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Tourism Grant Distribution Leaves Applicants Vying for Clarity Over How Grants Can Be Used & Whether More Funding is Coming
By Tina Traster
Cultural and arts organizations that counted on a financial boost from the annual Rockland County Tourism Grants want to know why the county reduced or eliminated funding, and why monies that have been awarded need to be pinned to support the FIFA World Cup event and America250 in 2026.
For a month they’ve been unable to get clear answers from Rockland County Executive Ed Day and Director of Economic Development Jenna Nazario, they say.
Directors at nonprofits and cultural organizations say they have been trading emails with Nazario asking for meetings to discuss reinstatement of funds that have either been severely reduced or slashed altogether. But with little to no satisfaction, they’ve redirected their pleas to Jay Hood, Chairman of the Rockland County Legislature, imploring him to find a way to replace the monies the Tourism Grants had covered for the past decade. The Tourism Grants have traditionally derived from a combination of Rockland County monies as well as funding from New York Empire State Development grants.
Over the past 10 years, applicants received notification about their awards in January or February, and the county held a ceremony in late February to announce the grantees and the amounts. This year, applicants received letters in late February and March, but a full list of grantees has not been released, and no event was held to celebrate the allocations. Instead, applicants have been scrambling to understand this year’s process, which they say is chaotic and appears to involve retroactive requirements to use awarded monies in concert with FIFA and America250.
Over the past month, former grantees have asked the county for a complete list of who received funds, without success. RCBJ also sought final allocations on the grants but was told “the list/awards have not been finalized yet.”
Rockland County Tourism Grants in 2025 awarded $316,750 to 30 tourism-focused businesses, up from $298,000 in 2024.
The burning question is why the county has so severely reduced funding, and why those who have received monies have been required to use the money to focus on promoting Rockland County as a hotel/recreation destination for FIFA goers this summer and for a July 3rd concert to mark America250. What vexes them is that these requirements were not part of the application process.
Both FIFA and America250 are one-time events, while Rockland’s arts, cultural and historic groups typically rely on funding to bolster year-round programming.
“We simply asked why – why were the cuts made?” said Elliott Forrest, Executive Artistic Director of ArtsRock. “Cuts from 10 years of highly effective money for year-round marketing. Instead, we were told Rockland County taxpayer money needed to be spent on one of two things: America250 and a sporting event in New Jersey.”
And what appears to be unresolved is whether additional funding is forthcoming for programming beyond these two events.
FIFA, soccer’s World Cup, will take place in 11 cities, including matches from June 14 to July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will include eight matches, comprising five group stage matches, a round of 32, a round of 16, and the final on July 19. Throughout June, Rockland County is hosting a month-long celebration called Global Rhythms–Rockland Summer Festival. FIFA Global Rhythms is a musical initiative that creates an official album for each of the host cities for 2026 World Cup.
Rockland County was awarded a $127,250 matching grant through Empire State Development’s Market NY program to support the Global Rhythms: Rockland Summer Festival 2026. “Global Rhythms is a multi‑day, countywide celebration aimed highlighting Rockland’s cultural diversity, artistic talent, and outdoor recreation in conjunction with the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” according to the county. The festival will feature live music, international cuisine, art installations, interactive sports activities, family programming, and large outdoor screens for World Cup match viewing.
“Our grant decisions are guided by what delivers the greatest value for county taxpayers and ensures a strong return on investment,” said Rockland County spokesperson Beth Cefalu. “An internal review discovered these organizations were receiving duplicate funds from the County administrations & Legislature for the same event and/or operation costs – which is what led to grants being denied to longtime recipients. Other denials were due to organizations being unable to demonstrate any verifiable return on investment. Grants are not entitlements – they are competitive, performance-based, and subject to annual review.”
Nazario Ties Grants To FIFA Priority
In 2024, Jenna Nazario was named Director of Economic Development & Tourism for Rockland County, succeeding Lucy Redzeposki. Nazario joined the county as Health Equity Advisor for the Rockland County Human Rights Commission in 2019. In Dec. 2019, she was promoted to Health Equity Advisor for Rockland County’s Human Rights Commission. In 2020, she completed a Master of Public Health (MPH) from UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, an online program. In 2021, she became Director of Community Relations, where she led the deployment of $63 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Nazario worked part-time as a dental hygienist from 2007 to 2020, according to her LinkedIn page.
Nazario’s husband Charles Nazario is a senior project manager at Genuis Sports in New York City. Genius Sports announced in June 2025 that it built the official FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ Fantasy game, following a series of gamified products developed for FIFA international tournaments. Genius Sports is also involved with other top-tier football organizations, including exclusive data rights with the Argentine Football Association (AFA) through 2030 and various European leagues.
On the company’s LinkedIn page, Genuis Sports wrote “we’re proud to be part of the FIFA Integrity Task Force, providing round-the-clock bet monitoring and intelligence to ensure every moment remains fair, transparent and unpredictable.”
RCBJ reached out to Nazario for comment. In return, the County spokeswoman Cefalu said, “Any implication that funding decisions are influenced by personal relationships is unequivocally – and completely – false.”
The focus on FIFA and America250 has left cultural organizations at sea, saying they’re having trouble planning and executing their programs. Many say talks with the county now revolve around criteria to align with the two events — but there’s no clarity as to whether additional 2026 tourism dollars will be available and what the qualifiers will be.
Directors of 16 organizations sent a letter on March 16 to Day seeking clarity on why a consistent program that so many groups relied upon changed course this year, and with no warning. In the letter, they thanked the county for a decade-long commitment to the arts, history and culture, saying they have enjoyed partnering with Rockland County to “plan and advance the mission of bringing more visitors to our beautiful region.”
The letter went on to say, “for this reason, we were surprised and concerned by changes announced by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism regarding the 2026 Tourism and Contract Agency grants.”
Any organization that can substantiate its impact with verifiable metrics is eligible for reconsideration.”
Members who signed the letter asked for a group meeting. To date, neither Day nor the county has responded to the letter, they say, but the county spokesperson said, “We’ve also made ourselves available to meet one-on-one with any organization to walk them through their application. Our Tourism Director Jenna Nazario reached out multiple times to organizations for one-on-one meetings to help them navigate eligibility requirements and be reevaluated for funds. Those organizations have refused to meet and discuss these issues (in fact most have not even responded) however any organization that can substantiate its impact with verifiable metrics is eligible for reconsideration.”
Kathleen Motes Bennewitz, Executive Director of the Hopper House Museum, met with Nazario on April 10th. She said some of the members of the group who signed the letter had phone calls with Nazario. But it appears many are now re-directing their requests to Hood and other legislative members instead.
Bennewitz met with Nazario to discuss the $8,000 the nonprofit was awarded for 2026 — about half of what they’d received in 2024 and 2025. The grant is aimed at supporting Jazz in the Garden and Hopper’s Birthday, events that run concurrently with the timing of FIFA and America250. In previous years, the larger grant would support the museum’s marketing for the entire calendar year.
“I voiced the concern of the nonprofit group that this year’s grant awards seem to prioritize short-term county tourism initiatives – such as FIFA and America 250,” she said.
“Jenna shared with me the importance FIFA has to Rockland County,” said Bennewitz, adding the Tourism Director told her she expected FIFA-related tourism would bring $30 million to the county. “She positioned it as having the closest access to MetLife, that it would be easy to come to Rockland and enjoy what Rockland has to offer. She presented it as a viable economic driver.”
Cefalu said, “the FIFA-related funding is entirely separate from the county’s tourism grant program and was awarded through New York Empire State Development to support a targeted tourism initiative tied to World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium. That award is nondiscretionary and its purpose is to position Rockland as a premier destination, drive visitor spending, and generate measurable economic benefit for local businesses and residents during a global event.”
Seeking Help With Tourism Grants From The Legislature
At a meeting at the County Legislature April 14, Tim Englert, founder of the Knickerbocker Ice Festival, told legislators that funding for his nonprofit The Kinship of Ice helped bring people to the festival.
“If this county is serious about economic development and tourism, it must create funding structures that are realistic and reliable. You cannot ask for that impact, that tourism and that community pride and then make it this hard to deliver,” he said.
Echoing those sentiments, Forrest said, “When I sell tickets to events, hundreds and sometimes thousands of people come. Before and after our shows, our audiences fill the bars, stores and restaurants in the villages in which we present. This is the definition of economic development and tourism.”
The county is hoping to lure FIFA attendees to the county’s hotels and restaurants. On its “Explore Rockland County” page, it has a section called FIFA World Cup 2026 that says, “Stay close to the matches, soak up the vibe, and make Rockland your go-to spot for everything soccer and more.”
A Google Search on TripAdvisor for “hotels near MetLife” stadium offers more than 500 choices in New Jersey and in New York City between 1.1 miles to 6 miles from the arena. The choices range from budget hotels to luxury properties. New York City offers the competitive advantage of quick public transportation. The Hilton Pearl River and Doubletree in Nanuet are about 24 miles from MetLife Stadium, while Rockland County’s public transportation is spotty.
Trains run on NJ Transit from Nanuet, Spring Valley, and Suffern to Secaucus Junction. The travel time is normally about one hour with some express trains running faster. The games are largely scheduled on Saturday evenings when there are fewer trains running in both directions, and significant alterations to the regular schedule are anticipated, but not yet announced, making travel from Rockland County more complicated.
From Secaucus Junction, ticket holders will need to transfer to the Meadowlands Rail for an additional ten-minute shuttle. Tickets should be purchased in advance as only FIFA ticket holders will be allowed on the shuttle to MetLife. Secaucus will serve as the primary transfer hub for up to 40,000 fans per match, likely leading to heavy crowds for Rockland-bound riders during the transfer from Meadowlands shuttle trains back to the Pascack Valley or Port Jervis lines.
According to NJ Transit, no private bus or charter operators will provide match day service. Onsite parking for the events has been banned, though premium parking spaces are being sold at the nearby American Dream mall.
