New Hyde Park Requests $185K in 2013 Community Funding

The Village of New Hyde Park will be applying for $185,000 in community development block grants to help residents and make capital improvements aground the village.

Every year a pool of Federal money known as community development block grant funds are made available to villages like New Hyde Park in order to improve the lives of residents in both public and private spaces.

This year – the 39th year of the program – New Hyde Park is applying for $185,000 total in block grant funding: $25,000 for residential rehabilitation for seniors who need work done in their homes that qualify, $110,000 for commercial rehabilitation throughout the village to improve signage and facades and $50,000 for PF&I to help complete the Jericho Turnpike streetscaping project. The village must apply for the amount each year and does not necessarily receive the amount for which they apply.

The village has typically requested anywhere from between $100,000 to $1 million in block grant funds over the years.

“One of the things that’s helped us over the years is the fact that we have a plan in place, a concrete plan with a lot of fixed ideas that just need money,”  mayor Daniel Petruccio said during a hearing Tuesday night at the village hall, adding that “once we finalize our program and our plans on Jericho, we’d be looking for a similar amount total but maybe reshifting some of the money more towards (commercial).”

The $110,000 in commercial rehabilitation is a larger sum than the village has requested in previous years according to trustee Donald Barbieri.

“We think we have the money set aside to complete the Jericho Turnpike project, which should begin in the next month or so,” he said.

As part of the application, the village is required to hold an annual hearing to discuss how they would use Community Development Block Grant funds for the next calendar year, which the village board did during a work session on March 26 at the village hall.

Described as “Federal passthroughs,” the moneys are federal funds which are then distributed through the county government to the local municipalities. The Federal funds are distributed to the Department of Housing and Governmental Affairs of Nassau County and are administered to municipalities on a need basis.

The $25,000 requested for residential rehabilitation throughout the village will be used to maintain the stock of “safe and affordable housing” and can be used towards windows, boilers and roofs, etc. Grants are based on need and are determined by income.

Get New Hyde Park news on Facebook