$62 Million Coming to Long Island for a Plethora of Projects

On Thursday, New York announced that Long Island would receive $62 million in grants for economic development projects all over the area.

The projects were proposed by the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council -- one of many across the state that seeks projects that will help create jobs and revitalize the area. Citizens, municipalities, businesses and groups across the island submitted projects, and some of them were selected for funding.

"Through the Regional Economic Development Councils, we have replaced the 'one-size fits all' approach to economic growth with a 'ground-up' strategy that focuses on cooperation and investing in regional assets to generate opportunity," Cuomo said. "By bringing together ideas from local government and community leaders with state resources, we are giving these councils the tools to create jobs and drive economic activity in their communities for generations to come."

The $62 million for Long Island will help fund 101 projects across both Nassau and Suffolk counties. In Nassau, the largest award was $1 million to the county, which will be used to construct three pedestrian bridges to connect the HUB (where the Coliseum sits) to Nassau Community College and Hofstra University.

Other projects include:

• $775,000 to the City of Long Beach to design and build improvements on Park Avenue to make the city's downtown more storm resilient. The planned improvements include permeable pavement utility strips, stormwater treatment, solar street lights, streetscaping and wayfinding signs. The project will mitigate stormwater flooding, revitalize the downtown, generate economic activity, and also enhance the quality of life by making the city more pedestrian friendly.
• $500,000 for Hofstra University to create a Consumer Behavior Market Research Lab in the business school.
• $500,000 for the Feinstein Research Institute For Medical Research in Manhasset to create a new laboratory to develop new medical devices and technologies.
• Nearly $400,000 for the Nassau County Police Department to improve the record-keeping software of the 18 local police departments in the county and link their records to the county department's.
• $300,000 for a partnership between the LGBT Network and the City of Long Beach to create "Pride on the Beach," a three-day Pride celebration that will hopefully bring tourism to the city.
• $104,000 for Adelphi University to create a health sciences teaching laboratory to train students in STEM careers.

There are many more projects across both Nassau and Suffolk counties. For the full list of projects, click here.

Photo: Governor Cuomo's Office