Opportunity for Municipalities

Governor Kathy Hochul announced that $200 million in funding is available through the State’s two signature downtown revitalization and economic development programs — $100 million each for Round 7 of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and Round 2 of the NY Forward program, which focuses on revitalizing smaller and rural downtowns.

The DRI was created in 2016 to accelerate and expand the revitalization of downtowns and neighborhoods in all ten regions of the state to serve as centers of activity and catalysts for investment.  Building on the success of the DRI, NY Forward invigorates and enlivens downtowns in New York’s smaller and rural communities – the type of downtowns found in villages, hamlets and other small, neighborhood-scale municipal centers.

Together, the two programs have awarded $800 million in funding to 93 communities across every region of the state. Applications are available on the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and NY Forward websites. The deadline to apply is September 29 at 4 p.m