By GREGORY ZELLER //
From the Better Late Than Never File come Riverhead Town and the Village of Amityville, Long Island winners of Albany’s annual Downtown Revitalization Initiative.
Make that kinda-annual: The matching $10 million awards, announced Thursday by Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, are actually part of the 2021 DRI program, which began doling out regional awards late last year. The announcement of the Long Island winners – the very last winners to be announced this round – was delayed by the statewide surge in COVID-19 levels, according to insiders.
And that’s after COVID fritzed the 2020 awards program completely, making the 2021 awards the fifth funding round since the DRI launched in 2016.
This year, the competition added a new wrinkle: Instead of awarding a $10 million prize to one downtown in each of the state’s 10 economic zones, judges could choose between two $10 million awards or one $20 million mega-prize in each zone.
Only one competitive application – creating a vibrant downtown for Manhattan’s historic Chinatown neighborhood – was selected for a one-and-done $20 million score. In each of Albany’s nine other economic zones, two applications enjoyed $10 million wins, including proposals to remake downtown Riverhead and downtown Amityville.
Space race: More green, open spaces factor into the Village of Amityville’s downtown plan.
Leveraging its unique waterfront and historic charm, Amityville is looking to create a premier downtown destination. It has already completed new pedestrian and bike lanes and multiple residential and mixed-use developments; village officials are now looking to revitalize Amityville’s Long Island Rail Road station and expand its downtown green space.
Riverhead’s long-stymied downtown is also angling to become a vibrant recreation, shopping and tourist destination, with a revitalized Peconic River waterfront as a main draw. New and improved public gathering spaces are on tap via the DRI award, along with better pedestrian/bike access and safety.
Riverhead Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar expressed “sincere gratitude” to state economic officials for backing what would essentially be a “new town square.”
“The governor and the Empire State Development Corp. saw our vision in our ‘Transformative, Reimagining Riverhead’ plan,” Aguiar said in a statement. “Through this grant, the vision will soon become a reality.”
Amityville Mayor Dennis Siry noted an “exciting time for the Village of Amityville.”
“This $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding will go a long way toward helping Amityville residents and businesses flourish by investing in infrastructure and creating more public spaces,” the mayor said Thursday.
The Long Island Regional Economic Development Council, one of 10 EDCs around the state, conducted a comprehensive review of proposals submitted from communities across Long Island for the 2021 competition. The LIREDC considered several key criteria – the ability to catalyze future investment, job-growth potential, shovel-ready projects and a “compact” downtown with “well-defined boundaries” chief among them.
In the end, Riverhead and Amityville – perennial Long Island also-rans in the annual DRI competition, which has previously awarded Westbury (in 2016), Hicksville (in 2017), Central Islip (in 2018) and Baldwin (in 2019) – checked all the boxes
“Amityville and Riverhead both play important roles in the overall economic health of Long Island,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday. “I have no doubt that with this funding, they won’t only recover from the impacts of COVID-19, but will flourish in the long term.”
