Grants totaling $490K earmarked for 2 City of Yonkers projects

Mayor Mike Spano and other Yonkers leaders aren’t the only believers in the revitalization of the city’s waterfront.

So, too, are the members of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council.

The Council last week awarded $490,000 in funding to the City of Yonkers in response to a pair of grant applications aimed at sprucing up the waterfront area.

“I’m pleased that key projects I support in Yonkers will be getting the resources they requested in this highly competitive process,” State Senator and Yonkers resident Andrea Stewart-Cousins said.

The grants will cover the following:

  • Expansion and enhancement of the downtown waterfront esplanade. Two waterfront walkways, as well as recreational trails, will be developed near the Yonkers train station. ($400,000)
  • Creation of an urban heritage waterfront sculpture, part of the Enslaved Africans’ Rain Garden initiative developed by local African-American artist Vinnie Bagwell (pictured; photo courtesy of wcalvinanderson.com). The City of Yonkers, ArtsWestchester and the Yonkers Board of Education will collaborate with Bagwell on the project. ($90,000)

“I’d like to thank Governor Andrew Cuomo and our State Delegation for these latest awards and their continued support as we work to further grow our city, improve our economy and position Yonkers as the best city in which to live, work and play,” Spano said.