The Westchester Innovation Network’s (WIN) City Labs initiative and students from Iona University kicked off a new project on Wednesday with the goal of helping the Village of Port Chester brainstorm new ideas for transforming its downtown waterfront into a destination. A group of students from Iona’s Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation will spend the coming weeks speaking with community residents and business owners to determine what the public would like to see along the roughly 1,600 feet of waterfront the village controls along the Byram River. Village manager Stuart Rabin gave the students a tour of the waterfront […]

The Business Council of Westchester is among 35 business organizations statewide urging Gov. Hochul to veto legislation passed by the Senate and Assembly known as the “climate superfund” because it would result in unintended consequences and increased costs for households and businesses. The business groups contend that the bill discriminates by targeting only the largest fossil fuel extraction and processing firms, including petroleum, natural gas and coal. “Applying ‘strict liability’ to a narrow category of businesses is an unfair approach that fails to consider the complexity of the issue.” The groups argue that the legislation ignores the near universal use […]

The transformation of southwest Yonkers took another step forward on Tuesday when BCW member Ginsburg Development Companies (GDC) celebrated the grand opening of 70 Pier Street, a boutique building featuring 36 luxury rental apartments. Located adjacent to the Ludlow Train Station and across from a completely renovated Abe Cohen Park & Plaza, 70 Pier Street is the first of three buildings to be built by GDC in the neighborhood, which will total over 400 units. “70 Pier stands at the gateway to Ludlow Park for those arriving by train. Together with the new park and plaza, it will welcome residents […]

BCW member Montefiore Health System announced on Monday that it will transform Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital into a sustainable community model with a $41-million capital investment from New York. The comprehensive revitalization strategy focuses on expanding and modernizing critical areas of the hospital. Key projects include the redesign of the Emergency Department, which currently accommodates 20,000 visits each year. With the planned upgrades, it will be able to accommodate 50,000 visits, a 150% increase in capacity. “Over the last couple of years, we have engaged with our patients, community members, and local leaders to truly understand and address the specific […]

The Burke Neurological Institute (BNI) in White Plains is testing a completely different approach to stopping Alzheimer’s disease. BNI, a BCW member and an affiliation of Weill Cornell Medicine, in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) at University of California San Diego and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, have launched a national clinical trial to investigate the therapeutic potential of a form of benfotiamine, a synthetic version of vitamin B1 (thiamine), as a treatment for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early Alzheimer’s disease (AD). “The approach of using benfotiamine in patients with mild Alzheimer’s is very promising,” said […]

Yonkers officials and BCW member Great Point Studios hosted a ribbon cutting and opening ceremony on Wednesday at the new Robert Halmi Sr. Academy of Film and Television. Yonkers Mayor Spano, Superintendent of Schools Aníbal Soler, Jr. and Yonkers Board of Education joined Great Point Studios’ CEO Robert Halmi, Jr. at the school’s campus at 463 Hawthorne Avenue—the former Rising Ground residential school for at-risk children. The new school serves students in the sixth to twelfth grades, and it will function as a trade school offering instruction in the film and television industry, allowing students to engage in hands-on, project-based […]