Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces Applications Open for East Side Building Fund

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced applications are now open for the “East Side Building Fund,” a new $10 million fund that aims to assist in private building renovations and infill development to help revitalize neighborhood business districts in East Buffalo. A public information meeting and drop-in office hours will be held in May and June to assist applicants in applying for grants. Applications are available here and must be submitted by 4 p.m. on Friday, June 27, 2025.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

So great you back in Buffalo where when you say, “Go Bills,” people answer correctly, they say “Go Bills,” right? I'm still trying to teach the rest of the State. We have to be patient with them.

Wonderful to see everyone again, and I want to thank you for joining us on this special afternoon and thank my partners in government and two women who may look a little sleep deprived, are our Major Leader, Crystal Peoples-Stokes, you've been working tirelessly on our Budget. And Senator April Baskin did a great job. Strong, strong partners who delivered for Buffalo in our Budget. We worked hard together.

Also, we have our County Executive, Mark Poloncarz, who has joined us. Thank you, County Executive, for all you do. Mayor Chris Scanlon has joined us, thank you, Mayor, for all you do as well.

All the other elected leaders here today, but also I have my dream team. I have the leader of my economic development team who's doing an extraordinary job, and believe me, she has been to Buffalo almost as much as I have, and that is the President & CEO of Empire State Development, Hope Knight. Commissioner for Civil Service, Tim Hogues, who also did it for the county, Buffalo Zone. And Mark Schroeder, who has been head of our DMV and through some trials and tribulations, but he got Real ID over the finish line.

And Larry Stitts, the President of the Greater Jefferson Business Association, Larry, and owner of Golden Cup Coffee, where I went there first when I landed, Larry and constituents always have a lot on their mind in your place. I'll just say that. Lot of selfies, but a lot of good conversations as well. I was like, “Okay, I hear you. Okay, sure, sure. Call your city council member for that.” But the sweet potato pound cake is to die for, right? That's the next level. That's next level.

But on a more somber note, I made a promise as the first Governor from Buffalo — as Mark Schroeder, our historian, would tell you — since Grover Cleveland, who is not buried here, so Mark won't count him as from Buffalo. So I may be the only Governor ever from Buffalo.

But I wanted to make sure that the City that has been sometimes down and out and people thought it could never come back, I want to make sure you had all the resources you need to be the full enrichment of a truly queen city well into the 21st century. But sometimes there's setbacks that are really painful. And my hometown, just a few minutes from here, was the site of one of the most horrific brutal mass killings driven by race in our nation's history.

I'll never forget getting the call. I was over in the Hudson Valley and within seconds I was en route, and I was still here when everything was still going on. And that has been heavy in my heart for these three years now, and I dedicated myself to healing this community, working closely, doing whatever I could as a daughter of Buffalo.

And as we approached the anniversary just on May 14, I wanted to make sure I stopped by, gathered with the 5/14 Memorial Commission members who are working so hard so these families have a place to go to hear, read the stories of their family members, their loved ones. But not just for our generation, for generations to come; that their stories will live in this memorial. When people say, “Who are they?” When we're not even here anymore, they'll know the story of a community that was so tough, and so resilient, and so loving and giving of each other that they pulled together in their memory and said, “We will stand against gun violence with every fiber of our being,” because no one should ever have their life cut down.

Whether it's the random street violence or a mass murder like we experienced here in Buffalo, that is not how life is supposed to end. It is not the natural course. And I needed to come here and we just met and placed flowers at the Tops Memorial. It is a beautiful place, but what we're working on is going to be extraordinary.

So I'm asking this community to continue to support this. Reverend Blue, I want to thank him for chairing this commission. Let's give him a round of applause. Head of the NAACP, Chair of the Commission. And others who pulled together, we're just getting started and I thank all of you for being involved.

So today matters because I came here and also said, “What can I do?” I can give comfort; I can give sympathy; I'm a good hugger — I can hug everybody and did a lot of that, but also to let this community know they matter and they're so important to me as the Governor and to the rest of us.

I knew we needed more investments. I needed to show not just in words, but in deeds — and we've worked hard to build something, and I'm grateful for all the East Buffalo property owners; and the community-based real estate trainees; the non-for-profit leaders; the community partners; the elected leaders — everybody pulled together to revitalize East Buffalo one building at a time.

So we have been steadfast in our support over the last three years, investing over $50 million in housing assistance alone, saying that there's too much blight here; there's too many lots that are either vacant or have decrepit buildings, or there's people living in their homes who don't have enough money to make the repairs to get by. So we've invested direct money right in this very community so that families who've lived here for generations might even be able to buy that home on their own — something that's been out of reach for so many — with a down payment assistance program, or help families who are at risk of foreclosure, or, like I said, the home ownership program.

All these programs were to help these individuals and their children be able to build a new life in East Buffalo and grow up where their parents did. We have beautiful amenities here, and I'm working hard to revitalize our commercial districts — which, when I grew up, were so busy, so vibrant — and go over to the Broadway Market. You didn't just come there Easter weekend, you came there all the time. That's where people shopped.

My father-in-law's family had a Hochul Funeral Home in this part of town, and this is part of my family's story. So, what we've done is successfully revitalized over 60 commercial mixed-use buildings with new roofs and masonry, and doing everything we can to maintain the character and the vibrancy of this part of Buffalo.

I've always marveled at our historic neighborhoods, which is why we've been so focused on restoring landmarks in this community — and for that, we've committed over $250 million in this part of Buffalo as well for the institutions and structures. Places like the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor and Broadway Fillmore; $10 million in revitalization for that as well.

Like I said, the Broadway Market and the Central Terminal — which I want to get done, I think that's going to be a monument to resiliency of a strong community that believes in itself again — and the shining Apollo Media Theater, the most beautiful Olmstead Park, the MLK Park; we've all brought them back from decline into rebirth, but we're just getting started. There's more to do, isn't there, folks? There's more to do. We have to do more, and today we're building on that momentum with $10 million, the East Side Building Fund, because there is more to do and we're going to get it done.

This will help streamline neighborhood improvements and move money more quickly into the community so you don't have to wait forever.

I'm very impatient, everybody knows that, but I'll take my time when it comes to important things like the Budget — we'll get it right. It's all right. You get what you want, it's worth waiting for, right? I take a lot of hits. All right.

We're from Buffalo, right? You can't hurt us. You can't hurt us, right? And I'll support projects of all sizes, from storefront renovations, which are so important. My mother — when she was starting out her career to help victims of domestic violence and people that were suffering in communities — became one of the founders of the Neighborhood Information Center in East Buffalo. Anybody remember what that was? I think it was over on Sycamore and my parents used to take us, and especially my mom would go visit everybody, and I saw the storefronts and they had great architecture, but they get plastered over; you have to put the wood up there, the ply board because the glass is broken — and what a sign of despair? And I want that fixed and I want larger rehabilitation projects.

With the $50 million we committed three years ago and $8 million more into the vacant rental program, you add it up, we're talking over $70 million — that was money that was not necessarily coming here that I said, “I want spent in Buffalo,” because these areas have neglected for too long.

But also this is such an important part of our state. What's good for Buffalo? Lifting up Buffalo means we're lifting up New York and we take care of our historic districts. You can't touch our architecture in this community and our Olmsted parks. It's extraordinary. It's extraordinary. And whether it's through renovation or new construction or restoration, there's so many different things we have an ability to do.

But one thing we can never lose sight of, is our belief in a better future. And if it takes resources from the State of New York, I will continue to make sure that happens, because we'll show the world that Buffalo never backs down. We never cave, we never cower. We stand up proudly. We are a proud, strong community and no matter what comes our way, we'll still be standing in the morning, and that's my commitment to Buffalo.

So we're going to continue the sense of hope in our people, in our streets, in our neighborhoods, and our community, our identity. And we're going to continue to hope for a Super Bowl win because that's what makes Buffalo, Buffalo. There's always something over the horizon that you're fighting for, striving for. It gets us up in the morning.

That is the energy I embrace as I lead this great state because of people like all of you who supported me since I was in local government. It's the grit, the charm, the generosity, that unbreakable spirit that I internalize, so I could not be prouder to stand with you here today on the cusp of a painful anniversary.

But know that this community is undaunted and we are tough, and I thank you for instilling that in me. Because it's a matter of survival sometimes. And I know I don't just survive, I will thrive. I will always thrive because of what I have embedded in me, Buffalo. Born and bred Buffalonians, you're tough. I love you. And let's continue to make the East Side rise up to its grand and glory. Thank you very much everyone. Thank you.

And now, in case you need to be caffeinated when you leave here today, head on over to Golden Cup Coffee, and I don't know if there's any sweet potato pound cake left. But ladies and gentlemen, a leader of this community, Larry Stitts.