St. Paul Meets with Seniors, Says Mayor Took Developer Cash

Flanked by residents of in New Rochelle, Richard St. Paul reaffirmed Friday that he was still a candidate for mayor despite what has been said about him.

"I was selected based on my record of leadership," the Republican candidate said.

At the press conference, St. Paul had senior citizens standing in back of him holding a campaign mailer with a picture of a dead fish on the front. The caption read, "Something Doesn't Smell Right ... in New Rochelle."

St. Paul said Mayor Noam Bramson, the Democratic candidate, accepted a $1,000 donation from the developer of Maple Center, at 35 Maple Ave., and subsequently arranged to have the building sold to him. The apartments were previously run as a nonprofit.

"My opponent put the City of New Rochelle up for sale," St. Paul said.

Besides the mayoral contest, five of six City Council races will be decided Tuesday. Only one council seat—Albert Tarantino, R-District 2—is not contested.

Bramson said the donation was publicly disclosed and was consistent with the letter of the law.

He said the deal to which St. Paul was referring was a unanimous vote, one in which St. Paul participated.

Bramson said turning the building over to the new developer provided a one-time $150,000 payment for downtown capital improvements, capped rent levels—with many tenants eventually paying less rent—and facilitated major improvements to apartments in the building.

Since the building was previously run as a nonprofit, it paid no taxes to the city, Bramson said. Under the new agreement, the developer will pay $60,000 per year in lieu of taxes, with a 2.5 percent annual increase.

"This is the first time I can recall that a candidate has attacked an agreement for which he himself voted and which was approved unanimously by the council," Bramson said, "because it was recognized to be in the clear public interest both with respect to taxpayers and with respect to the preservation of senior affordable housing."