About New York Forward
The NY Forward program focuses on creating healthy, vibrant, walkable downtowns that catalyze sustainable economic development and accrue numerous economic, social, and environmental benefits to the locality, the region, and the State as a whole.
NY Forward was launched in 2022 to invigorate and enliven downtown areas in New York State. Each winning community receives $4.5M toward community-designated, priority capital projects. A Local Planning Committee (LPC) comprised of local and regional leaders, neighborhood stakeholders, businesses, and community members is convened to oversee the planning process and the development of the Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) with the recommended slate of priority projects.
New York State’s goals for the NY Forward program are the following:
Create an active downtown with a strong sense of place.
Attract new businesses that create a robust mix of shopping, entertainment, and service options for residents and visitors, and that provide job opportunities for a variety of skills and salaries.
Enhance public spaces for arts and cultural events that serve the existing members of the community but also draw in visitors from around the region.
Build a diverse population, with residents and workers supported by complementary diverse housing and employment opportunities.
Grow the local property tax base.
Provide amenities that support and enhance downtown living and quality of life.
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support investments that are more resilient to future climate change impacts.
For more information on project eligibility please refer to the State’s Guidebook and website. Look out for more information and criteria when we release the open call for project submission form.
Hudson Square
Hudson Square is a roughly 33-square block neighborhood located on lower Manhattan’s west side. The neighborhood is primarily commercial in use, with over 12 million square feet of office space. The estimated daytime population is approximately 70,000 people and consists of approximately 60,000 office workers, 3,000 residents, 4,000 students and faculty, and 3,000 visitors and tourists. Because of its long industrial history, Hudson Square’s streets are more suited to the movement of goods and vehicles than the movement of people. In addition, the neighborhood has also been historically disconnected from neighboring parts of lower Manhattan, including SoHo, the West Village, and Tribeca. NY Forward will provide an opportunity for Hudson Square to improve cohesion and bridge gaps across the neighborhood and with adjacent communities.
You can read the winning application here and read the press release here.
Neighborhood Vision, Goals, and Revitalization Strategies
As part of the New York Forward process, the Local Planning Committee and consultant team, with community input, develop a Vision for what the neighborhood might look like in the next 5–7 years, as well as Goals, outlining how the community can attain its vision, and Revitalization Strategies, or the specific steps that must be taken to achieve each goal.
VISION: What will the community look like in 5–7 years?
The vision statement provides a guiding framework for Hudson Square’s Strategic Investment Plan and decision-making regarding future development and investment in the community.
GOALS: How will the community attain its vision?
Goals are clear statements of what needs to be accomplished to move towards the Hudson Square New York Forward vision.
REVITALIZATION STRATEGIES: What steps must be taken to achieve a specific goal?
Strategies are discrete, measurable actions required to achieve a goal.
Below are the draft Vision, Goals, and Revitalization Strategies for Hudson Square:
Vision
Hudson Square will complete its transition from an industrial neighborhood into a mixed-use community with a distinct blend of creative businesses, institutions rooted in the neighborhood, lively and diverse retail, safe streets, and welcoming public spaces for the people who live, work, study, and spend time in the neighborhood.
Goals and Strategies
Goal 1. Enhance the quality and safety of the pedestrian experience and maximize the impact of the limited green spaces within Hudson Square.
Strategies
Invest in park amenities at existing and planned open spaces.
Enhance access to open spaces with improvements to adjacent pedestrian and bike infrastructure.
Construct protected bike lanes and wider sidewalks along major thoroughfares.
Introduce more green spaces throughout the neighborhood, including both the construction of additional plazas where possible and investment in street plantings.
Invest in pedestrian safety and traffic calming features on major roadways, such as West Houston, Canal, Varick, Greenwich, and Washington Streets.
Goal 2. Strengthen physical connections into Hudson Square from surrounding neighborhoods as well as connections to Hudson River Park.
Strategies
Provide or enhance signage and large-scale public art at subway stations and major crossing points into Hudson Square—Canal, West, and Houston Streets as well as 6th Avenue—to create a sense of arrival in a distinct neighborhood. Draw on inspiration from the district’s history.
Create safer and more inviting pedestrian and bike crossings, especially across Canal and West Streets.
Goal 3. Activate the ground floor with diverse retail options at a range of price points, as well as public art and cultural institutions that draw workers and visitors while serving the growing residential population.
Strategies
Promote existing cultural destinations and performance venues and attract additional experiential spaces that draw people to the neighborhood during evenings and weekends.
Diversify the mix of retail and dining, attracting options that are unique to Hudson Square and ones that are affordable to New Yorkers with a range of incomes.
Commission public art throughout the neighborhood that activates underutilized public spaces and buildings and honors the neighborhood’s history.
Ensure that the growing population of lower-income residents have access to services and amenities at prices they can afford.
Develop affordable or mixed-income housing and hotels that increase the evening and weekend population, foster more 24/7 activity, and give more New Yorkers access to Hudson Square’s high quality of life.
Goal 4. Strengthen the ecosystem of creative and innovative industries and grow inclusive career pathways into those industries.
Strategies
Further solidify Hudson Square as a premier location for creative and innovative industries, leveraging the visibility of anchor companies like Disney and Google.
Create partnerships between local employers and local educational and training institutions to establish a variety of career-oriented learning opportunities.
Encourage local employers to pursue volunteering and fundraising opportunities with local non-profit institutions.
LOCAL PLANNING COMMITTEE (LPC)
LPC members represent a variety of neighborhood stakeholders and are responsible for guiding the NY Forward planning process. LPC members will ultimately submit to the State a slate of projects to receive the $4.5 million in NY Forward funds.
Mark Levine (Co-chair), Manhattan Borough President
Melva Miller (Co-chair), NYC REDC
Aldrin Bonilla, Fund for the City of New York
Caroline Coburn, Google
Danielle Palmisano, JASA
Ivo Philbert, Jackie Robinson Museum and Foundation
Jenny Liu, Crush it Ventures
Ned Baldwin, Houseman Restaurant
Samara Karasyk, Hudson Square Business Improvement District
Sujohn Sarkar, Trinity Church Wall Street
Valerie De La Rosa, Community Board 2
The Local Planning Committee is supported by a Consultant Team:
HR&A Advisors - Project managers; demographic, economic, and real estate analysts; community engagement leads.
MUD Workshop - Urban planners and designers.
TIMELINE
Summer 2024:
Open call for projects
Public Workshop #1
LPC Meetings #1 - 3
Fall 2024:
Public Workshop #2
LPC Meetings #4 - 6
Priority projects identified