When it came to the New York City Council’s Participatory Budgeting initiative—which lets constituents decide how $1 million in capital monies—one couldn’t find a stauncher advocate than Councilman Andrew Cohen.

But after six years on the Council, and two more years to go as the representative for the 11th Council District, Cohen is no longer running the months long, bureaucratic program.

“It doesn’t feel fresh anymore,” Cohen told the Norwood News in a phone interview.

The process begins in October, lasting through May following meeting upon meeting of what exactly the needs were for the communities Cohen reaches, which include Norwood.

But he kept seeing the same faces repeatedly, wanting a broader group of participants to be involved in the process. Even so, Cohen isn’t completely eradicating from the process’ basic tenets of gauging residents to determine community needs.

“I’m taking the parts that I find really useful, and really of value, and I’m trying not to get caught up in the things that didn’t really work,” said Cohen, of the grassroots input that help guide Cohen’s decision-making toward capital projects.

Just what exactly that looks like remains to be seen, though Cohen has suggested community gatherings to solicit ideas from residents in his district, which covers Norwood, Bedford Park, Riverdale, Fieldston, and Woodlawn.

Past Participatory Budgeting projects included bus countdown clocks, improvements to local libraries, and resurfacing projects. All of the projects underwent vetting by city agencies to determine their feasibility.

Cohen’s colleague in the Council, Ritchie Torres of the 15th Council District, is continuing on with the program that was introduced by former Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito during her tenure in the Council. The program has roots in Brazil, where the question of what to do with taxpayer money was posed to constituents by local governments.