presented by Vision Long Island and the Long Island Main Street Alliance

August 28th, 2020

Quotes of Day

	“We went from enjoying the longest economic expansion in history to a virtual shutdown of the economy." - NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli
	“The economic hardship that all businesses are facing this year is incomparable, and [the theater] industry seems to be last in line to reopen. Time is of the essence for us, and it’s ticking away.” - Anne Stampfel, co-owner of the Malverne Cinema
	“When we first thought about doing Split the Bill our goal was to say we know that people are really being impacted by this pandemic and the people that are going to feel it the most are on main street. They will be the ones to crumble first. Our goal is to drive people to these areas.” - Randi Sidgmore, trustee at Sidgmore Family Foundation
	“We are planning to build 150 free market apartments, with a 10% affordable component which will be broken up into three different sectors of area median income (AMI), 40%, 60%, and 80%, with an additional two units above that are at 120% AMI, which is considered workforce housing.” - Joe Rossi, Southern Land Company
	“In the end, it all comes down to one thing, enter early with the community. Don't bring them in when it's too late, when the opposition forms, because you didn't tell them what you were thinking of doing. They need to be part of the authorship of what happens. When you do that, you end up getting as much, if not more, than what you originally asked for. The reason is because most people are reasonable, just given that opportunity early on. I promise you, the successes on Long Island will continue.” - Don Monti, Renaissance Downtowns

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The 2020 Long Island Smart Growth Awards will be held virtually on September 3rd at noon. Vision has begun delivering the awards to projects and individuals on site. We will be spotlighting each honoree in our upcoming newsletters.

The next three are summarized here:

Split the Bill NY, Sidgmore Family Foundation - Regional Leadership

Thursday, August 20th, Vision Long Island traveled to the Village of Farmingdale for stop number 13 of the 2020 Long Island Smart Growth Award tour to present the Regional Leadership award to the Sidgmore Family Foundation in recognition of Split the Bill NY.

Split the Bill NY is a not-for-profit launched this past May by the Sidgmore Family Foundation to help the Long Island hospitality industry survive the effects of COVID-19. The mission of the non-profit is to support local restaurants, their hardworking employees and the community during times of economic hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The program reimburses 50% of a diner’s restaurant receipt, up to $30 per order, when ordering takeout, delivery, drive-through or dine-in from partnering restaurants. “Split the Bill” launched in Farmingdale in May, with 20 restaurants signed up to be part of its pilot program. It was wildly popular.

“We are here in Farmingdale to recognize a foundation that has advanced a very innovative program called Split the Bill,” announced Eric Alexander, Director of Vision Long Island. “When philanthropic foundations step up and support people, particularly through a difficult time like coronavirus, that’s so important.” Mr. Alexander continued, “The Split the Bill program essentially provides resources and dollars for local businesses. It really has been a lifeline to small businesses in Farmingdale, Valley Stream, Westbury and Hempstead.”

Village of Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand was on hand to give testimony to this program. “The Sigdmore Family Foundation brought $20,000 into Farmingdale in just two days,” Mayor Ekstrand advised. “We thank the Foundation for this.” Local business owner John Kanaras of Whiskey Down Diner expressed how helpful the program has been to his businesses. “This program not only helped us, but all of the businesses on Main Streat. It was obviously tough times with everything going on. We were building up slowly and this program helped tremendously to accelerate that build up.”

“When we first thought about doing Split the Bill,” Randi Sidgmore, trustee at Sidgmore Family Foundation, stated, “our goal was to say we know that people are really being impacted by this pandemic and the people that are going to feel it the most are on main street. They will be the ones to crumble first. Our goal is to drive people to these areas.”

Jeff Gelbwaks and Jessica Gelbwaks accepted the award on behalf of the Foundation. Called the Dynamic Duo by both Mayor Ekstrand and Mr. Alexander, the Gelbwaks were the driving force behind implementing the program. “We reached out to Eric early on because we knew his devotion to the downtowns runs so deep,” Mr. Gelbwaks stated. “The local mayors and local politicians are so connected to their constituents and they care so deeply for the businesses in the local downtowns. It would be nice if we could find other people to join us in providing dollars to these small independent restaurants that may not have access to government assistance.”

“It’s been such a pleasure doing this,” concluded Jessica Gelbwaks. “Our goal has always been and continues to be to help out local restaurants. We hope to keep expanding this program as much as possible.” She stated, “We have heard such wonderful feedback, we hope we can keep doing it.”

You can view the award ceremony here.

555 Stewart Ave Garden City, Southern Land Company - Housing Choices

Wednesday, August 26th, Vision Long Island traveled to the Village of Garden City for stop number 14 of the 2020 Long Island Smart Growth Award tour to present the Housing Choices award to the Southern Land Company for its rental development project at 555 Stewart Avenue, Garden City.

This past month, Garden City Village Board of Trustees unanimously approved the final site plan submitted by the Southern Land Company for the construction of a 150-unit residence, that will include two buildings at four stories each, inclusive of 15 affordable housing units, located at 555 Stewart Ave. This project consists of 66 one-bedroom units, 72 two-bedroom units and 12 three-bedroom units. The 4.65 acre site, located on the north side of Stewart Avenue, has been vacant for decades. 

“Today we are in the Village of Garden City with a very unique project,” Eric Alexander, Director of Vision Long Island, stated. “We are talking about affordable housing in the Village of Garden City, which hasn’t happened in my life time.” 

“This award focuses on housing choices. Long Island has struggled with getting affordable housing in communities, particularly the Village of Garden City which has not built affordable housing in decades,” Mr. Alexander explained. “We are excited to see this development by Southern Land Company incorporate affordable housing, at all different levels of affordability, to get built with a significantly positive design, with a mix of incomes in the project.” 

Family-owned and operated, Southern Land Company is a national multifamily firm, responsible for more than $3 billion a year in ground-up multifamily development and more than 500 single-family homes annually. They are now building on Long Island. 

Accepting the award on behalf of Southern Land was Long Island native Joe Rossi, the company’s Northeast director of acquisitions. Describing the project, Mr. Rossi stated, “555 Stewart Avenue is a 4.65-acre parcel of property. It once was the Roosevelt Field Airfield, then it was owned by Newsday for a long time, and most recently by the Hematian family.” He stated, “We are planning to build 150 free market apartments, with a 10% affordable component which will be broken up into three different sectors of area median income (AMI), 40%, 60%, and 80%, with an additional two units above that are at 120% AMI, which is considered workforce housing.” All this guarantees the affordability piece of this project is truly affordable. 

“This is a great project,” Mr. Rossi stated. “The Village of Garden City has been wonderful working with us, with the affordable component as well. It’s a project we look forward to building. It will be a nice place to live and we hope to create a sense of community for everyone.” The project is about two months away from breaking ground. 

You can view the award ceremony here.

Don Monti, Renaissance Downtowns - Regional Leadership

Thursday, August 27th, Vision Long Island traveled to the Pink Tie Studios in Plainview for stop number 15 of the 2020 Long Island Smart Growth Awards tour to present the Regional Leadership award to Don Monti, President and CEO of Renaissance Downtowns.

Mr. Monti enjoys over 35 years of diverse experience covering all aspects of the real estate spectrum. He has been involved in over 80 completed projects that cover the full range of the development spectrum including office buildings, apartments, retail, mixed-use complexes, recreation and entertainment centers, hotels, marinas, condominiums and single-family homes.

“Don Monti has done so much for advancing walkability, placemaking and public participation in development,” Eric Alexander, Director of Vision Long Island, stated. “Regional leadership is about pulling together what we hear from communities and elevating it, taking it to another level. This honoree is very special in the sense that for over twenty years people have been talking about smart growth and placemaking, but we didn’t always have the ear of the development community.”

“I’m extremely honored to be the recipient of this award,” Mr. Monti expressed. “I must admit, I am a self-proclaimed recovered developer…. I started my career purchasing surplus schools many years ago, and in doing so, I purchased 14 closed public schools. If anyone wants to know the definition of community emotion, try being involved as a developer with a closed school, but it taught me a lot… Emotions run very high and what I said to the community was if not me, someone else. I did not make the decision to sell the school and what you get with me is you get me from day one, whatever takes place. That resulted in 14 for 14 rezonings for school properties, but I did it the old-fashioned way. I did it with knocking on doors and wearing out shoes. What I am really happy to say is, with the advent of technology, I still have the same shoes that I've been wearing for the last three years. I don't have to walk the streets anymore, but there is still involvement with community. The important thing is that you go nowhere, and I mean nowhere, without entitlements and entitlements result from community outreach.”

Mr. Monti explained, “In the end, it all comes down to one thing, enter early with the community. Don't bring them in when it's too late, when the opposition forms, because you didn't tell them what you were thinking of doing. They need to be part of the authorship of what happens. When you do that, you end up getting as much, if not more, than what you originally asked for. The reason is because most people are reasonable, just given that opportunity early on. I promise you, the successes on Long Island will continue.” Discussing multiple projects he is presently working on in New York and California, Mr. Monti summed up his guiding principles, “It all comes down to the same thing. Community input, reach out early, do good, and you will do well.”

Movie Theater Owners still in the Dark on Reopening

As the economic shutdown from the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to lift, one notable industry still remains in the dark about their future in New York: movie theaters.

Guidelines were recently released to let gym owners know how to proceed in reopening, which they had been waiting on for weeks since Phase 4 rolled through the state.  For movie theaters though, there is still no light at the end of the tunnel.

“The economic hardship that all businesses are facing this year is incomparable,” said Anne Stampfel, who owners Malverne Cinema with her husband Genry. “And our industry seems to be last in line to reopen. Time is of the essence for us, and it’s ticking away.”

The Malverne Cinema has been located in the Village of Malverne since 1947 and has been owned by the Stampfels for 30 years.  Unfortunately, that business is imperiled by the ongoing closures across the state, and could have to permanently shutter if New York lawmakers can’t help to being relief.  The Stampfels noted that between the three theaters they own in Nassau County they have only seens 75 active movie days this year.

“It’s paramount for them to reopen,” said Joseph Masher, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners. “If they don’t, we’re going to see all of these businesses start to close up. They all feed off of each other.”

Its important to remember that not all of our business are back and movie theatres along with concert halls and other arts and cultural institutions are not able to function.  Most ticketed events can be controlled and well managed with safety measures in place.  

If you want these theatres to remain in your community as an entertainment option in the future folks should call on NYS to allow them to reopen. 

You can read more at the Long Island Herald.

NYS Comptroller DiNapoli Sounds Alarm on Budget Woes for New York State

Comptroller DiNapoli recently sat down to talk about the budget shortfalls that New York State is facing in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and economic shutdown.

Mr. DiNapoli noted that, without federal intervention, budgets are facing a huge shortfall in light of the shutdowns to sectors of the economy.  This is leading to a projected $14.5 billion loss in revenue for NYS, and the loss could be as high as $70 billion over the next 4 years.  Meanwhile, other sources of revenue such as transportation and sales taxes, have also fallen precipitously for both the state and NYC.

“We went from enjoying the longest economic expansion in history to a virtual shutdown of the economy,” DiNapoli said.

DiNapoli spoke specifically of New York City and how the current administration failed to produce a plan to deal with an economic downturn before COVID hit the country.  He brought up the Financial Control Board, which was an independent agency that had been created to solve the city’s 1970’s financial crisis. 

The comptroller made it sound that the board could once more take over NYC’s finances if the situation warrants.

You can read more at Crain’s New York.  You can also view a video of the Comptroller’s interview here.  Subscription is required for both.

Superblock Project Advances in Long Beach

The languishing Superblock development in Long Beach finally saw signs of life this past week as the Nassau IDA gave final approval of tax breaks for the $369 million project.  The IDA had already given preliminary approval for around $50 million in economic incentives back in April. 

The project is being built by the Engel Burman group and will include 438 units of multifamily housing.  This will be broken down as 238 rental apartments in a 10-story building and 200 condominium residences in two nine-story buildings.  There will also be 6,500 square feet of retail space in the project.

The 6-acre waterfront property that will host the new development has long been the target of various proposals for revitalization, but they have never been able to move past the planning phase.  The parcel of land is located between Long Beach Boulevard and Riverside Boulevard.

The approval for the incentives had been delayed temporarily as Long Beach studied their long term finances and the effect of the economic shutdown due to the pandemic.  The proposed package will include a Payment in lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program on the rental side that will generate approximately $200 million in revenue across 25 years.  The condo portion of the project will not receive a PILOT and is estimated to produce an additional $125 million across 25 years.

“The development will help with the City of Long Beach finances and there really is a need for this,” said Jan Burman, one of the principals from Engel Burman. “So the city can get a tremendous tax benefit on day one and make everyone happy.”

This represents one of the most significant steps forward that this property has seen throughout its history.  The property originally featured garden apartments and a bowling alley, but those were rezed in the 1960’s after falling into disrepair.  The City was able to seize the site for failure of taxes and eventually sold it to a developer who had hoped to build high-rise residential units. 

That project never materialized though and eventually Long Beach made efforts to reclaim the property via eminent domain.  The city went so far as to put out an RFP for developers to build a hotel, catering hall, convention center, restaurant, and an assisted-living facility on the site.  This never materialized either and since then the parcel has changed hands among developers before finally being purchased by the Engel Burman group.

Engel Burman expects to break ground on the project next year and to be prepared for move-ins beginning in spring of 2023.

Vision is supportive of the revised version of the project. The new version has seen a lot more positive input from local residents, especially in comparison to previous proposals.  The revised project has done an excellent job of incorporating the concerns of residents and turnout at hearings has trended more towards supportive rather than negative.

You can read more at Long Island Business News.

Downtown Bay Shore Mixed Use Project Unveiled

A new mixed-use building has opened in Bay Shore at 1 East Main street, and will feature renovated residential spaces on the top floors with commercial tenants on the first.

The two-story project features 26 new rental apartments with amenities that include a common work and lounge space, fitness gym, yoga studio, laundry facilities, and elevator access.  New businesse son the first floor will include the North Fork Dougnut Company, Fire Island Vines, a wine bar with Greek food, and a gourmet hot dog store called Rock City Dogs.  A new Japanese-Korean BBQ place called JBBQ& Shabu Shabu are both expected to open soon as well.

The renovated apartments will be available for move in come September 1st.  Some of the units have already been rented out and there will be 56 private parking spaces will be made available for residents. 

The options include studio, two-bedroom, and one-bedroom units.  There will be three units at affordable housing prices.  Monthly rental prices will range from $2,000 to $2,900 per month.

Vision Long Island is happy to see this project come to fruition after supporting it throughout the hearing process.  We look forward to it breathing new life in what had previously been an abandoned building.

You can read the full article and see the photos at Greater Bay Shore.

Spotlight at The Paramount is All New this Summer

Enjoy delectable burgers, salads, live local music performed streetside plus food and drink specials every day at the Paramount’s Spotlight concerts this summer.

Make your indoor / outdoor table reservations through OpenTable OR call 631-637-1225. Food delivery available via UberEats & GrubHub.

Also, be sure to check out the newest art exhibit - Quarantine Art - on display all Summer long at Spotlight @ The Paramount! For more info, and the latest lineup of live music, visit spotlightny.com.

Live music events include:

Fri. 8/28 at 6pm – Doug Pfeifer www.facebook.com/steelrib/
Sun. 8/30 at 3pm – Chelsea Takami chelseatakami.com/
Mon. 8/31 at 4pm – Industry Night *25% off for Industry Workers*
Tues. 9/1 at 6pm – Trivia Night II Hosted by DJ Orland from 94.3 The Shar

Long Island Arts Council at Freeport Hosting Live, Free Concerts

The Long Island Arts Council at Freeport will be hosting live, free summer concerts at the Esplanade on the Nautical Mile.  Events will take place Thursday nights from 7pm to 8:30pm

COVID-19 requirements that must be followed

•             Attendees need to bring their own chairs
•             You must set up your chairs six feet apart from other attendees
•             You must wear a mask - The Arts Council will have customized face masks for sale with all proceeds going to our programs and services

Here's the line-up of performers. Please check our website for updates, possible changes, and rain date location.

September 3
Carlos Pavan

September 10
Columbus Circle

LIA to Discuss Impact of COVID-19 on Long Island Small Business on September 1st

The LIA Small- & Mid-Sized Business Committee will discuss the impact of Covid-19 on Long Island’s small business community as our region recovers from the pandemic. The Small and Mid-Sized Business Committee advances positions that support the great majority of Long Island's business community; our small- and mid-sized businesses.

Please join us to hear from a panel of experts who will discuss financial resources and assistance programs, as well as the issues facing Main Street and additional ways we can help support our downtowns. Panel experts will include Erica Chase, Director, Small Business Development Center at Farmingdale State Collece, Eric Alexander, Director of Vision Long Island and LI Main Street Alliance, and Dennis Grossman, President of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions. Register in advance for this meeting here.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Upcoming SBA Webinars

Tues. Sept. 1st at 10:30am “PPP Forgiveness Application update”

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZckcOmppzgjGNDNpviv3gzovrOdJGqGrbLH

Learn about PPP Flexibility Act Seven changes of PPP, SBA New Announcements on August 11th, the Most Common FAQs, the Revised PPP Forgiveness Application SBA Form 3508 and Instructions, and the new SBA Form 3508EZ and Instructions.

• Flexibility Act PPP’s Seven changes
• Covered Payroll Period and Alternative Covered Payroll Period;
• Cash Compensation for employee and owner-employee/Self-employee/General Partners;
• Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Calculation;
• FTE Reduction Safe Harbors 1 and 2;
• FTE Reduction Exception;
•   Eligible Payroll and Non-Payroll Costs;
• SBA Form 3508 Calculation, Schedule A, Worksheet and instructions; 
• SBA Form 3508EZ and instructions;
• Documents Must to be Submitted with the Forgiveness application Required for PPP Forgiveness;
• Documents Borrower Must Maintain.
• checklist for using SBA Form 3508EZ and Forgiveness Application Form 3508EZ and instructions.

Thurs. Sept. 10th at 9:30am “Expand Your Business to Global Market”

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpfumprT0oHNwGJZzKlGgIn7vuyU8xNgYC

95% of the consumers are outside of US. Join the webinar to learn Why, How, and Where, to sell to the Global Market. This presentation is intended to be a guide for a small business to help determine if exporting as business strategy make sense and whether the basic ingredients for export readiness are in place.

• Why to Export?
• Exporting Myths;
• Exporting Advantages;
• Federal Government Exporting Assistance;
• Are You Ready to Export;
• U.S. Free Trade Agreements;
• International Markets Resources;
• Legal Considerations
• How to Finance Your Sales
• 3 SBA International Trade Loan Guaranty Programs;
• Counseling & Assistance.

LICH to Host Housing Discrimination Training

The Long Island Coalition for the Homeless is honored to host Long Island Housing Services in their presentation of this important workshop on Fair Housing and Housing Discrimination.

This FREE online training will take place September 24, 9:30AM to 11:30AM.

Presented by Long Island Housing Services and hosted by the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless, this training will provide a history of fair housing and the federal, state and local fair housing laws.  The training will include the different types of housing discrimination that are prevalent in Long Island, including racial discrimination, discrimination against individuals with disability, and source of income discrimination. Participants will learn to identify and report housing discrimination, including how to file a complaint.

Presenters: EJ Torres and Harriet Spiegelman

This event is FREE, but tickets are required to reserve a spot. You can access tickets by using the link below, beginning August 20, 2020 at 5PM: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/housing-discrimination-training-tickets-117665652133

The 8th Annual Car Free Day Long Island will take place on September 25

With the many challenges facing Long Island communities, it would have been easy to take a year off. However, the shutdown took cars off the road and brought fresh clean air to Long Island, inspiring Car Free Day to elevate the conversation about trading gridlock for cleaner communities.  

Once again, we ask you to help Long Island and join over 3,100 cities, towns and villages in 50 countries around the world in celebrating Car Free Day by encouraging employees and citizens to drive less and instead telecommute, walk, bike, ride a train, bus or other creative ideas. Last year, 5,821 Long Islanders pledged to be car free or car-lite saving 64 tons of CO2 emissions.

Vision Long Island has been a co-sponsor of this event Car Free Day for years and is hoppy to continue working on this important project.

As we get closer more and more events for the day will be revealed.  In the meantime, please visit carfreedayli.com to take the pladge and download a toolkit to help you spread the word!

Minority Owned Womens Business "Brave Is" Scholarship

The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is offering scholarship opportunities for women business owners of color, with preference given to women aged 45+. The two scholarship programs, proudly sponsored by AARP, will offer attendance to the NAWBO Virtual Women’s Business Conference or the opportunity to host a booth in the virtual exhibit hall for a month during the event.

These scholarship opportunities will provide a unique opportunity for recipients to engage with a large network of successful women business owners across the country and promote their businesses to a wider audience.

The two components:

Six (6) Booth Scholarships plus attendance to the WBC
Twelve (12) Attendee Scholarships for WBC

All recipients will receive:

• One-year NAWBO membership for non-members or Leadership Academy Registration for current members
• Closed roundtable discussions with recipients at conference *by invitation only
• Extended accountability groups six (6) months after WBC facilitated by NAWBO
Timeline for Both Scholarships:

Applications will be accepted Monday, August 17 - Tuesday, August 25.  The winners will be notified via email.

Criteria:
Must be a Woman-Owned Minority Business
Preference given to 45+ WBO’s

You can fill out a scholarship form to apply for this opportunity here.

NYSERDA, Affordable Solar and Storage Predevelopment and Technical Assistance (Predevelopment Program)

The Predevelopment Program provides grants to address barriers to solar installations serving low-to-moderate income (LMI) households living in rental housing, multifamily buildings or other households not served by traditional on-site residential solar. Individual awards will not exceed $200,000. Funding to proposals through this solicitation will offset costs for predevelopment and technical assistance work needed to implement solar installations for multifamily affordable housing and/or shared solar (Community Distributed Generation) installations that benefit LMI households.

- Eligibility: Applications must be submitted by or include the documented participation of any of the following: owners, providers or managers of regulated multifamily affordable housing, community land trusts, land banks or portfolios of single-family affordable housing; local government agencies; Community Development Corporations (CDC), Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) or other community organizations providing services to LMI households and/or demonstrating an LMI constituency; and prior recipients of Predevelopment Program grants seeking to replicate and expand upon the success from a prior completed Predevelopment

Program project.

- Funding: Up to $10.65 million is available with individual awards not to exceed $200,000.
- Deadline: Continuous through December 31, 2024, or until depleted
- Contact:
Email: affordablesolar@nyserda.ny.gov
Website: www.nyserda.ny.gov/funding

Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program (NLG-L)

This program supports projects that enhance the quality of library and archive services by advancing theory and practice. Successful proposals will generate results such as new tools, research findings, models, services, practices or collaborative approaches that can be widely used, adapted, scaled or replicated. All applications must designate one of the following project categories: Lifelong Learning, Community Catalysts or National Digital Infrastructures and Initiatives.

- Eligibility: Either a unit of state or local government or a private, nonprofit organization that has nonprofit status and be located in one of the 50 States of the United States of America, the District of Columbia or U.S. territories. Additional criteria is listed in the website.

- Funding: 40 awards for up to three years will be made with amounts varying by category: Planning Grants up to $100,000; National Forum Grants up to $150,000; Project Grants up to $1,000,000 and Research in Service to Practice Grants up to $750,000.

- Deadline: October 2, 2020

- Contacts: Jill Connors-Joyner
Email: jconnors-joyner@imls.gov;
Sarah Fuller
Email: sfuller@imls.gov;
James Neal
Email: jneal@imls.gov;
Ashley Sands, PhD
Email: asands@imls.gov
General email: imls-librarygrants@imls.gov
Website: https://www.imls.gov/grants/available/national-leadership-grants-libraries

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health Prize

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize (the Prize) elevates the compelling stories of places where residents are working together to transform education, jobs, transportation, housing and more so better health flourishes for all. A Culture of Health recognizes that where we live—such as our access to affordable homes, quality schools, good jobs and reliable transportation—affects how long and how well we live.

Through the RWJF Culture of Health Prize application process, a community comes together to tell its inspiring stories of collaboration, action and results. Communities should understand they are applying for a prize and not a grant. The Prize recognizes work that has already been accomplished, so there is no required workplan or budget.

- Eligibility: A community must be a geographically defined jurisdiction in the U.S. that falls into one of the following categories:

- County, parish, borough, city, town, village or other municipality with a publicly elected governing body;

- Federally recognized tribe or a state-designated Indian reservation;

- Native Hawaiian organization serving and representing the interests of Native Hawaiians in Hawaii; or

- Region defined as geographically contiguous municipalities, counties and/or reservations.

- Awards: Up to 10 winning communities receive $25,000 and a prize package of communications materials about their community, communications guidance and help in promoting their successes.

- Deadline: Oct. 15, 2020, 3pm ET

- Contact:
Phone: (608) 890-2045
Email: info@cohprize.wisc.edu
Website: www.rwjf.org/content/rwjf/en/library/funding-opportunities/2020/2021-culture-ofhealth-prize.html

NYS Launches Rent Relief Program

The COVID Rent Relief Program will provide eligible households with a one-time rental subsidy that will be sent directly to the household’s landlord. Applicants will not need to repay this assistance.

The Covid Rent Relief Program is not first come, first served. Applications will be accepted throughout the two-week application period. HCR will prioritize eligible households with “greatest economic and social need” accounting for income, rent burden, percent of income lost and risk of homelessness.

The rental assistance payment will cover the difference between the household’s rent burden on March 1, 2020 and the increase in rent burden for the months the households is applying for assistance. Households can apply for up to four months in rental assistance.

Eligible households must meet the following criteria:

• Before March 1, 2020 and at the time of application, household income must have been below 80% of the area median income, adjusted for household size. You can find your county’s area median income, based on your household size: www.hcr.ny.gov/eligible-income-limits-80-ami-county
• Before March 1, 2020 and at the time of application, the household must have been paying more than 30% of gross monthly income towards rent.  Gross income includes wages as well as any cash grants, child support, social security, unemployment benefits, etc.)
• Applicants must have lost income during the period of April 1, 2020 to July 31, 2020.

HCR has created a dedicated call center to provide residents with help Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. Call the COVID Rent Relief Program Call Center at 1-833-499-0318 or email at covidrentrelief@hcr.ny.gov

You can apply for assistance and check FAQ’s here.

New York State Accepting Applications for NY Forward Loan Fund

New York State has opened pre-applications for the New York Forward Loan Fund. Loans from this fund are available to small businesses, nonprofits, and small landlords in New York State that did not receive a loan from either the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) for COVID-19 in 2020. New York Forward loans must be fully repaid over a 5-year term with fixed annual interest rates of 3 percent for small businesses and landlords.

Small businesses may apply for the lesser of $100,000 or up to 100% of the average monthly revenues in any 3-month period from 2019 or the first quarter of 2020. This loan can be paid back over five years with first year being interest only.  However, if small businesses have received either a PPP loan or an EIDL loan from SBA, they would not be eligible to apply. NYS has set a goal of 18% of total funds under this Program for Long Island

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as industries and regions reopen however, priority for New York Forward Loans will be given to industries and regions that have been reopened. Resources are available to assist in preparing applications for small businesses, landlords and nonprofits in industries and regions that have not yet reopened.

To view more details, including eligibility requirements and how to apply, click here:

If you need technical assistance through this process, please contact an Entrepreneurial Assistance Center near you and inform the counselor that you need help for the NY Forward Loan application.  You can find your closest contact center here.

Today's Sponsor

Zyscovich Architects

For nearly forty years, Zyscovich Architects has strived to create projects with purpose, bringing new life and vibrancy to cityscapes through integrated urban planning, architecture and interior design. To this day, Zyscovich Architects has remained true to the original concept: design projects that have purpose and meaning. Since the firm’s inception in 1977, the goal has always been to establish a company that can provide high-value services for design-specific issues while placing “social betterment” at the core of everything they do. 

Zyscovich Architects has designed the full spectrum of projects, from transportation facilities and airports to K-12 schools and universities, mixed-use commercial and public-private partnership developments to multi-family residential high rises and master plans for cities.