Miles SmithNew York’s executive branch hopes to invest $75 million in modernizing the state’s Institute for Basic Research (IBR) in Developmental Disabilities.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said the item, which includes the establishment of a genomic core facility that would expand research and access for genetic testing, has been included in her FY 2026 executive budget proposal.
Plans also include converting an abandoned structure on the notorious former Willowbrook State School Grounds into a Center for Learning.
“New Yorkers need and deserve access to advanced genomics research to improve therapies for people with developmental disabilities,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “This proposal aims to modernize a community space into a nationally recognized Center for Learning, fostering innovative treatments and educational opportunities while preserving history.”
The Institute for Basic Research (IBR) opened in 1968 as the first large-scale institute in the world with a mandate to conduct basic and clinical research into the causes of developmental disabilities. The IBR became part of the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) in 1979.
The proposed funding would be the largest single financial commitment to the IBR since it opened nearly 60 years ago and will help re-establish New York as a leader in this field, Hochul said.
The Willowbrook School, which opened in 1947, made national headlines in 1972 when the deplorable conditions and treatment of the children living there were exposed by journalists Jane Curtin of the Staten Island Advance and Geraldo Rivera.
The school – which grew to be the largest for people with disabilities – was shuttered in 1987.
The proposed Willowbrook Center for Learning provides an opportunity to memorialize the history of Willowbrook as a birthplace of reform while establishing a space for learning about the past and fostering innovation for the future, Hochul said.
Photo courtesy Jason Zhang, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
