Wdowiasz part of housing pledge announcement in Albany
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ALBANY - Dunkirk Mayor Kate Wdowiasz was among the statewide municipal leaders who joined Gov. Kathy Hochul as she highlighted the first 20 entrants into her "Pro-Housing Communities" pledge program Wednesday.
"Seeing as how we’re a small lake community and city, it means everything," Wdowiasz said of Dunkirk’s participation. "We have a developer who is willing to invest in our community now and that’s because of the pro housing designation."
That was apparently a reference to Regan Development’s proposal last month to build two new housing complexes on Washington Avenue and East Fourth Street.
Wdowiasz's comments came as the mayors in the room were asked to describe what Hochul’s housing push meant to their communities. The governor herself pointed to affordable housing as a vital part of the state’s well-being.
"We are not on a path to achieve our full potential if we don’t have enough housing ... because we have stopped building," Hochul said.
In 2023, Hochul signed an Executive Order to establish the Pro-Housing Community Program in order to recognize and reward municipalities actively working to unlock their housing potential and encourage others to follow suit. Localities that have successfully unlocked housing growth or committed to taking important steps to support housing, such as by streamlining permitting and adopting pro-housing policies, and that have applied and submitted critical housing and zoning data to the state, will receive a certification from New York State Homes and Community Renewal that will make them eligible for $650 million in state discretionary funding.