SCHUMER, GILLIBRAND ANNOUNCE BUFFALO’S RALPH C. WILSON JR. CENTENNIAL PARK WILL RECEIVE $4.5 MILLION THROUGH THE NATIONAL COASTAL RESILIENCE FUND FROM THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW TO REVITALIZE THE SHORELINE AND GIVE WESTERN NY FAMILIES THE BEAUTIFUL WATERFRONT PARK THEY DESERVE
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced $4.5 million from the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) to restore the shoreline of Buffalo’s Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park. Schumer and Gillibrand said this funding through the NCRF was made possible thanks to the historic increases they secured in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Law. The senators said this project will help ensure the long term stability of the park by improving flood mitigation efforts, restoring coastal habitats, and giving the public greater access to the Lake Erie waterfront.
“Ralph Wilson was a dear friend of mine, and this will help Buffalo have the beautiful waterfront park that our families deserve and is fitting to his legacy and unwavering commitment to Buffalo. I am proud to deliver $4.5 million in federal funding to restore the Buffalo’s shoreline along Lake Erie for the park and give Western New York the waterfront view it has long deserved,” said Senator Schumer. “When I led the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to passage, it is long overdue investments in restoring the Great Lakes and uplifting families like these that I had in mind. I am proud to help give Buffalo the access to its pristine waterfront it has long deserved and help ensure the long term stability of the park by improving its shoreline. Ralph is looking down smiling today, and I will be thinking of him when I look out at the water.
“Revitalizing the Ralph C. Wilson Park shoreline will provide families in the City of Buffalo with a new space for recreation and help restore our coastal habitats,” said Senator Gillibrand. “I am proud that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is helping projects like this one come to fruition.”
Specifically, the grant will help restore hardened shoreline to softened shoreline and create of coastal habitat along Buffalo's Lake Erie shoreline. The project will also improve habitat and ecosystem functions to reduce impacts of flooding and erosion and will protect critical park and residential infrastructure. This will not only help prevent flooding, but help finally expand and give the public access to the waterfront of the park that it has long desired.
The funding comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). This year’s awards come in large part thanks to historic increases in funding Schumer and Gillibrand were able to secure as a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Law that enabled the NCRF to increase the number of awards and the size of awards granted for natural infrastructure projects benefiting local communities.
###
