NY Forward

Governor Hochul announced the creation of the NY Forward program to invigorate and enliven downtowns in New York’s smaller and rural communities—the type of downtowns found in villages, hamlets and other small, neighborhood-scale municipal centers. NY Forward builds on the success of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) by adopting the same “Plan-then-Act” strategy as the DRI.

Advancing the Renaissance of Our Smaller Downtowns NY Forward Round 3

Governor Hochul announced the third round of the NY Forward program, a program targeted at revitalizing smaller and rural communities. This year, NYF will again invest $100 million. Each of the State’s ten Regional Economic Development Councils (REDCs) will have the option of recommending two communities for $4.5 million NY Forward awards, bringing the total amount of funding allocated for all rounds of DRI and NYF to $1.2 billion.

Application

Brochure

CFA Portal

Intent to Apply

Participant Resources

Capacity-Building Webinars

A series of educational webinars providing municipalities with an overview of downtown revitalization and the steps required to renew and restore their downtowns. Click the link below to view recordings and register for upcoming webinars.

Webinars

Decarbonization

The DRI and NYF programs encourage decarbonization at all scales ranging from individual buildings to community-wide decarbonization initiatives. Click the link below to view decarbonization requirements and resources.

Decarbonization

Plan-Then-Act Strategy How NYF Works

Selection

Communities submit applications to the REDCs. Each REDC nominates two or three communities to participate after a thorough evaluation of the downtown’s potential for transformation.

Planning

Selected communities will develop a Strategic Investment Plan that includes a vision for the downtown and a catalogue of transformative projects, based on community outreach and input. That plan forms the foundation for immediate and ongoing project implementation.

Implementation

NY Forward awards will be used to implement the most transformative projects from the Strategic Investment Plan. Additional projects may be implemented through the CFA or other funding source.

Advancing the Renaissance of Our Smaller Downtowns NY Forward Round 2

In 2023, Governor Hochul announced the second round of the NY Forward program, a program targeted at revitalizing smaller and rural communities. For round two of NYF, the State invested another $100 million in NYF awards; bringing the total amount of funding allocated for all rounds of DRI and NYF to $1 billion.

Invigorating New York’s Smaller and Rural Communities Past Winners

Round 1

Round One Winners