The deadline to submit project ideas for NY Forward just passed, and Mineola is well on its way to revitalizing the downtown area.

NY Forward was launched by Governor Kathy Hochul in 2022 to support downtown revitalization for New York’s smaller communities, with a focus on hamlets, villages, and neighborhood-scale commercial centers. Through the NYF program, smaller downtowns will receive planning and implementation support needed to attract more businesses, residents, and visitors, while also providing a higher quality of life for all residents.​ Mineola is one of the two winners in the Long Island region, and has been awarded $4.5M from the state toward improvements that will help transform the downtown area.

“The New York Forward program uses the same model for economic growth as the successful Downtown Revitalization Initiative but is tailored for smaller communities,” said Secretary of State Walter Mosley. “As a winner of $4.5 million, Mineola now has the tools they need to reimagine their downtown, enhance the quality of life, draw more visitors, and spur economic development for all its residents and visitors to enjoy.”

The NYF planning process is led by a Local Planning Committee, which is comprised of local and regional leaders, stakeholders, and community representatives intended to represent diverse interests. Paul Pereira, mayor of Mineola and co-chair of the committee, said the money is not just for the village, nor just the public, but also for private property owners, residents and business owners.

“Anyone who applied and has a great idea, if it works, they will probably end up getting money,” Pereira said.

The deadline to submit all of the project ideas was on Aug. 19. The village submitted its public project ideas and there have been a half a dozen additional private project ideas. Pereira said the cost of those projects have ranged from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Pereira said the focus of New York Forward, to him personally, is to send the money straight into downtown revitalization. He said he wants to focus on the down-street core of Second Street, Main Street, and First Street by having streetscape enhancements, traffic mobility and pedestrian accessibility. This part of the village, he said, he wants to be “more of a destination.”

“The program is to revitalize the downtown or any specific areas that the village wants to revitalize,” Mercedes Padilla, public information officer at the NY Department of State, said. “The $4 million is a starting point that can bring a mix of public and private investments so that amount can grow exponentially in some areas.”

The state will bring in urban planners and engineers to evaluate all of the project proposals. Then the planning committee will meet to vote on which proposals get sent to the state. The next committee meeting will take place on Sept. 9 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Mineola Community Center.

“The LPC determines which projects are in line with our vision that we came up with and then the state will decide which projects they will fund,” Pereira said.

Pereira said all of the submitted projects will total well over $4.5 million.

“We know that we’re not going to get everything we asked for, but we’re going to ask for the stars and the moon and settle for the sky,” Pereira said.

Pereira said the committee will continue to meet once a month through December and then vote on which projects to send to the state. Pereira said the state will then evaluate the proposals in March or April and then decide which projects will get funded.