Bramson sees defeat for Echo Bay plan

New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson said he is ready to leave the proposed Echo Bay development behind.

The City Council is scheduled to vote Nov. 26 on a land disposition agreement with developer Forest City Residential Inc., an affiliate of Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises.

“It is clear that a majority of the City Council is now opposed to the Forest City project at Echo Bay, and I expect that the council will vote on Tuesday to set aside the terms of the Forest City development deal,” Bramson said.

Four of seven of the council members appear likely to vote against moving forward with the project, which has drawn vocal opposition from some members of the community. Forest City is looking to build 285 luxury apartments, 25,000 square feet of retail space and a waterfront park on a 9-acre spread that centers on a property currently used as a city public works yard.

Opponents of the project said tax abatements for the project and the potential to bring more children into the city’s public school district equated to taxpayer-subsidized development. They also took issue with the scaled-back nature of the developer’s proposal, which was conceived in 2006 as a grander, 26-acre development that included two hotels.

Bramson said as a supporter of the project he was disappointed by the outcome. “But New Rochelle remains fully committed to improving our waterfront and downtown, and it”™s our job now to focus on the future,” he said.

The mayor in a phone interview said it was too early to predict whether or not the city would reopen a bidding process to solicit new development proposals on Echo Bay. He said he believed the council will need a few weeks to determine its course.

“The debate surrounding Echo Bay was often passionate and intense,” he said. “Let”™s now work together to harness that energy on behalf of the sustainable growth and vitality of the city we love and share.”

After heated debate surrounding the development, which culminated in a confrontational Nov. 12 City Council meeting, the mayor said he was looking to put the issue behind him and confident he and his colleagues would continue to work together amicably.

“We all have a responsibility to focus on the future,” he said.