About the Urban Initiatives Program

The purpose of the Urban Initiatives program is to provide financial/technical resources to New York communities for the restoration and improvement of housing, commercial areas and public/community facilities in urban neighborhoods. This program will provide grants to not-for-profit community based organizations and charitable organizations that have a direct interest in improving the health, safety and economic viability of a distressed urban neighborhood or other aspects of the area environment that are related to community preservation or renewal activities.

Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants include not-for-profit corporations or charitable organizations, organized for a period of one or more years, which are either incorporated under the not-for-profit corporation law (together with any other applicable law) or, if unincorporated, are not organized for the private profit or benefit of its members and have been engaged primarily in community preservation activities and will serve a population with incomes at 80% or below the median annual income of all residents of the municipality within which they reside, taking family size into account.

Eligible Activities

1. Creation, preservation or improvement of residential housing units in a neighborhood.
   
   
2. Preservation or improvement of local commercial facilities and public facilities or other aspects of the area environment which include as part of the project the creation, preservation or improvement of residential housing units in a neighborhood. The Urban Initiatives program provides applicants flexibility in determining the exact nature of their revitalization efforts and program priorities.

Eligible Areas

Neighborhood - An area within a municipality identified by recognized or established boundaries consistent with a determination of neighborhood eligibility under article sixteen of the NYS Private Housing Finance Law and having a population of 53,000 or more.