What would you do with 1 million dollars in Park Slope?

If you’re like me and identify more with Leslie Knope than with Liz Lemon (or don’t know who I’m talking about but are just enthusiastic about neighborhood improvement and local politics) then I predict you will also have a retardedly dorky reaction to hearing about the advent of “participatory budgeting” in Brooklyn.  If you love town hall style meetings and have always dreamed of claiming a cool title like “assembly delegate,” listen up – you will be stoked.  

In cities around the world (including Chicago, the first major US city to implement the project), residents come together to determine how an allocated pot of money will be spent – and now we’re doing it in New York. Four City Council members are putting aside one million dollars of their discretionary budgets for neighborhood residents to use to their hearts' desires. Or well, their public works desires. Anyway, get ready to desire your little civic minded hearts out because Park Slope’s very own Brad Lander is one of the four council members sponsoring this project. If you live in District 39 you can get involved in the process and see your dreams realized. The first step are big neighborhood-based meetings in early October (calendar online here) followed by smaller, more focused meetings with volunteer delegates over the next few months. In 2012, anyone over 18 who lives in the 39^th district will get to vote on which projects should be realized and then these will be incorporated into the City’s capital budget for 2013.

So what’s on your Park Slope wish list? Less broken sidewalks? More places to sit? Or what about something more… fun?  A friend who insists that grazing sheep should be restored to Prospect Park (last seen next to the croquet field circa 1887) may finally have his moment.  In Brazil, residents involved in participatory budgeting have done everything from fixing sewers to building tiny “lighthouses of knowledge” – mini libraries with lights on top to illuminate darker parts of neighborhoods. So think big – a million dollars may not go far but it can be used creatively.  How should we spend the money?