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Participatory Budgeting Delegate — District 39, Brooklyn (FY2022)

Civic Design, Public Funding Strategy, Community-Led Capital Projects

During the FY2022 Participatory Budgeting cycle in Brooklyn’s District 39, I served as a budget delegate responsible for translating community needs into fundable public projects across capital infrastructure, environmental systems, and social services.

Working within a multi-stakeholder process involving residents, city agencies, and elected officials, I developed and advanced several proposals from initial concept through feasibility review and final ballot placement.

My work spanned multiple project typologies:

• Public School Infrastructure
  Led development of PS 131 Bathroom Renovations, navigating agency constraints and cost feasibility to bring essential facility upgrades to ballot.

• Urban Public Space Design
  Contributed to the advancement of the Brooklyn Skate Garden, a hybrid recreational and landscape project integrating youth programming with green infrastructure.
  → Selected for funding and implementation.

• Social Support Systems
  Helped structure a borough-wide Diaper Distribution Program, addressing material inequities through scalable, low-barrier access.
  → Selected for funding and deployment.

• Urban Forestry / Environmental Equity
  Developed a Street Tree Planting Initiative to expand canopy coverage and mitigate heat and air quality disparities in underserved corridors.

• Tenants Organization

  Proposed and developed distribution of flyers advocating for Tenants Rights.

• Free Food Distribution Sites

  Developed program and distribution of community refrigerators in communities spanning District 39.

This work required aligning community-driven ideas with the technical, regulatory, and budgetary frameworks of New York City agencies—effectively operating at the intersection of design, policy, and capital planning.

Outcome:
Multiple proposals advanced to ballot; two projects secured public funding and moved toward implementation.