Huntington Station, Long Beach and Lindenhurst get millions from NY to revitalize downtowns

Huntington Station was awarded a $10 million state grant, and Long Beach and Lindenhurst each received $4.5 million, to revitalize their downtowns, New York Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez announced Tuesday.

Huntington Town was the sixth recipient statewide of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative this year but the money is designated for Huntington Station. The town has plans to continue sewer improvements down New York Avenue through Huntington Station, attract new mixed-use businesses and apartments, and make street improvements and beautify blighted properties.

The awards are recommended by the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council to Albany and are approved by the governor. It is one of 10 councils across the state that reviews applications for state tax credits and grants. Each council is made of up of business executives, nonprofit officials, educators and union leaders. All are volunteers appointed by the governor.

“The Huntington Station community deserves a safe, walkable, and affordable downtown where residents can thrive," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. "This strategic investment will revitalize the community, and I can't wait to get shovels in the ground to transform Huntington Station into a must-see destination for tourists and local visitors alike."

Huntington is already in the process of a county- and state-funded $44 million sewer project through Huntington Station that Supervisor Ed Smyth said would be key to attracting businesses and redevelopment with public and private partnerships along the Route 110 corridor.

“This will put us over the top,” Smyth said, accepting the grant Tuesday at the Huntington Community First Aid Squad building. “On Long Island, sewers are everything.”

Smyth noted the history of downtown Huntington Station, which started in 1867 as an expansion of the rail depot. He said the federal government attempted an urban renewal project in the 1960s, which leveled about 86 businesses surrounding the train station into parking lots.

“We’ve been trying to bring it back ever since,” Smyth said.

Smyth said the town also would like to add a filming office near the train station to attract movie and television crews to film in Huntington.

Huntington is the latest Long Island community to receive the $10 million downtown grant in recent years, following previous awards on Long Island in Westbury, Hicksville, Central Islip, Baldwin, Amityville and Riverhead.

Long Beach and Lindenhurst received smaller $4.5 million awards under the state’s NY Forward program to help smaller communities with downtown improvements.

Long Beach City Council member John Bendo said the city had been working on an economic turnaround before the pandemic to improve the city’s finances and attract new residents and economic development.

Bendo said the city was ranked by the state as its most fiscally stressed municipality during a recent three-year period. 

He noted developer Engel Burman’s project to add 200 condos and 233 oceanfront apartments on the Superblock project as the largest construction project on Long Island.

About 16% of Nassau County’s housing are rentals, Bendo said, and Long Beach has about 45% rentals to attract young professionals to stay in the city.

“We were a mess, quite frankly. The last three years we’ve been working hard to turn finances around … and make investments in ignored infrastructure,” Bendo said. “So there's a lot going on in Long Beach right now that we're working on to move us forward.”

Lindenhurst Mayor Michael Lavorata said the village continued to make progress in improving its downtown during the pandemic, opening 13 new businesses, including nine restaurants.

He said he intended to make downtown Lindenhurst more walkable and family-oriented, to build upon 260 new apartments and transit-oriented development.

“This is a game changer for us and we’re so honored to be in the same company as these communities,” Lavorata said.

With James T. Madore

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.