Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI)
Rensselaer Congratulates Catskill, Greenwich and Athens
(Rensselaer, NY – March 13, 2025) The City of Rensselaer congratulates the Villages of Catskill, Greenwich and Athens for being the Capital Region recipients of Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) and NY Forward Program grants for 2025. As recently announced by Governor Hochul the Village of Catskill will receive $10 Million for their DRI program; and the Village of Greenwich and Village of Athens will each receive $4.5 Million for their NY Forward programs.
To receive funding from either the DRI or NY Forward program, localities must be certified under Governor Hochul's Pro-Housing Communities Program — an innovative policy created to recognize and reward municipalities actively working to unlock their housing potential. “Rensselaer is also a Pro-Housing Community and we did apply for DRI funding but this was not our year,” said Rensselaer Mayor Michael Stammel.
Within each region of New York State, the Regional Economic Development Council conducts a thorough and competitive review of proposals submitted from communities throughout the region and considers all criteria before recommending these communities as nominees. The City of Rensselaer Common Council participated in the application development process along with a Community Steering Committee, the Planning Commission and Zoning Board and the City of Rensselaer Industrial Development Agency.
Over the next few weeks representatives from the city and the City of Rensselaer Industrial Development Agency will get together with the sponsors of projects that were included in the DRI application to discuss how the city can assist them in moving their projects forward. “We will continue to go after grant funding in the future and, with the assistance of CRIDA, we have several incentive and economic development loan programs that we can offer to assist projects in getting to the finish line,” added Mayor Stammel.
Rensselaer’s efforts will likely include another application for Downtown Revitalization Initiative as well as other grant programs that become available. The Common Council also just voted to submit a Brownfield Opportunity Area Revitalization Plan, called Rensselaer Rising, that was led by the Planning Department and also included significant community support, to New York State for consideration. Receiving a BOA designation from New York State will provide assistance to the City of Rensselaer in developing vacant and underutilized properties.
“We are all committed to working together for the betterment of Rensselaer and the Planning Department and CRIDA are taking the lead on these initiatives,” concluded Stammel.
