Museum of Modern PBRead for this piece: the PBNYC rulebooks for Cycle 2 (2012-13) and Cycle 3 (2013-14), both by the PBNYC Citywide Steering Committee, and for Cycle 6 (2016-17), Cycle 7 (2017-18) and Cycle 9 (2019-20), published by the New York City Council; the Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center's evaluations with the PBNYC Research Team, A People's Budget: the pilot year full report and executive summary (2012), the Cycle 3 full report and executive summary (2014), and the Cycle 4 key findings and findings by district (2015); Public Agenda's two national reports, Public Spending, By the People (2016) and A Process of Growth (2016), for their New York City material; and the New York City Council's saved web pages: the Cycle 7 results release (June 2018, over 99,250 voters), the Cycle 8 results release (May 2019), the 2019 Vote Week kickoff release (council.nyc.gov/press/?p=1725), the 2023 and 2025 Vote Week releases, the FY2027 results release (May 2026), and the PBNYC idea map page. Four artifacts were link only and were not read: the NYC Open Data Participatory Budgeting Projects dataset, the Cycle 6, 8 and 11 results pages, and Celina Su's 2020 New Political Science article.
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Versions
v1 · 22 September 2026 · curator Goal
The goal of Participatory Budgeting in New York City is to put decisions over at least $1 million of each participating Council Member's capital discretionary funds directly in the hands of district residents, so that government opens up, civic engagement expands to marginalized groups, new community leaders develop, community is built and public spending becomes more equitable.
Values
Inclusion · Convener-stated · Lived
Equity · Convener-stated · Aspirational
Transparency · Convener-stated · Lived
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values Maker’s note
Partners and Roles
New York City Council Central Staff (Speaker's office) · Convener · Public
Participating Council Member offices · Fiscal sponsor · Public
PB champions in the Council (Mark-Viverito, Lander, Menchaca) · Champion or steward · Public
District Committees · Facilitator · Community-based organization
Budget delegates and committee facilitators · Volunteer proposal developers · Residents
Community Voices Heard · Outreach · Community-based organization
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partners Maker’s note
Priority Audiences
Youth · Representation gap · Targeted outreach within a universal process, Dedicated channels
Specific ethnic or racial communities · Equity · Targeted outreach within a universal process
Low-income residents · Equity · Targeted outreach within a universal process
People excluded from electoral politics · Representation gap · Targeted outreach within a universal process
Language-minority communities · Equity · Targeted outreach within a universal process, Dedicated channels
Elders · Representation gap · Dedicated channels
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audiences Maker’s note
Pot of Money
At least $1,000,000 per participating district · Public (tax-funded) · Can be used for capital
$5.6M citywide, Cycle 1 (2011-12), 4 districts · Public (tax-funded) · Can be used for capital
$9.8M citywide, Cycle 2 (2012-13), 8 districts · Public (tax-funded) · Can be used for capital
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pots Maker’s note
Authority and Mandate
Council or board · Informal · Binding
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authority Maker’s note
Activities
Outreach · Process · Per cycle
Idea collection · Process · Per cycle
Participant onboarding · Process · Per cycle
Proposal development · Process · Per cycle
Deliberation · Process · Per cycle
Voting or deciding · Process · Per cycle
Implementation oversight · Process · Continuous
Cycle debrief · Process · Per cycle
Rulebook authoring · Infrastructure · Per cycle
Data and evaluation infrastructure · Infrastructure · Per cycle
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activities Maker’s note
Feedback Loops
A People's Budget research and evaluation · Partner-led · Every cycle
District evaluation meeting after the vote · Participants themselves · Every cycle
Citywide Committee rulebook review · Partner-led · Every cycle
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evaluations Maker’s note
Geographies
Participating City Council districts · District · Administrative
Partial-district and split-district processes (Rockaways; District 8 Bronx and Manhattan) · Neighborhood · Administrative
Citywide coordination layer (Central Staff, Citywide Committee) · Municipal or citywide · Administrative
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geographies Maker’s note
Engagement Channels
Neighborhood assemblies · In-person events · In-person group
Special assemblies for youth, seniors, non-English speakers, NYCHA · Embedded in existing spaces · In-person group
Online idea map and idea forms · Digital platform · Self-service
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channels Maker’s note
Costs
Council Member office staff time (designated PB coordinator) · Staff time · Organizational
Council Central Staff and PB Fellows (since Cycle 4) · Staff time · Organizational
City agency staff vetting, costing and briefing · Staff time · Organizational
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costs Maker’s note
Effects
Cycle 1 (2011-12): 27 projects, $5.6M, 5,985 voters · Material or project outcome · Positive
Cycle 2 (2012-13): 45 projects, $9.8M, 13,035 voters · Material or project outcome · Positive
Cycle 3 (2013-14): 55 projects, $14.5M, 16,642 voters · Material or project outcome · Positive
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effects Maker’s note
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