Noam Bramson unveils new developments; touts economic boom in his State of the City Address

In his State of the City address on March 1, New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson touted the city as a model for “development done right,” saying current projects and those on the horizon were transforming New Rochelle.

“From artists studios near the train station, to apartments on Huguenot and on Commerce, to mid-rises on both sides of North Avenue that will completely transform the critical block between Treno and Fifth,” he said. “Each of these developments will have a powerful effect on its immediate surroundings and, collectively, they will have a big positive impact on the downtown as a whole.  But with the exception of 587 Main, they are relatively modest in scale.”

Bramson outlined 15 significant developments that were poised to transform New Rochelle’s downtown, including three that he unveiled for the first time.The Business Council of Westchester has worked closely with the City of New Rochelle on helping to attract development to the city. In fact, the developer of 587 Main Street cited in Bramson’s speech, RXR Realty, is being honored at the BCW’s upcoming Hall of Fame Awards on April 24.

The three new projects named by Bramson were:

• 14 Lecount, containing two towers, each 27 stories, and a total of about 500 apartments, with a ground-breaking planned by the end of 2018;
• 500 Main Street, a 16-story project with 243 apartments, with construction anticipated to start in 2019; and
• 277 North Avenue, just across from the New Rochelle train station, where two additional 28-story towers will contain approximately 441 apartments.

“When our downtown plan was adopted in December 2015, some questioned whether we could achieve our ambitious vision . . . tonight, we answer that question with an emphatic, unambiguous, proud, confident YES,” he said.

Bramson also spent some time discussing the recent school stabbings that have raised concern among parents and city residents and have put the city in a negative spotlight. He praised school officials for making a number of immediate changes to improve security and for creating a task force that is examining long-range solutions. Bramson spotlighted several stellar students who attended the speech, pointing to their accomplishments and saying that they were the rule at New Rochelle High School, not the exception.

“And although the events of the past two months have been profoundly serious and important, our students, our children refuse to be defined by them.  We will not allow any incident to obscure or distort a larger and truer picture of hopeful, accomplished, good-hearted young people who make us proud every single day,” he said. “Do not doubt for a second our ability to overcome the challenge of this moment, and emerge on the other side better than ever before.”