Governor Hochul announced on June 3, 2026 that East Williamsburg, Brooklyn will receive $20 million as the New York City winner of the ninth round of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The award is significant. The condition attached to it is more significant in policy terms.

Localities must now be certified under Governor Hochul's Pro-Housing Communities Program to receive DRI or NY Forward funding. The certification requires localities to demonstrate compliance with state housing production targets, zoning flexibility requirements, and accessory dwelling unit policies. East Williamsburg is certified; that certification was the prerequisite for the award.

The practical consequence of the certification condition: corridors in localities that have not completed the Pro-Housing Communities certification process are ineligible for future DRI rounds. This is a structural change from prior DRI rounds, in which the award was available to any economically qualified downtown corridor regardless of the state's housing policy relationship with the host municipality.

For Corridor Capital audiences: the DRI is now explicitly tied to housing production posture. A city that has been slow to adopt Pro-Housing Communities certification for political reasons has effectively cut off its corridor managers from this funding channel until that certification is obtained.

Watch: Whether the East Williamsburg DRI planning process produces any investment that overlaps with the proposed Northside Improvement District BID boundary in adjacent Williamsburg (see BO·1·4·9).

Source: Governor's Office, June 3, 2026.