The New York Department of State's statewide tour promoting two of its flagship economic development programs came to Schenectady Monday.
Appearing at the GE Theatre in downtown Schenectady, New York Deputy Secretary of State Kisha Santiago hailed the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and the New York Forward programs as "the cure to a failed Urban Renewal Policy."
"And the reason for that," Santiago said, "is because at its core, these programs focus on people, communities, and a real partnership with the state. And so what we're doing here today is helping to bring together previous awardees, members of the private sector that have been a part of so many communities transformations, so that new communities can learn from them, what they can do to be successful, what they should be doing right now. And so that we can bring more technical assistance to all the local leaders and their partners."
Santiago says the forum gives civic leaders and stakeholders the opportunity to compare notes as they gather advice and insights from one another. She says the DRI thus far has invested a total of $1 billion in 124 downtowns. She praised the city of Albany's Skyway project linking downtown to the Hudson Riverfront. Democratic Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan served as president of the New York Conference of Mayors this past year.
“I was able to travel to a lot of communities and see how they were able to take advantage of DRI funding, and really stay true to their communities, whether those were small villages or, like ours, a defined area within a larger city. And so I think hearing more about that today will help to inspire people to really create applications that reflect the communities that they represent,” Sheehan said.
In November 2019 Schenectady was awarded $10 million in DRI funding Democratic Mayor Gary McCarthy says was directed toward "connectivity."
“Schenectady revitalization really started here at Proctor's with the expansion of the stage which allowed for the Broadway touring shows," McCarthy said. "We systematically built out downtown and then did a major project for the revitalization of the old ALCO site, which sat vacant and abandoned underutilized for over half a century. So we have a casino there, have apartments, have businesses, mixed use waterfront development, we’ve created a harbor. So we're utilizing the canal system to attract people create opportunities for recreation, and also support commerce.”
Jeff Buell of Redburn Development says he loves the DRI program.
“Locally in Schenectady, we were able to create 85 units of housing and rehabilitate a completely vacant 65,000 square foot building into medical office space that saved and brought in a couple 100 workers into Downtown Schenectady at a time where troubled office space is like the narrative, right. And so to be able to take a vacant office building and do that, I think it's a monster win for Schenectady,” Buell said.
Santiago kicked off the forum with encouraging words for the participants.
"So as we take stock of the past and present successes, we must always look to the future so that these programs and the communities they serve, can continue to flourish. And that is the very reason why we're holding this forum here today, and to ensure that a pipeline of quality applications with quality projects will proceed well into the future. every community, every project, every group of community leaders has a unique story to tell," Santiago said.
