Mayor Bramson: New Rochelle Has 'Unprecedented Opportunity' Ahead

New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson Tuesday told residents that the city must be proactive in addressing the future and ”seize an unprecedented opportunity to develop and invigorate its downtown.”

Bramson delivered his State of the City during a Chamber of Commerce gathering of civic and business leaders, residents and other stakeholders, and said that economic development is “the preeminent challenge” facing New Rochelle.

He added that “the health of the downtown is linked to everything else – our tax base, our property values, our access to jobs.” Citing also the “fierce competition underway for talented younger professionals,” and argued that ”what happens on Main Street affects every one of us.”

The city has made “significant progress during the past two decades by attracting new housing, entertainment, and dining,” noting that the residents of New Rochelle “have the power to make positive change.”

But Bramson acknowledged that recent accomplishments “have not yet achieved the critical mass that makes a place as a whole ignite. The trend lines are all moving in the right direction, they just haven’t moved far enough.”

From a press release about the address:

Bramson asserted, however, that New Rochelle was now uniquely positioned to “race forward” in its development goals, because of three converging factors: “a good economy, a good plan, and good leadership.” We have a better opportunity right now than at any other moment in our lives,” said Bramson, “Years of preparation have brought us to the cusp of something special.”

To take full advantage of growing economic momentum and heightened interest in New Rochelle, last December, the New Rochelle City Council unanimously approved a master development agreement with the real estate partnership RDRXR. Bramson described the City’s intent: “we’re looking to enhance our downtown as a whole – multiple sites, planned together, each location and use strengthening and supporting the other, preserving what works, and changing what doesn’t.”

Bramson described the master development framework in detail and expressed confidence that New Rochelle’s strategy would be effective. “This isn’t about pretty pictures or hopeful handshakes,” he said, “it’s about shovels in the ground.” In addition, Bramson affirmed that “there’s no deal unless taxpayers come out ahead.”

New Rochelle’s development initiative will be shaped through an “open and inclusive community outreach process” called Crowdsourced Placemaking that will include traditional presentations, meet-ups, and social media. Announcing that this process would begin on April 1, Bramson exhorted his audience to “stand up and be counted, offer your ideas, and listen to the ideas of others.” “When I talk about leadership,” said Bramson, “I am not referring to one Mayor or six Council Members, I am talking about leadership from all of us.”

While Bramson devoted the lion’s share of the State of the City to economic development, he also noted that this was not “the only thing that matters to New Rochelle.” Indeed, Bramson opened his remarks by celebrating a range of positive benchmarks, including the lowest crime rate in more than fifty years, the fourth lowest city property tax rate in New York State, and the highest volume of local sales in New Rochelle’s history. Bramson also described ongoing initiatives to promote the arts, encourage energy efficiency, improve local parks, and help youngsters prepare for school and work.

Reflecting on the unique diversity that attracted his family and many others to New Rochelle, Bramson said “the life experience our boys have acquired and will acquire, the better understanding of and empathy for humanity in all our highs and lows, is worth far more to us than any particular action or product of the government,” but that “this quality of ours that makes New Rochelle special is also delicate and fragile.”

Bramson concluded that “if we get this right, if we take advantage of the good economy, execute a good plan, show ourselves to be good leaders, and give everyone from the biggest fan to the biggest skeptic a good reason to feel that their investment in this city is paid back in full, then it’s not just our bank accounts and budgets that will be enriched by the right kind of development – it’s our city’s soul.”

The State of the City is presented by the Chamber of Commerce of New Rochelle. It can be viewed online at www.newrochelleny.com.

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