Development In New Rochelle Issue For Mayoral Candidates

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Development is a topic of concern pretty much everywhere in the Hudson Valley, but few communities are as invested in the rebuilding of a downtown area as New Rochelle. The city undertook a year-long process of analysis and discussion of the downtown area and has seen ground broken for major development project after major development project over the past few years.

The city has a couple dozen commercial, residential and mixed used projects on the books in the downtown and up the North Avenue corridor. See a development map on the city's website.

It has rebranded itself as "Your City Outside the City" because of its proximity to New York City; it's only about a 40-minute Metro-North train ride to Grand Central Terminal.

With all the development going on, some in New Rochelle are feeling that the small town feel is being lost.

That is the view of mayoral candidate Brendan M. Conroy, a Republican who is challenging incumbent Democratic Mayor Noam Bramson for the city's top job in the Nov. 5 election.

He said in a series of questions for a candidate's profile that the downtown development is "spilling into many of our neighborhoods that are rich with historic and unique personalities that are being erased."

Conroy said that he feels there are not practical considerations for current business owners and residents.

His concerns include parking, retail shopping options and grocery shopping. Indeed, New Rochelle is losing the New Roc Stop & Shop in February, but there is still a CTown Supermarket on Main Street.

Conroy, who has worked for the last 20 years in the real estate industry, has pledged to work with the city council to "advance current development in a fashion that will revitalize the downtown without adversely impacting the quality of life for our current residents."

Conroy did not respond to a request for additional comment for this article.

SEE ALSO:

• 2019 Candidate Profile: Noam Bramson Of New Rochelle
• 2019 Candidate Profile: Brendan M. Conroy For Mayor

Bramson, who has been mayor since 2006 and was previously on the city council, said the city has worked hard to overcome a negative reputation "as a city that couldn't get out of its own way."

He said the downtown development will make the city center more economically and culturally vibrant, with taxpayers coming out ahead by tens of millions of dollars, as new revenue exceeds additional service and capital costs.

"Mr. Conroy's poorly informed approach would place all of this progress at risk, sending us back to the bad old days, when New Rochelle's downtown spiraled into decline," he said in an email to Patch.

Bramson said the city's growth objectives are largely concentrated in the 300 acres surrounding the transit center, which is on North Avenue next to the Metro-North Railroad Station.

"For most of the remainder of our city, New Rochelle's goal is preservation of suburban land use characteristics, enhancement of open space and environmental protection," he said.

"New Rochelle's planning strategy must and should recognize and respect the diversity of our physical and human characteristics," Bramson said.

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