How The People's Money Works
What is The People’s Money?
The People’s Money is a citywide participatory budgeting (PB) process where New Yorkers decide how to spend part of the city’s budget to help communities thrive. This process happens every year and is open to all New Yorkers — age 11 and up, regardless of immigration status.
How does The People’s Money work?
The People's Money consists of four phases and takes two years to complete. The first three phases run in one year, and the last phase, Project Implementation, runs in the second year.
First year:
Idea Generation - Share your ideas!
Assemblies - Join an Assembly and shape your borough's ballot!
Voting - Vote on what matters most to you!
Second year:
Project Implementation - Where ideas come to life!
Here’s what each phase looks like:
Fall: Idea Generation
In the fall, New Yorkers are invited to attend public workshops to:
Learn how the city budget works
Talk about what their neighborhoods need
Share and develop ideas to strengthen their neighborhoods and communities
You can also submit your ideas online, here at Participate.nyc.gov.
Winter: Borough Assemblies
New Yorkers can apply to be part of their Borough Assembly (one per borough). Members are randomly selected to reflect the diversity of their communities.
Assembly Members meet for four sessions to:
Collectively review the ideas submitted by the public
Discuss which ideas best address community needs
Decide the final list of ideas that will appear on the ballot
Interested in serving on an Assembly? Apply to Be a 2027 Borough Assembly Member!
Spring/Summer: Voting
Once ballots are ready, all New Yorkers age 11 and up, regardless of immigration or incarceration status, are invited to vote on which ideas they would like to see come to life in their neighborhoods.
Year 2: Projects Are Funded and Implemented
Once the voting results are in for the winning ideas, community-based organizations further develop the ideas into project proposals and apply to implement through a competitive process. After reviewing all applications, the Civic Engagement Commission (CEC) works closely with the selected organizations to make sure the projects are successfully completed.
About the TRIE Neighborhood Initiative
The Taskforce for Racial Inclusion and Equity (TRIE) Neighborhood Initiative is a coalition and capacity-building program run by the CEC, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Equity and the Young Men’s Initiative.
This initiative was designed with the goals of strengthening local infrastructure to respond to community needs, promoting community building and social cohesion, and maintaining a real-time feedback loop with the City. The CEC achieves these goals by funding community-based organizations to serve as TRIE Neighborhood Administrators (TNAs), which includes building local coalitions to expand access to civic engagement and participatory democracy through programs like The People's Money.
Under the leadership of the TNAs, coalition members — including nonprofits, elected offices, faith institutions, small businesses, civic leaders, and more — collaborate throughout the year to increase access to critical resources and information to empower their communities. These networks play a critical role in ensuring New Yorkers who have been historically underserved are active participants in The People's Money process.
More Information:
Get to know this year's TRIE Neighborhood Administrators: 2025 - 2026 TNA Partner Directory.
See Deliverables & Expectations for the TRIE Neighborhood Initiatives 2025 - 2026 Cycle here.
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