rounded up support for safety upgrades.

“I don’t have young kids anymore, but there are lots of young moms in here,” said Barbano. “The park is very busy and anything they could do to enhance it would be a great help.”

The topic was discussed at the local civic group Woodlawn Taxpayers Association meeting, with signs posted across the neighborhood encouraging residents to vote at PS 19.

“[W]e really pushed it,” said Barbano, adding that the neighborhood mobilized, competing with nearby Riverdale, also falling in the 11th Council District. The fear, according to Barbano, was that “Riverdale’s going to get everything.”

Time constraints often keep residents from taking part in the initiative. But it doesn’t mean they don’t have an opinion on community improvements. The Norwood News spoke to Norwood residents about what capital improvements they would have wanted to see had they been able to weigh in.

In Norwood, residents had their own ideas of what Participatory Budgeting funds can do for their neighborhood. One resident named Victor welcomed pothole repairs for the district, adding the area of Bainbridge Avenue and East Gun Hill Road, which underwent a massive sewer upgrade project that left the roadway in bad shape, is in need of repairs. “It messes with your car,” Victor said.

Tarik Hamilton, 31, did not vote but wants to see funds earmarked for a youth center so “we could go play ball and exercise.”

A youth center is on the mind of Danny Perez, 46, a Norwood resident, who hopes funds can go towards improving lighting conditions at Bronx Park, also known as French Charley’s Park.“During the summertime, you don’t want to be there with your kids. It’s crazy down there. They need to fix that,” said Perez, a Norwood resident since 1991.

Sha-Nia Alston contributed to this report