Patchogue Revitalization Seen As Model For Struggling Long Island Towns
By Jill Ryan
A recent study has found that the Suffolk County village of Patchogue is a model for the renewal of distressed downtowns across Long Island.
Patchogue was founded in 1801 and has seen massive growth throughout the decades. However, Long Island Planning Council Chairman John Cameron says in the 1960s, the town started to take a turn for the worse.
“Vacancy rates, many years ago, used to be in the 2 to 3 percent in the downtown. Then in the ‘60s it started and ‘70s it started to grow, and actually we had vacancy rates here in the village of Patchogue in excess of 40 percent, 40 to 50 percent. Now it’s down significantly, significantly less than 10 percent.”
The study, compiled by the Suffolk County Economic Development Corporation, said that from 1998 to 2017, Patchogue’s leadership, including Mayor Paul Pontieri, secured grants, loans and incentives to revitalize what Cameron is calling a “now successful” downtown.
“We have needs here on Long Island, we have a lot of challenges, but we have opportunities. And the key is being able to capitalize on the opportunities to address those challenges. And I think with leadership, with the right amount of and proper leadership, I think, we’re optimistic that we can start turning the tide here on a lot of our downtown areas.”
Cameron said Long Island needs to grow its tax pool in order to support a good quality of life, and Patchogue did just that.
