2.0 Borough Assemblies

What happened to the ideas?

During Idea Generation, residents across New York City submitted 3,728 ideas on how to spend a part of the city budget.

All ideas were first reviewed by the Civic Engagement Commission (CEC) to identify ideas that meet the required criteria for funding. This involved screening out any incomplete or incoherent ideas, offensive or inappropriate ideas, ideas that CEC did not have the purview to implement (such as increasing staff at other city agencies or required a change to another city agency's operations) and ideas proposing capital projects or policy recommendations. The remaining ideas for programs and services, about 90 per borough, were passed on to the respective Borough Assemblies. Each Borough Assembly further narrowed down and developed the ideas to between six and ten for each borough ballot.

See which ideas made it onto the final borough ballots: Final Ballots

What happened during the Borough Assemblies?

From January to early March 2025, residents participated in Borough Assemblies in each borough where they collectively reviewed and prioritized ideas.

About 107 New York City residents were randomly chosen based on their borough’s demographics to participate in the Borough Assemblies. These Assemblies spent almost 20 hours over six sessions getting to know each other and learning about the needs in their communities. Using that information and their lived experiences, they discussed and ultimately selected final ideas for their borough’s ballot for citywide voting!

Here’s a breakdown of the six Borough Assembly sessions that took place from January through March 2025:

Session 1

• Assembly Members got to know each other by engaging in activities. They also learned how they make decisions and were introduced to participatory budgeting. They then reviewed the ideas they would be discussing and ultimately selecting.  

Session 2

• All the Borough Assembly Members got together and heard from city agencies about their areas of expertise and programs. They then learned more about deliberative democracy.

Session 3

• Assembly Members learned about the needs of NYC’s high-priority neighborhoods. Members then began the first round of selecting ideas for the final ballots.

Session 4

• Assembly members met community partners from high-priority neighborhoods. They discussed community needs and were able to ask them questions. Assembly Members narrowed down ideas for the final ballots.

Session 5

• Assembly Members mapped out the final ideas by population and impact area. This helped ensure that the neighborhoods in each borough were treated equitably. They discussed community needs and established the semi-final ideas for their borough’s ballot. 

Session 6 

• Assembly Members shared what they had learned and which ideas they felt were most needed. After discussing, they voted for the top 10 ideas for their borough’s ballot.