Jay Heritage Center Receives Half-Million Dollar Check for “Transformative” Building Renovations

The Jay Heritage Center received its largest state-funded grant since 2014 on Tuesday, July 9. Senator Shelley Mayer presented one of Rye’s most historic sites with a check for $500,000, which the center will use for key renovations, including ones to make the location more accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The grant is a Community Resiliency, Economic Sustainability and Technology (CREST) grant.

“This money goes to completing the entry vestibule, new ceilings and walls, ADA compliant bathrooms, ADA compliant corridors, the roof of the veranda, to expand the geothermal heating and cooling pump, and new rear portico decking,” Mayer said in front of a small crowd of partners, staff, and visitors. “This is a very significant step.” New York State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins supported this grant award as well.

“We are thrilled to have this transformative gift of $500,000,” said Suzanne Clary, Jay Heritage Center President. “We now have over 35,000 people coming to visit us each year. And many of them want to step inside this building on this footprint where John Jay, who helped to negotiate the Treaty of Paris to end the Revolutionary War, and who also abolished slavery in New York State, grew up.”

This is a timely grant from NY State, as the center is gearing up to host two important events in 2026 and 2027. In 2026, they will host programs commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and the following year in 2027, the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in New York State.

Along with ADA-approved changes, the Jay Heritage Center will partner with Con Edison to expand upon its heating and cooling in an environmentally-friendly way. “Con Edison has been such a supporter of ours these many years,” Clary said. “This grant is really going to harness that early energy – those MEPs – and expand upon them in such an incredible, transformative way.”

Other key figures in attendance included Westchester Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins, Rye Mayor Josh Cohn, and NY State Assemblyman Steve Otis, all of whom spoke to thank Mayer and the state for this donation and added remarks about the importance of the historic site. Representatives from nonprofit groups in attendance included the American Women of African Heritage (AWAH), The Friends of the Rye African Cemetery, the Japan Society of Fairfield County, Save the Sound and the African American Men of Westchester (AAMW).

Previously, the Jay Heritage Center received $500,000 from NY State Park in 2014 to revitalize their gardens, $400,000 to stabilize a tennis house in 2015, and $150,000 last year from New York Parks and Trails. They have also received several generous private donations from the Wachenheim Foundation and Aresty Foundation to help restore the center, especially its main building. 

“I think everyone is realizing that this is a real treasure in our backyard,” Clary said. “I think that’s the biggest message. We have a significant investment in this 23-acre park.”