The People's Money (2022-2023)
Your Money, Your Community, Your Voice.
What problem would you like to solve?
The East Side Coastal Resiliency project has closed off most of East River Park, but area residents do not know how long their park will remain closed, whether work is on track and what to expect ahead. There is barely any visible progress on the site. Most residents cannot tell whether work is proceeding or if this is, as some activists feared, a hollow project created to benefit construction firms and developers.
Why is it important to solve? Why is it relevant for the community
The East River Coastal Resiliency project is essential to help the city deal with the consequences of climate change. But its lack of transparency is draining trust in local government, especially after the project's controversial beginnings. Unless the government is open about its plans, progress and challenges, it will continue to face withering opposition when asking New Yorkers to make sacrifices to help protect the city from climate change.
What idea do you have to address the problem?
Create a publicly accessible, online tool that allows New Yorkers to see each step of the plan, why it is necessary, what it is expected to cost, whether the work is on track, whether it is within budget and when the city expects each step to be completed.
The tool would be written in plain language, free of construction jargon, so residents can understand why each step is important and perhaps even see it when they go by the park.
It would be updated weekly and feature a Gantt chart in which residents can clearly see progress thus far, work left to be done and updates on the project's timeline.
Who would that help?
It would help area residents understand the work so they no longer feel as if they're at the mercy of government officials and their contractors.
It would help the city by demonstrating good faith, perhaps easing some of the rancor of the contentious onset of the project, and building trust that the city can draw upon when embarking on new climate resiliency projects.
What NYC borough would benefit from your idea?
Manhattan, with possible benefits for other boroughs when they are asked to make sacrifices to protect against climate change.
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