The City of Port Jervis is the big winner in the state’s sixth round of Downtown Revitalization Invitation grants having received a $10M check. Governor Kathy Hochul made the announcement while in White Plains on Tuesday with another $4.5 million in grants for the Town and Village of Cornwall.
Other state grants were announced for the region on Tuesday.
Port Jervis Mayor Kelly Decker said the grant “will tremendously revitalize and invigorate our small city on the banks of the Delaware, Port Jervis.” He called the grant the “icing on the cake” in the rebirth of the city.
Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus called the county grants “transformative” and said they will be used for tourism, recreational and community enhancements.
These grants come from $100 M budgeted to NY Forward which is a
component of the State’s economic development efforts, working together with DRI to accelerate and expand the revitalization of New York’s downtowns. The program serves smaller communities with historic character that distinguishes them from the larger, more urban central business districts typically funded through DRI. NY Forward communities are walkable, less dense areas that serve the immediate local community, and are more local in nature - focusing on the immediately surrounding residential or rural agricultural centric development.
Like DRI, each NY Forward community will develop a Strategic Investment Plan to revitalize its downtown through a slate of readily implementable projects. The Department of State will provide enhanced technical assistance to better support smaller communities that may have less capacity as part of the NY Forward program and fund projects appropriately scaled to the size of each community. Projects may include building renovation and redevelopment, new construction or creation of new or improved public spaces and other projects that elevate specific cultural, historical qualities that enhance the feeling of small-town charm.
The grant also including funding for the 17Forward86 improvements of the superhighway from southern Orange County to the greater Monticello area.
Port Jervis joins Middletown, Kingston, New Rochelle, Peekskill, Haverstraw and Ossining, which were Mid-Hudson region’s winners in the first five DRI rounds.
Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council Chairwomen Dr. Kristine Young, president of SUNY Orange, and Marsha Gordon, president of the Business Council of Westchester, said in a joint statement, “The Downtown Revitalization Initiative transforms downtown neighborhoods into attractive destinations, bringing new life to the heart of a community that becomes a magnet for residents, visitors and businesses.”
Source: Mid-Hudson News
Comments