This past Thursday, February 5th, Councilman David G. Greenfield hosted his fifth annual budget workshop at his District Office. With over 100 non-profit groups in attendance, Councilman Greenfield reviewed how to apply for discretionary funding from the New York City Council. When first running for office five years ago, Greenfield pledged to make the budget process transparent and accessible. To keep that promise, Greenfield has held his annual budget workshop each year since taking office in order to open up the process to the public. These workshops include educating local non-profits on key aspects of the application process, reviewing eligibility and deadlines and even going through a mock application.

“The budget workshop was a huge success. Since being elected to office, I’m proud to have brought back over ten million dollars to outstanding community groups. These non-profit organizations do some of the most important work for our community and New York City. I know how hard that work is and that it often comes without the praise or recognition it deserves—that’s why I work so hard to secure funding for as many groups as possible each year,” said Councilman Greenfield.

Greenfield is also one of the first Council Members to give residents a say in the city budget by taking part in the ongoing participatory budgeting initiative. Under participatory budgeting, residents have the opportunity to vote on specific capital projects they would like implemented in their neighborhood using $1 million in city funding that Councilman Greenfield has set aside for this initiative. Ballots for those projects will be distributed in April.

The deadline for organizations to apply for discretionary funding is 5pm on Friday, February 20th, and the application is now available under the budget section of the Council’s homepage at www.council.nyc.gov. Only non-profits that have been designated as a 501(c)(3) may apply. If an organization has any questions about the budget process they are encouraged to call Councilman Greenfield’s office at 718-853-2704.

(YWN Desk – NYC)