Mayor Noam Bramson delivered his final State of the City Address on the evening of March 9 at New Rochelle City Hall. Bramson announced last November that he would not be running this year for another term as mayor. At the end of 2023, Bramson will have been New Rochelle’s mayor for 18 years. For 10 years before that, he served on the City Council. Bramson has lived in New Rochelle for 54 years.
Declaring that the state of the city is “strong,” Bramson highlighted the economic, environmental and social progress that has taken place.
“A generation ago, this city was almost left for dead. A declining and hollowed-out urban core. Municipal finances in deep crisis. Badly divided civic leadership,” Bramson said. “Today, we are the fastest growing city in New York, enjoying a wave of investment and confidence unlike anything in a century.”
In addition to highlighting downtown projects, Bramson said that New Rochelle is doing its part to grapple with the housing shortage that is gripping the region and New York state as a whole. He reminded people that new tax revenues have been generated by the building boom.
“These dollars are reinvested in community needs, from youth programming to park master plans, from flood mitigation to public safety, while moderating the demands placed on our taxpayers,” Bramson said. “The rising skyline is only the most obvious evidence of our growth: 30 projects approved; ”¨12 projects completed and leasing up even faster than expected; ”¨13 more under construction. ”¨Almost 6,300 units (of housing) finished or in the pipeline, with an additional 4,000 still to come.”
Bramson said that city’s tax revenues would be going up $230 million for the next 20 years as a result of the development boom and another $720 million for the 20 years after that. He said that local sales activity in New Rochelle topped $1.5 billion last year. He estimated that 8,000 construction jobs and hundreds of permanent jobs have been created as a result of the development that has taken place in the city.
Bramson said that the city will continue to promote affordable housing.
“Today, about 23% of our community”™s dwellings are below market, subsidized in one way or another, more than meeting our obligations to the region and setting an example of inclusivity,” Bramson said.
Bramson described his administration’s success in creating public spaces in new developments such as plazas at Clinton Park and Anderson Place. He said Pratt Landing was bringing public access to the East Main waterfront. He took pride in the city securing $22 million in federal and state grants to help pay for the project known as Linc, which will convert half of Memorial Highway into a linear park.
“We”™re shaping a cityscape that is attractive and pedestrian-friendly, with a form-based zoning code that emphasizes the highest-quality design,” Bramson said. “Alongside dynamic partners at the Council on the Arts and the New Rochelle Art Association, we”™re nurturing New Rochelle”™s creative energy, with countless examples of performances and displays.”
He also listed as accomplishments an updated sustainability plan, bringing the city’s crime rate to a 60-year low, making new investments in infrastructure and expanding the budgets for road repair, resurfacing, and safety. Bramson praised first responders including the city’s fire department, which he said responded to 24,000 calls last year. He thanked the city’s Department of Public Works for a winter with such little snow and expressed thanks to all city workers and volunteers on various boards and commissions for their efforts.
While not providing details, Bramson said that the city would be ready for Metro-North to begin service to Penn Station with New Rochelle being a major connecting point on the route.
Bramson said, “Coming soon: ambitious plans to remake our transit center into a true community hub, ready for the expanded use arriving with Penn Access.”
Bramson distanced New Rochelle from what’s happening elsewhere in the nation.
“Sadly, at the national level, generations of hard-won progress seem today at risk of reversal,” Bramson said. “From the top, federal courts increasingly hostile to minority rights. From the grassroots, a surge of hatred and bias crime. Online, conspiracy theories infecting the minds of millions. And, in the public square, a casual cruelty, edging ever closer to violence. With so much at stake, it must be our purpose to keep alive here in New Rochelle the principles and practices of unity, civility, and truth.”
Bramson rejected hatred and bigotry in all its forms.
“We affirm everyone”™s right to be who they are, we embrace waves of immigrants as our own,” Bramson said. “We celebrate our diversity, knowing that all of us are enriched and ennobled by it.”
Bramson recalled that New Rochelle was the epicenter for the initial spread of Covid-19. He praised all those who helped the city overcome the outbreak while expressing pleasure at being able to deliver his State of the City Address in person now that the pandemic has eased.
Bramson thanked developers who have developed in the city and those aided in the planning process. He also thanked the residents and businesses that have had to cope with disruptions created by construction taking place.
“To those in the thick of things, we owe you a debt of gratitude for bearing this burden,” Bramson said. “And I make you this promise. A stronger, healthier city is coming, you can bank on it, and it”™ll be worth the hard journey to get there together.”
