New York opens a $75 million round of community center grants for nonprofits and municipalities
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the second round of NY BRICKS on Aug. 31. Grants of $250,000 to $15 million require a 20 percent match, most of the money is aimed at new centers, and a nonprofit must be prequalified with the state before it applies by Dec. 7.
Albany. New York is offering $75 million to municipalities and nonprofit organizations to build, renovate and equip community centers, in the second round of a capital grant program that Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Aug. 31. Applications open on Nov. 2 and are due by 3 p.m. on Dec. 7. Awards are expected no earlier than Feb. 26, 2027.
The program, NY BRICKS, for Building Recreational Infrastructure for Communities, Kids and Seniors, is run by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York and the state parks office. Grants range from $250,000 to $15 million and cover no more than 80 percent of a project's capital costs, so the grantee brings at least 20 percent from committed sources. At least $37.5 million is reserved for projects in underserved communities.
Who can apply
A nonprofit must be incorporated or chartered in New York and already prequalified in the state's Statewide Financial System on the day it applies; a prequalification still "In Review" does not count. The process can take several weeks, the request for applications warns.
The applicant must run the community center itself, open to the public year round, with published hours and programs for youth, adults and seniors. Standalone libraries, schools, gyms, daycare centers, houses of worship, food pantries and health care facilities do not qualify, and a leased site needs a lease of at least 10 years. The money is paid out only for work already done, with no advances, and may not buy property or pay for staff, rent, utilities or grant writing.
A first-round grantee may apply again only if its earlier grant is fully drawn down, declared complete or withdrawn.
How the money is divided
Most of the money is meant for new buildings. The request for applications targets $45 million at new centers or expansions receiving more than $5 million, $20 million at those receiving $1 million to $5 million, and $5 million at renovations of existing centers, with a $5 million pool for the next highest scores. No partial grants will be made.
Applications are scored out of 100 points, and 85 is the minimum for an award. Up to 30 points measure community need and up to 20 reward design work already done, and an application needs 31 of those to be scored further. By that arithmetic, one with no design documents cannot advance.
In the first round, announced on Dec. 5, 2025, the state awarded $100 million to 30 projects in 22 counties. Nineteen of the awards went to nonprofits, by the Herald's count of the state's list, the largest of them $9.88 million to United Helpers Care for a new community center in Ogdensburg.
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