Albany's mayoral candidates have a number of ideas about the $400 million for downtown Albany included in Governor Kathy Hochul’s recently passed state budget.
The “Championing Albany’s Potential” Initiative includes $200 million allocated for projects downtown and $150 million for revitalizing the State Museum and other cultural experiences.
The four candidates running in the June 24th primary to replace outgoing three-term Democratic Mayor Kathy Sheehan welcome the cash infusion. But before the next mayor is sworn in, many decisions may have already been made as to how the money will be invested.
Chief City Auditor Dorcey Applyrs says it’s "Albany's moment."
“We can't afford to mess this up, and so it's going to require having the conversations, open lines of communications, leaning into difficult conversations about Albany's future, and making sure that our residents are a part of the conversations," Applyrs said. "There's been a lot of talk about community engagement, and that being, first and foremost, a part of this process of deciding how the funds will be spent. As mayor, it's imperative that our residents are a part of that process, and their goals, dreams and desires are reflected in the plan that's developed, but most importantly, implemented.”
Dan Cerutti says if elected, he'd be deeply involved in the process.
“We can't let this happen to us the way the [Empire State] Plaza and Harriman campus and 787 and those kinds of things did. So I would expect that I'll work hand in hand with ESD and all of the other folks that are involved in this and in some decisions will get made in the next six months, but others will get made after, and the project will continue for, hopefully for years. So I'm not overly concerned about it. I was impressed with the governor's direction to move quickly and come together. I think she's exactly right. So I remain very optimistic about this for the city of Albany,” said Cerutti.
Common Council President Corey Ellis says the record-setting funding is a godsend.
“$200 million for Albany is definitely a game-changer for our city," Ellis said. "That'll lead to bids coming in from developers and other ideas that will attract more people with money, because now they know the state is putting up some money to help invest in Albany. Once that happens, private industries will come. We appreciate it. It's much much overdue.”
Downtown BID Executive Director Georgette Steffens says Empire State Development has selected MIG, a national firm specializing in planning, designing and sustaining environments that support human development, to lead a collaborative planning initiative to revitalize Albany's downtown core. She says the state and MIG will begin the public engagement process in June.
Albany County Legislator Carolyn McLaughlin says she's anxious to see and hear the details around how $200 million will be put to use downtown.
“What that is going to look like at this point in time is still a mystery. The decision makers are still a mystery to me," McLaughlin said. "And I was told that the state would be controlling the decision making, they would be calling in stakeholders from the city to help make that decision. I don't know who the stakeholders [are] , if they've been identified or not. I would certainly believe that the leader of the city would have the opportunity to do that. And I guess whether it should be this current mayor or the next mayor, to me, depends on when they plan on dispersing those funds.”
Steffens says the influx is unprecedented. “It is imperative that we rise to the occasion, that we take advantage of the opportunity that has been laid before us, and really, this effort starts now. We have been working to pull together some ideas or projects that we have been wanting to do for quite some time, but didn't have the funding for. We're working with some of our stakeholders whose projects maybe haven't moved forward quite yet, and with this additional funding, might be able to move forward. We are actively going to be working on communicating all of the public engagement opportunities. The governor has prioritized a robust engagement process,” said Steffens.
Steffens did not reveal the names of the stakeholders or the projects in need of funding. MIG did not immediately return a call for comment.
