Downtown Mid-day Ghost Town

By any measure, the pace of development approvals in New Rochelle has exceeded everyone’s wildest imagination. New Rochellians overwhelmingly approve of the new downtown renaissance if Mayor Noam Bramson’s recent reelection is any indication. According to this website, New Rochelle is poised to add 10,840 new residents with 287 new students. We have over two dozen projects in the pipeline; yet, nearly all of them are zoned residential with ground-floor retail. Without office and other non-retail build-out, the downtown renaissance will not be successful.

New Rochelle has a grand history of creativity and industry. One of the earliest movie studios, Thanhouser Film Studios, and beloved creators of Mighty Mouse, Terrytoons Studios, were based in New Rochelle. Sadly, these studios, and their tax revenue, are long gone. With the loss of this tax base, the residents of New Rochelle have made up the difference. Between 1980-2020, the city property tax rate has increased 358%[1].

We need to take advantage of New Rochelle’s location not only for residential development but commercial as well. New Rochelle is the only city in Westchester with an Amtrak station on the Northeast corridor, a direct connection to I-95, 2 colleges and a streamlined build review. I’m not the only person to see these advantages. These benefits were touted by Development Commissioner Luiz Aragon during the Amazon HQ2 proposal process.[2] [3]

Without office workers occupying the downtown area during the workday, we will see a perpetual cycle of the planned retail store closings due to the lack of consistent foot traffic. We are missing the “work” aspect in “live, work, play.” In the coming years, Metro-North will send trains from New Rochelle to Penn Station and four new stations in the Bronx, and LIRR will have trains going to Grand Central Terminal. We could be a hub of interstate commerce between Stamford and New York and points beyond. Through the connections at Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, workers from Long Island and New Jersey could have a one-transfer ride to New Rochelle. We could easily pull workers and companies from NYC and Stamford, as far as Newark, NJ. There are numerous benefits to bringing in office workers.

Companies and office workers:

1. Bring in tax revenue
2. Shop at our stores
3. Patronize our bars and restaurants
4. Volunteer in our neighborhoods
5. Don’t send their children to our schools

The New Rochelle IDA should pivot to promote and approve commercial construction rather than residential as we’ve achieved our residential development objectives. New Rochelle shouldn’t approve any new residential zoning until more commercial space is approved.