New York Daily News

LET’S HAVE SOME FUND

- BY DOYLE MURPHY, DENIS SLATTERY, JAN RANSOM and LISA L. COLANGELO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

FROM the fantastica­l planned 60-story Ferris wheel in Staten Island to an ambitious proposal for an elevated park in Queens, a diverse number of community and economic developmen­t projects received a vital infusion of money last week from the state.

Gov. Cuomo announced $709.2 million in funding through the Regional Economic Developmen­t Council’s latest round of grants.

Cuomo developed the 10 regional councils in 2011 so that local business and community leaders will have a say in how state economic developmen­t monies are awarded. More than $2 billion in grants were distribute­d during the last three rounds of awards.

“Each council presented bold ideas for how to create jobs and new opportunit­ies in their communitie­s,” said Cuomo. He said the program has helped “drive an economic renaissanc­e in every region of the state.”

More than 70 projects in the city will receive a collective $61.2 million – though critics were quick to note that several other regions across the state landed more moolah.

Some of the funds will be used locally to train unemployed workers and veterans, fix building facades and boost other needed programs.

There are some big-ticket winners in the five boroughs. The council aimed $1.5 million toward the redevelopm­ent of the Victoria Theater in Harlem and $1 million toward the conversion of an industrial building at the Brooklyn Navy Yard into a technology and manufactur­ing hub.

These and others are certain to garner citywide attention, as they take shape, and the Daily News decided to take a look:

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