New York State Awards $3.5 Million for Infrastructure Funding to Glen Cove Waterfront and Downtown Village Square Project

On Decemb 11, 2013, New York State announced the eagerly anticipated Consolidated Funding Application awards for each of the 10 economic development regions designated by Governor Cuomo over three years ago.

Long Island took home the top prize on Dec. 19 , of Top Awardee, 
with $83 million in total funding awards. Glen Cove took home $3.5 million between the $1 million awarded to the Piazza mixed-use redevelopment in the downtown and the $2.5 million award for the Reconstruction of Herb Hill/Garvies Point Road, the critical infrastructure project linking the downtown to the $1 billion waterfront mixed-use redevelopment project known as “Garvies Point.”

The reconstruction of the roadway, also known as the Waterfront Connector, 
has been the focus of coordination efforts between Mayor Ralph V. Suozzi, along with CDA/IDA Executive Director K. Kelly Morris with the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council and Long Island Regional Planning Council, who designated the City’s downtown and waterfront redevelopment areas as a “Project of Regional Significance” in 2011.

Kelly Morris has been a member of the LI REDC Infrastructure Working Group for three years and presented the project earlier this year to the LI REDC.

“Having the opportunity to work closely with the regional council throughout this process has been a tremendous asset to the project and to the City,” she said. 

Following the presentation and submission of the Connector as a “Transformative 
Project” earlier this year, the grant application was written and submitted to the State, with the Regional Council recommending the project for award.

In regard to the award, Mayor Ralph Suozzi stated: “This grant award ties together economic development initiatives critical to the City’s rebirth as a waterfront community and a regional destination. This grant would not have been possible without the City’s redevelopment team, the leadership of Kelly Morris, the 
expertise of Ann Fangmann, from D&B Engineers and Architects who authored the application and to the State of New York for their continued commitment and support to Glen Cove and the economic development opportunities recognized in these projects.”

Currently undergoing Final Design, the Road is set to break ground in early 2015, concurrent with Phase I of the Garvies Point Mixed-Use Redevelopment on the waterfront.