HUD Funding Through NY State Benefits Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow

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February 2, 2016

by Robert Kimmel

Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow are among 10 Westchester communities that will receive a total of $4.3 million in federal grants previously blocked because of a dispute between County Executive Rob Astorino’s administration and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office announced late last month that a deal had been “brokered” with HUD through the state, with the help of Congresswoman Nita Lowey and Congressman Eliot Engel to free up the Community Block Grant funds.

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“This funding allows more than a dozen crucial development projects in Westchester to get off the ground and ultimately improve the local communities,” Cuomo said.

HUD had withdrawn the grants, claiming Westchester had not been in compliance with federal Fair Housing laws in meeting the terms of a 2009 affordable housing lawsuit. Last year, Astorino withdrew the county from managing the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. He has maintained that Westchester was ahead of schedule in building affordable housing, and that further adherence to HUD’s demands would interfere with local zoning laws, the target of HUD’s non-compliance charges.

New York State’s Homes and Community Renewal Agency reviewed applications for the grants with local officials and after scoring and ranking the applications, recommended the grants be made to the selected communities.

Sleepy Hollow will receive more than $400,000 in funding. Of that amount, $340,925 will go toward the replacement of “ …47 dilapidated and unsafe streetlights on Beekman Avenue, the business district, including upgrading base footings, conduit, wiring, poles and LED lights.”

The second grant to Sleepy Hollow, of $62,292, will be used “… to purchase an accessible van to transport seniors to essential services and recreational events.” It is estimated that this will benefit 1,263 people.

Tarrytown will receive a grant of $203,400, “to make improvements to the Village’s Senior Center, including: heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems.” The grant release states that, “The project will benefit the 297 members of the Senior Center, all of whom have low to moderate incomes.”

HUD’s Regional Administrator, Holly Leicht “applauded” Cuomo and Lowey “for their leadership in forging a path that allows federal funds to pay for critically important housing, infrastructure and economic development projects in ten Westchester localities.”

Lowey praised Cuomo as “…a great partner with me in reaching an agreement to award substantial federal CDBG funds to Westchester municipalities who lost this valuable resource in recent years.”

“I applaud Governor Cuomo for using these federal dollars for valuable projects that will strengthen local communities throughout Westchester,” Engel stated.
The other municipalities receiving the grant funding are Elmsford, the towns of Greenburgh and Bedford, Rye, both the Village and Town of Mount Kisco, the Village of Ossining, Port Chester, and the City of Peekskill.

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