As we highlighted in a March 19, 2018 blog, the Opportunity Zones federal program establishes Opportunity Zones, or low-income census tracts, to boost private investment in under-served urban and rural communities. These census tracts may receive funding from Opportunity Funds, which allow a wide array of investors to pool their resources to rebuild distressed neighborhoods.

The governor may designate up to 25 percent of New York state’s low-income community census tracts as Opportunity Zones.  The U.S. Treasury identified over 2,000 eligible tracts in New York state eligible for designation as Opportunity Zones, with the governor able to designate up to 514 Opportunity Zones. Final nominations were made by Governor Cuomo and submitted to the Treasury on Friday, April 20, 2018, the deadline for nominations.

For additional information on the 514 census tracts, visit https://esd.ny.gov/opportunity-zones.

To accomplish the state’s goal of submitting the best zones in a limited time-frame, Empire State Development (ESD) engaged in a process that included participation from the ten Regional Economic Development Councils (REDCs), ESD’s Regional Offices, NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) and the Department of State (DOS).