MIDDLETOWN – Governor Andrew M. Cuomo Thursday announced that Downtown Middletown was selected as the winner of the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative in the Mid-Hudson region. The Downtown Revitalization Initiative, first laid out in the Governor’s 2016 State of the State address, marks a comprehensive plan to transform local neighborhoods into vibrant communities where the next generation of New Yorkers will want to live and work.
The winner was selected as part of a competitive process by the Mid-Hudson’s Regional Economic Development Council and will receive $10 million in state funding to revitalize the local neighborhood and generate new opportunities for long-term growth and prosperity. The award will include up to $300,000 in planning funds for private sector experts to work with a local planning committee to draft a Strategic Investment Plan that will identify specific economic development, transportation, and housing and community projects.
“They have a lot of building blocks in place already,” Cuomo said. “The city, itself, invested over $60 million in infrastructure. You have Touro College coming in. You have the expansion of the community college. You have the Clemson Brewery. You have over one million square feet of available space. So, we think there’s a very high likelihood of success here; plus, the leadership proved themselves very capable. So, we think the money is actually going to have a dramatic impact.”
The governor added that the state will not, as it has done in the past, insist on how the money will be spent. That will be up to the city and a planning committee, for which $300,000 of the $10 million will be earmarked.
Mayor Joseph DeStefano said the city is looking to multiple areas to do anything they legally can for improvement with the money. That, he said, would include infrastructure, looking to bring a satellite of the Orange County Accelerator to the city, and green infrastructure.
“We’re looking at ourselves the hub for the greater Middletown area and I think that was enticing to the governor’s path is that we’re not just looking at Downtown Middletown, that’s going to happen: the transportation center, the recreation facilities that are planned, the Heritage Trail, all these things are in operation, and this money will help fund some of those, but the bigger picture is: how do we connect all of these projects for the benefit of the whole region and we’re doing that,” said DeStefano.
The grant is part of a $100 million effort to improve the urban vitality of city centers across the state. Plans will be completed by early 2017.
![](https://hudsonvalleypress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/HVCU_Dec2024.jpg")
![](https://hudsonvalleypress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/WaldenSavingsBank1.jpg")
