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governor kathy hochul

Stony Brook University: Entrance sign

The Simons Foundation’s contribution is the largest unrestricted endowment gift to a higher education institution in American history

The Simons Foundation, a philanthropy working to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences, today announced a historic $500 million endowment gift to Stony Brook University during a news conference at the foundation’s Manhattan headquarters. This monumental gift — the combined largesse of the Simons Foundation and Simons Foundation International — is the largest unrestricted donation to an institution of higher education in U.S. history.

The extraordinary gift is also expected to grow by up to $1 billion in contributions for Stony Brook University’s endowment by capitalizing on New York State’s 1:2 endowment matching program and other philanthropy inspired by this gift. This transformative donation will cement Stony Brook’s place as New York’s flagship research institution and provide the means to invest in areas most urgent and necessary to help sustain the university’s commitment to educational excellence, research innovation and community support.

Investments stemming from this gift will have a direct and positive impact on perpetual funding for student scholarships, endowed professorships, innovative research, and excellent clinical care.

“The Simons Foundation mission is to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences,” Foundation President David Spergel said. “For more than a decade, we have been proud to give to an institution that is at the forefront of educational excellence in the sciences. It is our sincere hope that this large unrestricted gift will build upon our previous support to Stony Brook, giving students and faculty the ability to dream big and engage in transformative research.”

“A world-class, public education has the ability to transform the lives of New Yorkers, which is why in this year’s budget we created the first-ever matching fund for endowment contributions for SUNY’s university centers,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. “Time and again, Stony Brook University forges a bold path forward, from innovation happening at Brookhaven Lab to the economic development throughout Long Island. With this remarkable contribution from the Simons Foundation, Stony Brook will continue to excel as an internationally recognized research institution and give students the tools they need to succeed.”

“We are eternally grateful to Jim and Marilyn Simons and Simons Foundation President David Spergel for their unparalleled support of Stony Brook University. In 1960, we were given a mandate by the State Board of Regents to become a university that would ‘stand with the finest in the country,’” University President Maurie McInnis said. “Thanks in large part to the generosity of the Simons Foundation, we have done just that, and we have no intention of slowing down. We take seriously our commitment to our students, our faculty and our broader community to advance knowledge and contribute to the most significant challenges facing our society. We are so proud of all that we have accomplished as an institution and our best days are ahead of us.”

“I joined Stony Brook University in 1968 as Chair of their Department of Mathematics,” Simons Foundation Co-Founder Jim Simons said. “I knew then it was a top intellectual center with a serious commitment to research and innovation. But Stony Brook also gave me a chance to lead — and so it has been deeply rewarding to watch the university grow and flourish even more. Marilyn and I are proud to support this outstanding public university that has given us so much.”

“As a Stony Brook graduate, I know firsthand the role that a quality education plays in the trajectory of one’s life,” said Marilyn Simons ’74, PhD ’84, Simons Foundation Co-Founder. “I am proud of the education I received there. Jim and I want to ensure that Stony Brook continues to serve its students with the highest level of educational excellence and with world-class resources. The foundation’s gift will also help give those from underserved communities the opportunity to reach their full potential. We look forward to seeing this institution continue to thrive.”

Since Jim and Marilyn made their first gift of $750 in 1983, they and the Simons Foundation have committed more than $1.2 billion to Stony Brook, while also inspiring over 2,100 other donors to give to the university. Their transformational support has led to growth impacting every corner of the Stony Brook campus and beyond, from the Renaissance School of Medicine and the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics to Stony Brook’s Simons STEM Scholars program, nine endowed chairs and professorships in economics, and more.

In addition to this historic gift and previous gifts to Stony Brook University, last month, following Stony Brook’s successful bid to serve as the anchor institution of the The New York Climate Exchange, the Simons Foundation committed $100 million to the project’s expected $700 million budget. These funds will help establish this climate research, education and green-economy training hub, set to transform how the world responds to the climate crisis and pioneer investigation into environmental, community and health outcomes and impacts.

The Simons’ own personal involvement in Stony Brook community life over the past 55 years has been life-changing for generations of students’ and scholars’ past, present and future. They have provided countless hours of counsel and leadership to advance important initiatives. For example, Marilyn Simons’ work with the  Stony Brook Women’s Leadership Council mentoring program has been a launchpad for the careers of many undergraduates from all over campus.

“Jim and Marilyn have a long history of generously supporting the sciences, education, and the health and well-being of New Yorkers,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, and 108th Mayor of New York City. “This new gift is an extraordinary example of that, and it will help Stony Brook University make critical investments that will empower more students to reach their full potential.” 

“The generosity of Jim and Marilyn Simons and the Simons Foundation has already changed the lives of millions of New Yorkers, and this historic contribution to Stony Brook University will impact our students and our state for generations to come,” said SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. “Today’s announcement will benefit SUNY students through scholarship, academic programs, and research opportunities, and it will enhance Stony Brook’s prominence as a world-class leader of higher education. The Simons donation illustrates the power of Governor Hochul’s Endowment Fund Match program to multiply the support of generous donors to expand research and scholarship across SUNY.”

“It is my true honor to know Jim and Marilyn and to have had the privilege to work alongside them for more than 30 years,” said Stony Brook Foundation Board of Trustees Chair Richard Gelfond ‘76. “Both as an alumnus of Stony Brook and as Board chair, I am grateful for their generous philanthropic support, their leadership, and their friendship. They have made an indelible impact on the future of the University.”

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About Stony Brook University

Stony Brook is New York’s top ranked public university and a part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, an internationally recognized research institution and center of academic excellence dedicated to addressing pressing global challenges. SBU serves as the anchor institution for the New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island, the nation’s first climate research, education and green-sector-job-training hub set to transform how our global response to the climate crisis. As one of only eight American universities with a role in running a national laboratory, Stony Brook is also the joint managing partner of the Brookhaven National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.  The university’s distinguished faculty have earned esteemed awards such as the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation, Abel Prize and the inaugural Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics.

 

About Simons Foundation

Co-founded in 1994 in New York City by Jim and Marilyn Simons, the Simons Foundation’s mission is to support basic scientific research in pursuit of understanding the phenomena of our world. The Simons Foundation provides grants to individual researchers and to scientific collaborations and institutions, work in mathematics and physical sciences, life sciences, neuroscience, and autism science. The Simons Foundation also conducts computational research in basic sciences in-house at its Flatiron Institute.

METRO photo

While most understand the value of investing in education, there’s more to learning than going to class and doing homework.

We must give all children an equal chance of receiving a proper education, and one way to do so is by ensuring that all students are adequately nourished, navigating the school day on a full stomach. 

Last Friday, New York state elected officials joined school administrators and advocates in Huntington to call upon Gov. Kathy Hocul (D) to include fully funded school meals for all students in the 2024 state budget. The call comes after federal waivers that enabled schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students during the COVID-19 pandemic ended before the start of the 2022-23 academic year.

The universal free school meals initiative may make some pause at first. While New Yorkers understand that there are countless people among us — many right here in our own towns — suffering from food insecurity, they are aware that some of our residents can easily afford to feed their children breakfast and lunch.

However, advocates for the Healthy School Meals for All program contend that many families are eligible for the supplement but do not apply because they are embarrassed to ask for help. Some make slightly more than the income requirements to receive nutrition assistance but could desperately use the help.

In an era when most families need both parents to work to make ends meet, and as salaries and wages increases have lagged behind inflation, ensuring free meals for all children can keep our students healthy while easing household budgets. In addition to helping households, the program would eliminate unpaid meal debt for school districts, which increased after the federal waivers expired.

According to the speakers at the March 24 press conference at Jefferson Primary School in Huntington, including the program in the state budget could help nearly a quarter million students on Long Island alone. The initiative is one that state legislators have gotten behind with $280 million in funding included in their budget proposals.

Now it’s time for Hochul to support it.

With states such as California, Colorado, Nevada, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut already implementing the Healthy School Meals for All program, it’s time for New York to embrace this initiative.

Research indicates that well-nourished students perform better on tests, are more present in school and retain information better. Advocates hope the program provides all children the opportunity to be fully prepared to take on a day of learning, something every student deserves.

We remind our readers that New York taxpayers are currently subsidizing a football stadium in Buffalo to the tune of $600 million — a deal brokered by the Hochul administration. Meanwhile, many of our school children here on Long Island are inadequately nourished.

The proposed school nutrition program is less than half the cost of the football stadium yet would go much further in advancing the interests of ordinary citizens. To our governor and state officials in Albany: The Buffalo Bills should never trump the health of our children.

Doing what’s right for our kids, and paving the way for a brighter future for all, starts with a solid breakfast and lunch. Our state officials are fighting for this. It is time for our governor to do the same.

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The Jazz Loft. Photo by Heidi Sutton

The Jazz Loft in Stony Brook recently received two grant awards totaling $50,000 from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to support the recovery of the nonprofit arts and culture sector. Following New York State’s historic investment for the arts, NYSCA has awarded $90 million since Spring 2022 to a record number of artists and organizations across the state.

The Jazz Loft has received a Regrowth and Capacity grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. This grant will support the organization’s performance schedule of more than 160 show each year, as the Loft continues its ongoing recovery from pandemic challenges. 

Tom Manuel, president and founder of the Jazz Loft, said the funding will allow significant programming additions to the 2023-24 season and allow the Jazz Loft to highlight collaborations with music students in the Loft School of Jazz program as well.

NYSCA Chair Katherine Nicholls said, “On behalf of the entire Council, I congratulate the Jazz Loft on this grant award. Their creative work provides the benefits of the arts to both their community and all of New York. Arts organizations are essential, leading our tourism economy and fueling sectors such as hospitality, transit, and Main Streets across our state. “

“As a cultural capital of the world, New York State is strengthened by our expansive coverage of the arts across all 62 counties.  This year’s historic commitment to the arts sector will spur our continuing recovery from the pandemic and set the course for a stronger future,” said Governor Kathy Hochul.

“We are immensely grateful to Governor Hochul and the Legislature for their unprecedented investment of $240 million to support arts organizations across the state. New York State arts organizations such as the Jazz Loft are the cornerstone of our vibrant arts economy. As crucial drivers of our health and vitality, we are grateful to the unwavering dedication of arts workers across the state,” added NYSCA Executive Director Mara Manus.

Gov. Kathy Hochul. File photo by Julianne Mosher

After bipartisan backlash from Long Island officials, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has dropped her budget proposal that would require local governments to expand legalizing accessory apartments.

“I have heard real concerns about the proposed approach on accessory dwelling units,” Hochul said in a statement. “I understand that my colleagues in the state senate believe a different set of tools is needed, even if they agree with the goal of supporting the growth of this kind of housing.”

The plan stated that, to increase affordable housing across the state, dwellings would be allowed to convert garages, basements and backyard units as apartments. Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers from the town, county, state and federal levels all said this could hurt Long Island, and essentially eliminate single-family zoning.

“I am submitting a 30-day amendment to my budget legislation that removes requirements on localities in order to facilitate a conversation about how we build consensus around solutions,” she added.

The plan was introduced in January during the State of the State. Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-NY3) was one of the first to call the governor out on it, which then resulted in Brookhaven, Smithtown and Huntington towns to voice their concerns.

“One small victory, but many battles ahead,” Suozzi told TBR News Media in a statement. “We successfully stopped Governor Hochul’s radical proposal from being passed in the budget, but we’re not done yet. Now we must stop her and the state legislature from passing this misguided legislation during the Albany legislative session.”

Throughout the last month, these lawmakers argued that the plan could have potential impacts on Long Island’s quality of life, the environment and local school districts.

““I’m pleased that Governor Hochul pulled the Accessory Dwelling Unit legislation from the budget, but that isn’t enough,” said Suffolk County Legislator Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst). “At this time, there are still discussions of tweaks to the law. Local officials on Long Island are adamantly opposed to any modifications that remove our ‘home rule.’ We know what is best for our community and we don’t need New York City and New York State dictating to us what our communities should look like. As we’ve seen with the pulling of the bill, combining our voices and speaking out ensure that we can be heard. I urge all residents to contact their State representatives and the governor’s office, to voice their opposition to any modification of ADUs here on Long Island.”

Several Suffolk County lawmakers spoke up against the ADU legislation Feb. 11 with the help of several state assembly members and senators.

“The removal of this proposal from the budget is great news for all of our communities and I am proud to have stood with my colleagues in town, county, state and federal officials from both sides of the aisle to fight to protect local control,” said state Senator Mario Mattera (R-St. James). “This shows that joining together and standing united can lead to positive change for our residents.”

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) held a press conference Feb. 3, as one of the first townships to take a stance on the issue.

“The call to remove this misguided proposal was finally heard by the governor and we will continue to maintain local zoning control,” he said in a recent statement. “Our right to home rule on issues like housing is what protects our communities from turning into the crowded neighborhoods that we see in cities, which is not what the residents of Brookhaven Town want.”

Hochul still has plans to combat the affordable housing crisis, and the emphasis on increasing accessory apartments and improving their safety will be targeted in New York City rather than the suburbs.

“Albany extremists will resurrect this terrible idea the moment bipartisan opposition gets distracted,” said Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth (R). “Stay vigilant!”

Courtesy photo

Concern Housing, Inc. — a Medford-based nonprofit agency committed to helping individuals live with dignity and enhanced opportunities —celebrated the grand opening of Liberty Station in Port Jefferson Station last week. 

Liberty Station, a 77-unit rental community, provides workforce and accommodating housing options to persons in the community, including veterans 

“We are thrilled to join the Port Jefferson community and provide a housing option that is in desperate need for so many in our region,” said Ralph Fasano, Executive Director of Concern Housing. “Liberty Station offers veterans who have fought for our country quality, affordable housing as everyone deserves to live with dignity and respect.”

Courtesy photo

Standing beside its various partners and elected officials, Concern cut the celebratory ribbon welcoming six, two-story apartment buildings comprising 77 affordable homes. Seventy-five of the 77 apartment homes are one-bedroom units and the remaining are two-bedroom units. Twenty-five of the apartments are reserved for veterans, 20 additional units are given preference for veterans and the remaining units are for individuals making less than 50% of the Area Median Income. 

To ensure the quality living of residents, the community also provides residents with access to private parking lots and amenities such as a fitness center, a library and a computer room. 

Additionally, staff offices are on-site so that staff members can be available to help resolve any issues or needs. Residents also benefit by being in close proximity to major bus routes as well as the Port Jefferson LIRR station. 

“I am in an apartment on my own at a great location,” said U.S. Army Sergeant Harold Mains. “I could never afford an apartment like this on my income and also, live on my own. I am living 150% better than I was. I love my own space, the sense of community and appreciate all that Concern does for housing Vets, like me.”

According to New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, the $28 million affordable and supportive housing development will be an entity to the Town of Brookhaven. 

“With its affordable homes, health services and gorgeous grounds, Liberty Station is now a permanent piece of the Port Jefferson Station community — and the residents of Brookhaven will benefit as a result,”  Hochul said. “Making it possible for people to access stable, supportive homes that they can afford is one of the principal missions of my administration, and it is one that we will continue to fulfill.”

State funding for Liberty Station includes more than $18 million in equity from Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and more than $6.3 million in subsidy from New York State Homes and Community Renewal. 

The Community Preservation Corporation is providing a $1.45 million permanent loan funded through their partnership with the New York City Employees’ Retirement Systems, Suffolk County provided $900,000 and the Home Depot Foundation donated $300,000. OMH has provided $382,000 in start-up funding through a program development grant, and $1.1 million in annual support service funding through ESSHI. 

Liberty Station is part of the state’s $20 billion, five-year effort to provide New Yorkers with access to safe, affordable housing. The plan, now in its final year, makes housing accessible and combats homelessness by building and preserving more than 100,000 units of affordable housing and 6,000 units of supportive housing.    

Over the last decade on Long Island, HCR has invested $366 million to finance nearly 2,900 affordable apartments in multifamily developments, an investment that leveraged more than $272 million in funding from other sources.

c“An essential part of moving our region forward and remaining competitive is making investments in affordable and diverse housing options. Liberty Station will provide permanent, supportive housing for adults with disabilities, working-class individuals and families, and veterans,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “Our goal is to ensure that all of our residents have a safe place to call home.”