Mayor Flowers Delivers State of the City Speech

POUGHKEEPSIE – Mayor Yvonne Flowers delivered the State of the City Address Friday night at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House, citing a string of funding and project successes in her first year in office that have continued into 2025.

Flowers’ speech came after last week’s announcement by the state of a $10 million grant to the city through the Downtown Revitalization Initiative program. That money can go to various development projects, streetscape improvements, facade renovations and much more in the downtown area.

“We’ve made tremendous strides in first 15 months – ending a longstanding budget deficit, securing the DRI grant, helping to create a Business Improvement District, obtaining money for housing initiatives and lead pipe replacements, upgrading several parks and so much more,” Mayor Flowers said.

The Flowers administration has focused on working with partners on housing options addressing the homeless issue, spurring economic development and seeking more grants for the city, securing approximately $40 million in state and federal funding in her first 15 months office.

“We have completed years of work by approving a new comprehensive plan – the blueprint for how we want the city to grow – and making citywide updates to the zoning code. This has ended a hodgepodge of regulations, modernizing the code and specifically showing residents and developers what is permissible under the law,” Mayor Flowers said.

“This came after heaps of public outreach and meetings. Now is the time for those who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the city to act to recognize the measures that are in place, the cohesion is there, to undertake projects that provide additional housing opportunities in the city and create new businesses that can employ our residents and help us grow our tax base.”

The mayor also thanked the Common Council for moving these key initiatives forward and for their cooperative efforts with the administration, citing this week’s approval of the Businesses Improvement District.

In this geographic area — which will include parts of Main Street and neighboring streets — property owners are willing to do their part, to be charged a special assessment to help promote and improve the business landscape. The BID will decide what avenues to pursue, whether they be focusing on street beautification, enhancing public safety, and/or organizing events that bring people to the district.

Further focusing on the city’s downtown, the mayor said, “We have cleaned up several vacant lots on Main Street, including right across the street from the Public Safety Building and are working with property owners and community partners to improve the area. We have removed trees and carted away volumes of debris from these sites so they can longer be easily used as encampments by our unhoused population.”

She cited the work of Police and Public Works Departments and city partners, including Dutchess County, Hudson River Housing, Mental Health America of Dutchess County and other nonprofit agencies for helping to make improvements to these areas and to coordinate services, particularly for the unhoused and those in need of drug rehabilitation and mental health services.

She also noted the city has gathered these key stakeholders and others for monthly meetings to ensure they are in sync on strategies and to discuss and analyze what is working and what needs improving.

The mayor also pointed to the administration’s excellent start by being named one of the state’s first “Pro-Housing Communities,” giving it priority consideration over New York localities not in the program. Several projects have received a total of nearly $10 million from the state as a result of the city’s designation.

“I will continue to push for more pathways to homeownership and opportunities to create generational wealth,” she said.

The city also has been awarded a $500,000 planning grant by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop a community-driven transformation plan for the city’s Northside neighborhood. This will focus on revitalizing the Thurgood Marshall Terrace and Martin Luther King, Jr., Garden Apartments in partnership with residents and the Poughkeepsie Housing Authority.

“I’m elated to say Poughkeepsie was selected as one of only 13 communities across the country to be awarded the planning grant – and the only one in New York State.”

The city, in partnership with PHA, will work with the residents, local organizations, service providers, city departments, Poughkeepsie City School District, the Poughkeepsie Children’s Cabinet Dutchess County Government and more to develop the plan.

The city has about two years to complete the transformation blueprint and be eligible for additional funding for implementation.

Turning her attention to waterfront issues, the mayor said her administration was going to “reignite the process” of getting a development deal at the DeLaval site, the last parcel with undeveloped acres on the city’s waterfront. The site offers beautiful views of the Hudson River and the Highland bluffs of Franny Reese Park, and the mayor said the city will put out a Request for Proposals later this year for the DeLaval parcel.

The city is looking for compatible riverside uses — including water-related recreational activities, an amphitheater, restaurants, stores, docks — to create more destinations on the southern waterfront.

“We have no doubt that redeveloping the DeLaval site will infuse the city with more income, helping to keep our finances strong after years of struggling,” she said. “Gone are the days of a $13.2 million general fund deficit, replaced now by a balanced budget and with movement toward creating a fund balance that we would need to nurture and grow over time.”

Summing up the work of first responders, the mayor pointed to the Police Department’s continued use of new technology, the Fire Department going after grants to secure new equipment, and the service provided through a contract with Empress Ambulance Service that has reduced mutual aid calls, response times and delays in transport.

“I am proud to report today that the city is now performing as one of the best municipalities in the county when it comes to Emergency Medical Services,” she said.

The mayor said the city will soon announce the recipients of more than $300,000 in Youth Activities & Opportunities Grant funds that go to athletic clubs, art activities, education and workforce programs.

And, following last year’s successful completion of the Pulaski Pool House project, Mayor Flowers announced major renovations will be made to the Spratt Park Pool House in the fall, after the pool season is over to cause as few disruptions as possible.