By Bazona Barnabe Bado
A media roundtable was held on January 22, 2026, by New York Civic Engagement Commission to launch the Phase or Section 2 of the People’s Money: Borough Assemblies.
According to the members of the commission, Section 2 follows Section 1, which happened from October to November 2025 and it was about ideas generation, “the solutions New Yorkers want to see in their neighborhoods,” the members of the commission said.
The Section 1 has brought indeed together the Civic Engagement Commission and community – based partners to learn about the city budget, identify community needs and brainstorm ideas for expenses projects.
The Section 2 that starts on January 24, 2026, will focus according to the members of the commission on “strengthening democracy and helping civic participation and trust.” Committees of randomly selected New Yorkers called Borough Assemblies and who previously applied online, will evaluate ideas against equity criteria and develop projects to appear on borough ballots.
There are four sections in total. The 3rd section, the voting will begin in May 2026. The 4th section will be projects implementation. “Winning projects are announced, funded, implemented, and monitored.”
Participatory budgeting is a democratic project in which community members decide how to spend part of a public budget. The idea is originated in Brazil in 1989 and brought to New York in 2011.