New York Attorney General announces $20M in land bank funding

Credit Payton A. Heins for the Center for Community Progress – 2014

The New York Attorney General announced yesterday that he is allocating $20 million to be awarded to land banks across the State.

This is the second year that the Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, has allocated funding for land banking, bringing the total financial commitment up to $33 million.

The press conference was held in Syracuse at a vacant home being renovated by the Greater Syracuse Land Bank.

The announcement followed on the heels of New York’s land banks reporting on the success of their efforts thus far, releasing a progress report earlier this month and announcing the formation of the New York Land Bank Association.

Excerpt from the press release:

“‘Land banks are a critical tool to help communities recover from the housing crisis by ridding their streets of vacant and abandoned properties,’ said Attorney General Schneiderman. ‘With this new round of funding, even more communities will reap the benefits of this powerful tool for urban revitalization. By funding and expanding land banks, we are empowering local communities to rebuild their own neighborhoods, house by house, block by block.'”

[…]

“The amounts awarded today are as follows: Greater Syracuse Land Bank (over $1.9 million); the Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Bank Investment Corporation ($2.5 million); the Rochester Land Bank (over $1.8 million); Newburgh Community Land Bank (over $1.9 million); Suffolk County Land Bank (over $1.9 million); Chautauqua County Land Bank ($1.3 million); Capital Region Land Bank ($3 million); Albany County Bank (over $2.8 million); Troy Community Land Bank ($1.25 million), and the Broome County Land Bank ($800,000).”

Read the whole press release here.