Three municipalities in the Hudson Valley have been awarded state grants totaling $19 million. The City of Poughkeepsie will receive $10 million in funding as the Mid-Hudson winner of the eighth round of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, and the Villages of Nyack and Dobbs Ferry will each receive $4.5 million as the Mid-Hudson winners of the third round of NY Forward.
Poughkeepsie’s Mayor Yvonne Flowers said, “Receiving the Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding is a testament of what collaboration and cooperation looks like among the city administration, Common Council, and our government and community partners.”
Flowers said that the money “will help accelerate the revitalization of our downtown area that has been slowly but steadily rebounding.”
According to Nyack’s Mayor Joseph Rand, “This is an extraordinary day in the 143-year old history of our beautiful village. This revitalization grant of $4.5 million is historically transformative, and will make Nyack a better place to live, to work, and to visit. We are all so thrilled by this wonderful opportunity to give the people of Nyack and Rockland County their best possible lives.”
To receive funding from either the DRI or NY Forward program, localities must be certified under Gov. Hochul’s Pro-Housing Communities Program. It allocates up to $650 million each year in discretionary funds for communities that pledge to increase their housing supply. As of March 12, 287 New York communities were certified as Pro-Housing Communities.
The Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council conducted a review of proposals submitted from various communities before recommending Poughkeepsie, Nyack and Dobbs Ferry as nominees for the grants.
The Development Council’s Co-Chairs Marsha Gordon and Kristine Young said, “This DRI and NY Forward funding will build on the unique assets and beauty of these locations through community-driven plans that will broaden access to housing, expand business opportunities and create a mix of walkable spaces that are accessible and sustainable.”
Hochul’s announcement of the grants noted that Poughkeepsie’s downtown corridor serves as the civic, commercial, entertainment and transportation heart for Dutchess County and much of Mid-Hudson Valley. It noted that Nyack has the energy and diversity of a small city and the intimacy of a small country town. Nyack’s high concentration of subsidized housing ensures a stable working-class population amid a more expensive housing market driven by proximity to New York City. Dobbs Ferry was described as being a village that seeks to fully realize its potential by redeveloping and improving key properties and opening space in the downtown area and the pedestrian corridor linking the Metro-North station to the downtown.
Poughkeepsie, Nyack and Dobbs Ferry will now begin the process of developing their own Strategic Investment Plan to determine the specific projects that they want to see funded.
