Good evening and welcome to the April 15, 25 regular legislative meeting. Madam Clerk, may you please call the roll. Council Member Lopez. Yep. Council Member Tarantino. Here. Council Member Peters. Yep. Council Member Fosin-Layet. Here. Council Member Kaye. Here. Council Member Lopez. Yep. Council Member Tarantino. Here. Council Member Peters. Here. Council Member Fosin-Layet. Council Member Kaye. Council Member Stern. Here. Mayor and Ms. Herb. Here. Thank you so much. May I have a motion in a second to approve the minutes for the regular legislative meeting, which was held on Tuesday, February 18th, 2025, and the committee of the full session held on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Motion is second to approve. Kay and Stern, all in favor say aye. Any opposed? And then note the submission of meetings minutes for the regular legislative meeting of Tuesday, March 18th, 2025 and the Committee of the full session of Tuesday, April 8th, 2025. Today, the first item on our agenda is a development update. And my CR fabulous development team here, Commissioner, are you and your colleagues all coming up or just this? I'm doing great up the team. Brilliant. Hello, everyone. That's OK. Yes. In a minute. Do we have handouts at the video commissioner to see multiple papers? It's actually structured as an economic development specifically updates. So that's. I what I'm giving so you tell me that Okay, there is a slide to go over This is a woman overview as well, so I'm not trying everything. I just work here. Whatever you want me to do. Whatever you want me to do. You have one here. I saw that one here. Stay bigger, I think. Okay, I need two more. Okay. Some plates. Table, window, table. Wow, exactly. Great, best of luck. Thank you. That's a thank you. That's a thank you. All right, four years. Great. So I thank you all for having us. This evening, we, like you know, I just wanted to take a moment to bring up the staff at Works on Economic Development. We have Fort Haven, Florida, the Deputy Commissioner for Economic Development, and we have of the young hydrosify who's small business relations manager and Kevin Jimenez who's the director of economic, and unfortunately, Katrina Schivers, who recently joined our team as the IDA and CLD Economic Development Manager, Unibok will be here today, she had a prior commitment, but I really wanted you to meet the team who is behind all of the programming that we're doing in the Economic Development Space. The agenda this evening is to kind of give you an overview of the development at large, talk a little bit about the build out, talk about the Vanguard initiative. I know there's been some, we've had some conversations, mayor and other members of council talking about the diagnostics and really measuring the success of the Vanguard District Council, I hope today to present you with some actual metrics and some understanding of the landscape in a quantified way so that we can understand how well we're doing with the implementation of the Vanguard District. Again, overall, touching on the economic opportunity infrastructure, ecosystem, the programs we have to grow and develop the local workforce, the programs we have for empowering local entrepreneurs, and we're going to go into a little bit of a deep dive into the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood, the economic opportunities that are around the link, but also just sort of like, I've been calling it, so the blast of the link project itself. There were implications into a larger kind of frame where a larger ecosystem that exceeds the boundaries of the link and just to sort of put a fire point and sort of develop a metrics and a sort of a baseline on how well those interventions around the link are working. We've engaged with Harvard and the Bloomberg Philanthropies on a fellowship program this summer. We're working with a Harvard student to really dig in and quantify and define what that area is and come up with metrics to measure our success. So again, the development overview of since 2015, when we adopted the downtown overlay zone, we've seen 2.5 billion in private investment in New Rochelle, that's a comprised of 11,000, over 11,000 new residential units. In 32 projects, 23 of those projects are completed in leasing. There are 4,500 rental units that are actually leasing. We see around the 90% occupancy rate, 7,000 new residents coming downtown. Those are coming from all these places where in this chart over to the right, 22% are from New Rochelle. People talk about, where we're seeing certain dynamics with our rental products in the downtown that our families are relocating, the parents are relocating into these new projects, and they're giving their family homes to the next generation to the children. So there is an intergenerational relationship. We're seeing a lot of people and families are able to grow and develop here in New Rochelle. So it's really an excellent indicator to see such a high percentage of people from New Rochelle coming into the downtown. Again, seeing a similar dynamic with Westchester as New Rochelle is the leader in the county for the production of new housing. So we're really seeing it filling a need where folks are able to stay here. 150,000 average household income that takes into account the affordable. Again we have a thousand units of affordable housing around 23% of the total units produced are affordable at varying levels of AMI or area median income from 80% all the way down to less than below 40%. All the buildings all told about 34% of the affordable units are filled with new residencies. There's kind of two categories of affordable products. You have some that we're able to enforce the new reshell preference preference and some that we are not because of, I'll just sort of speak generally that there are some requirements of the subsidies received from other levels of government that have made it difficult to enforce the new reshall preference. So we're seeing about a 25% new shell resident representation in those buildings. Overall, 34% but in the buildings where we do have the preference, over 50% and 58% of those units are new shell residents. Three projects are under construction, 157 more affordable units coming online. And there are six projects in the pipeline with site plan approval. from another 164 units of affordable and 2100 additional units. That's our mark. And there are six projects in the pipeline with site plan approval. And another 164 units of affordable and 2100 additional units that are market rate. So, you know, in addition to the affordable units, there are 36 million intangible in-kind benefits, which look like eight new public spaces, six new community spaces. I go into a greater detail on the next slide, but just to show you what those spaces are, we've created Anderson Plaza, Clinton Park Plaza, Westchester Place Public Art Plaza, which is a huge space that's coming online on Westchester Place between three buildings around here. There's a pocket park on Berlin Lane, which is adjacent. It's sort of the foot of the pedestrian bridge access into the train station complex. There's a new children's playground opening on the count and a dog one on Newgona. And there's the plaza at High Garden Tower. And last but not least, the Pratt Land, a waterfront park, which is the first of the first new waterfront park really in a generation that we've seen come online in the county. Again we have also in addition to the outdoor public space we have the interior spaces just a variety of them. I won't go through them because I'm trying to, you know, we'll be here forever because it's quite a dense presentation but in addition to the public space and the interior spaces we have 26 municipal EV charging parking spaces that were new and coming online with a result of the development. 20 new downtown murals and public art. And 50 new businesses have opened and are remaining open in the downtown since 2020 when the first building started coming online. So here we have a map that sort of just like shows you where those 50 businesses are. So you know just to sort of lay out that there's these new businesses. But even though we've had some success which is a natural reaction to revitalization and to the build out of the downtown we knew that we needed to do more. So we came up with the Vanguard initiative which was really a product of our engagement with the retail task force, right? We understood that there were, you know, that the retail landscape wasn't keeping up with the desire and the appetites of the city at large, and specifically. So what we did was we engaged with the retail task force, and we did a deep dive dive into a diagnostic. We looked at all different aspects of the experience of visiting downtown from what folks are thinking before they choose to come to New Rochelle, what happens when they get here and how they feel after they leave. And this was a product of focus groups and kind of like a real structured, kind of research, qualitative research product. What came out of that was a recommendation for buckets, I'll call them of interventions, that we packaged as the Vanguard New Rochelle Initiative. And that really housed our policy response to all of the issues that came up from the retail test. So going a little bit, the first bucket, I'll go back over to the first bucket, is retail enhancement, the second bucket's public realm and safety, accessibility improvements, there were changes to the regulatory framework, and again, marketing, promoting, and engage with the folks. So the retail hand, this is where we really, back in 2022, when we conducted the diagnostic, we identified 66 vacant restill spaces around the downtown. Since that time, 17 new spaces have come online as a result of the new development. And over to the right, you see a bar chart that shows the 29 spaces of the 83 total spaces have been occupied since we started counting this in 2023. 20, there are 20 spaces that are associated with the tenant improvement fund that are about to, you know, there are various levels of going through the process which I'll go through in more detail to follow. And then there are 34, you know, remaining vacancies that some of which are in a, or an assemb development tied to those earlier projects that I said were in the pipeline, but there are also other parcels that are tied to assemblages that we know the owners are intending to do a development. So they're not, they don't meet the definition of an assemblage at this point because they haven't been formally presented to the planning board, but we do know there's additional development and then there are other sort of, you know, various issues surrounding some of the other, some of the other landlords that have those vacant spaces and we are working to develop specific interventions for those as well. But the tenant improvement fund is a product of the Vanguard Initiative and and it's really a grant program that's designed to work with both owners of the properties as well as prospective businesses to improve the spaces in downtown and make them occupiable and activate them. So we've received 50 pre-applications so far of those 50, 58, 53 have been referred to the application stage, which basically just means we go through it and we identify that all of their paperwork has been included and that they've kind of submitted a complete application that we can then review internally with the staff and then refer to a financial consultant who then sort of goes in as a deep dive on the feasibility level really looks at what's eligible kind of you know breaks down the application to understand what the level of assistance should be. From that 53 that have been advanced, 10 right now have been reviewed by the financial consultant and are prepared for to go into the award stage. Of those 10, five are going to occupy new spaces and five are expansions of existing businesses in the downtown. To assist us with this activation of the vacancies, we are engaging with live XYZ through a contract with the Corporation for Local Development and basically they're going to host a website that is going to catalog. They basically compile and aggregate listing information. They go and they physically survey the vacant spaces. They take pictures of the interior and they really do a deep dive. They were hired by New York City and New York City subsidized a really elaborate backend, a robust kind of infrastructure to support this type of reporting and metrics and cataloging of vacant spaces. So there's a lot of functionality that we get. And they were able to give us a very low, very competitive price to produce this kind of web interface that folks can go on. If you're looking for find a space in New Rochelle, they can go to this live xyz link and they can actually understand, they can click and sort all of the vacant space, all of the vacancies throughout New Rochelle, not just in the downtown. We actually were able to get them to do it all throughout the city. But so it's really going to be an interactive hub where folks can go and identify a particular space that can look at the zoning associated with it, that they can cross around, they can put their parameters and zoning parameters into here and what they need to do in terms of their use and see where that is allowed throughout the city. So it's a really powerful tool which you think is going to further enhance the efforts of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our, of our So in addition to those programs, we have our sign-in-onning program, we have our vacant storefront camouflage program, and the tenant recruitment program, which I spoke about earlier. This sign-in-on owning program really has this picture here shows an example of two businesses that were recently improved by those programs which are funded largely through the CDBG program. The vacant store, the vacant store front camouflage program is basically just sort of brand-rated the vacant facades with the Vanguard image and we put three of those storefronts throughout the down town. And the tenant improvement, I won't be labor because we talked about it in the earlier slide. But in addition to the ones that have already been approved, at 5.34 North Avenue with sugar plums, what you see here is the condition that exists today and the design of the new facade improvements that we are in the process of starting construction on in this summer of 2025. And so what you have here is a daytime image of the after and an evening image of the after. But you can see that it includes sort of an open door, so there can be like sort of fresh alfresco dining and a new pickup window on the side here. So the owner of this business really thought, she has a fair amount of pickup stuff and so she wanted to make it easier for folks to do a walk up. And so we're really excited about this design. But this is the kind of thing. And actually the types of facades here, and I'll get into it a little bit later. But you know, in addition to the subsidy, the regulations that we've changed and updated on the sign code have allowed us to create these dynamic facades and streetscapes. And so that's something we'll go into a little bit later. But in addition to, you know, there are also these other interventions to open water strategy so we've been power washing areas around the prospect law, division street, shape place, maple avenue, Anderson Plaza, getting out there with some of our maintenance crews and actually doing the cleaning that needs to be done. In addition to the soap and water, there's maintenance and security enhancements. We've increased the maintenance at the ITC in New Rock Arrange to 24-7 coverage, so there will be folks cleaning the stairwells and cleaning, walking through the facilities, day and night. And that discourages the vagrancy and the loitering that we've seen in some of those places. Just, you'd be surprised. The guy with a broom and a power wash and a hose, people don't want to stay there and sort of hang out when somebody's in the middle and cleaning something. So even just that, it doesn't have to be a law enforcement response, just having the activity of cleaning something. So even just that, it doesn't have to be a law enforcement response, just having the activity of the maintenance is a deterrent. So we've heard some good things from the minutiae loss. We had a meeting with them and they've said that they feel safe we're in the facility. So that was really good news. Again, over, we've added an overnight security car that's gonna do a patrol starting starting at the Maple Avenue lot. It's going to go from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. 7 days a week. So, you know, we're going to, that person in that car is going to be able to report directly to the police department. They're going to work with, and they're just going to identify and keep, try to keep people as safe as possible in the downtown. In addition, we have increased visibility of staff. We have a program here where starting with the labs folks, they're going to have their employees where these uniforms that are branded with the band guard things. We think that visibility of folks out there while they're cleaning in the brand that are parallel, we think is going to make a difference. People are going to associate it with the work that we're doing with the quality of life initiative and through the Vanguard initiative to really just kind of give New Shell the presentation that it deserves. In addition, we have public realm improvements. We have these 20 poll banners. We also have two grant programs. We have two grant applications that we put in last year for $3 million for real investment in our downtown streetscape. We're gonna revisit those this year as well. In addition to the brick and mortar type shovel-ready, physical interventions, we have this regulatory framework that we've upgraded and we've talked about establishing, we've talked about the Vanguard District, but I'm going to take, you know, the Vanguard District was really a product of, you know, really a test case to understand, you know, how we can alleviate and modernize the zoning and really study the impact. So in the Vanguard District, we've reduced the regulatory barriers for the nighttime entertainment uses. We've eliminated the parking minimums for retail and food and beverage establishments. We've allowing outdoor dining as of right and we're reduced to requirements for cab arrays. In addition to the Vanguard district and those specific regulatory changes, we've downtown wide. we've reduced parking ratios for commercial spaces, we've added free parking after seven, we've modernized the sign code, and created storefront design guidelines, which allowed stores like Juicy to really come online and really have this really, we think world class type of facade that any community would be happy to have this business. And prior to these upgrades and changes to the zoning, this type of facade wouldn't even have been legal before. So we've really allowed for businesses to be creative and expressive and really activate our downtown. And this is just the beginning. We're working, we're getting a lot of calls for technical assistance as people navigate the various sign regulations and facades that they're trying to do. So we're trying to replicate this and make sure that it's more prominent features such as the blade sign and things like that, you think are very successful. So we're really excited about that. In addition to the physical things, we have the uniform tacked exemption policy that is through the IDAs with the tax abatements. We have a program for adaptive use of ground floor space. So as we're engaging with these landlords, we're trying to make them aware that the U-TEP does offer a tax abatement, there's a tax abatement schedule for them to basically make extensive renovations to the downtown. So if they refinance the ideas that they could refinance, they could take a little debt, they can invest it in the space, and then they can offset the cost of the debt service with savings on the taxes. In addition, it'll hold the assessment study for a period of time during the period of the pilot. And it'll also technically, it could potentially lower the tax payment to the owner of the property and make up some of the difference in the debt service. And the idea would be that they are making an investment in those physical spaces and activating those ground floor retail. And part of all this, we understand the importance of parking. We've engaged a consultant. We've selected an RFP to engage a parking management consultant to draft a strategic plan, which is really going to give us really clear guidelines and recommendations on how we should be regulating parking in the downtown and facilitate the all of the different uses that are happening down there. So overall, you know, in addition to all of that, it's marketing promotion and engagement of the downtown, of these regulatory upgrades, modernizations, of these different programs that we have. So we've been working with Moreno, who's our PR and media consultant to spotlight New Rochelle's Downtown Grove. We've got 16 media placements, 82 million media impressions, 400 new followers on Facebook since October 2024. We're creating content featuring local businesses and you can see here just all, you know, examples of the type of things that we've done on social media to really raise the awareness of the downtown and all the work that we're doing in the Vanguard. So moving on, you know, still focus its economic development in addition to the business landscape. We know that's been a big focus. We've had a grant program that's come online, but we're really looking at people. At the end of the day, the economy is a product of the people that are in the community. So, you know, there's, we've had this economic opportunity ecosystem, which consists of the city's economic opportunity non-strimination policy, the IDA's uniform tax exemption policy, and then all of those, you know, between them they've created or engendered, you know, this safety net or this ecosystem of workforce development and job placement. We have programs to encourage and expand entrepreneurial capacity, business development and support, and all of that sort of coupled with compliance monitoring, or to keep everybody sort of honest. But to go into a little bit of workforce development, one of the first programs that really is created by the Economic Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy is the first social referral center, which really is like a central referral and job placement hub. Since inception, we've had 2,700 enrollments, we've had 2400 employment placements. Obviously, some of those enrollments have been placed in multiple times. So that's why that numbers are a little bigger. There have been this year, 1,300 new enrollments this year, and 1,000 total, over 1,000 job placements in New Rochelle jobs. A 776 of them have been construction job placement. But even knowing, when we started this, we knew that there needed to be even more renewable. We were hearing feedback from the employers that some of the local workforce wasn't trained sufficiently to take those opportunities for the jobs that were available in New Rochelle. So we expanded that and we created the New Rochelle Forward Program. And it's a vocational training program that we've been working with, so full synergy. And to really do four cohorts since 2023, since we initiated the program, we've had 93 graduates, 80 full four of those graduates identify as minorities. 55 of those 93 graduates have been placed in jobs. At an average salary of $20, which is well above the minimum wage. And looking forward, on April 14, we'll have our fifth cohort that will start. There are 30 participants in that. There'll be a sixth cohort at the end of the summer in 2025. And then in the fall, there are other programs that the civil synergy will be running out of our program that are not necessarily confined to New Rochelle, but they will be facilitating enrollment from New Rochelle residents in programs that are subsidized by other like NIPA. There are some county funded programs. There's some BoZies programs that they have. So we are going to continue to encourage participation of the local New Rochelle workforce into those programs that may be come through. They're bringing those that capacity from outside of New Rochelle here to improve the opportunities for our work. And we think that's a great model. And we're looking forward to tracking and understanding what the implications are going to be. Another program that we're proud of, it's a similar vocational training program that is geared towards high school students. We have two cohorts a year, is the Booker T Washington Vocational Institute, which is, you know, one in partnership with the New York High School and so full synergy. We've had, it's for ages 14 to 17, there have been 160 participants since the program began in 2021. And we're just, and in 2025, we've had 45 participants and there's going to be another cohort starting and they're wanting to do a summer cohort. We're looking at how to make that happen in 2024. So again, in addition to the workforce, there's a local entrepreneurial, you know, there's a population of local entrepreneurs that are looking for opportunities and what we've created through our downtown activations, our real platforms, markets and opportunities for them to feature their wares, their crafts, many of this is handmade and we've seen several of our local entrepreneurs really thrive and the idea of the dream is that they can continue to go from being at these pop-ups and markets into brick and mortar locations. So in addition to the activations and the markets we offer small business workshops, these are bilingual programs that are essential for local businesses. We're engaging with those local businesses. We've connected 195 businesses and entrepreneurs with resources. And 90% of the participants are local MWBE. So we're really seeing these minority and women-owned businesses taking advantage of these programs. And some success stories here. We have raised in Pennada's's Ray Duret started at our, you know, started in our first holiday market. He's been really going gangbusters. He's expanded to do a food truck and now is looking for, has an application in with the tenant improvement fund and to find a brick and mortar location in the downtown. So it's really kind of like coming from an idea that he had in his head. And we've given him the platform to really grow and thrive. And so we're really proud of providing the resources for people with passion to really succeed in the shell. Another really tremendous business owner, Michelle is the humble bumble, Latelia. She's been involved with us in our markets throughout the city. She's also looking at a brick and mortar location for a bookstore in New Rochelle and we're really proud to work with her and she's really, you know, a real success or she's a real powerhouse and it's really inspiring to work with her. Rex spoke clothing, another example, started with the holiday markets, and now again looking for a tenant improvement fund support to open his first brick and mortar in our downtown. So these are some of these vacancies, even though they're just vacancies, they're on paper, it's important to know that these are like heartbeats. These are people with passion from New Roch are going to be occupying these spaces. And so, you know, some of the, you know, they may not be the big marquee names, but there are people who are really bringing so much energy and passion to the table. And it's just, it's really awe inspiring. And again, a nice concept, though. I've definitely bought a few of her things myself, and I have them, and she has beautiful housewares. And again, she started coming to Taste of Union into some of the holiday markets, and she's just been a real, you know, she's just a mainstay. And so we're really excited. And she's expanded in, and she's now a Brian Park market. So she's killing. In addition to the entrepreneurs, we have the support for the kind of, we're calling them, these are like the not from, these are not, I don't know if I took them, but enterprise type businesses, I'm sorry, I'm just humbling on my words, but these are, through the Tuftly platform, we've been very successful at putting 44 city of New Rochelle public bids out through that program. Those seven of them, seven of the 44 were awarded to MWBE's six New Rochelle MWBE's obtained private bids through that platform. So we're connecting New Rochelle businesses both to our own procurements, but also the platform really compiles and aggregates bids from all different from either private and other public entities. And New Rochelle businesses are able to tap into a whole network and get additional opportunities. So it's a web-based platform. There's a tremendous depth of services they can go for additional resources from finding help with getting insurance and bonds necessary to compete. They can collaborate among themselves and collaborate on BID so that that together they're more successful for certain opportunities that they would be individually. So we're really seeing a lot of engagements through here and we've just really started an earnest. We've been very successful at getting, I think at this point, it's two that I know of, developers bidding their jobs for the construction projects in New Rochelle through the tough leaf platform. And so we think that's a tremendous opportunity, not only for the local workforce, through the vocational training programs, but having the local businesses represented in the construction of our new building. So we're trying to really hit that engagement from all sort of angles. And last, you know, and really kind of, You know really to pivot a little bit, looking at the downtown as a model and understanding that there's these public private partnerships, the link and the DOE zoning that a company did really is a tremendous opportunity for the city. And so what I have on this map here in this green highlight shade is the Link Project Proper. But there's a kind of an impact radius that extends far beyond just the link itself. And so part of what we're trying to do is understand that the economy that used to be on Link and Avenue really wasn't driven just by the area around the Lincoln Avenue. It really was driven by an ecosystem or a head waters that really extended beyond it. And so what we're trying to do here is really understand the types of policies and zoning and economic policies that are going to be required to really engage the community and really create opportunities for the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood. And it's a combination of things just at a high level, but looking at creating a black business district, which we've heard time and time again as we've engaged with this community. This is what they want to see us recreate here and so we're committed to really identifying you know how we can do that and that you know and what what tools we have are mixed you know we have the development the paradigm that's possible through the the overlay zone that we have in the downtown to create mixed use residential and home ownership products that could create that type of generational wealth for that community. We have in addition to mixtures residential, we have these active streets, I think this is supposed to say active streets gates here. I think we know it's fine. But so this is a, this is an idea of a complete street. This is talking about transforming to illustrate here. This is sort of like what we have in mind for Brook Street as we kind of reinvent Brook Street and sort of create a better space for pedestrians and businesses and cyclists and motorists. So just sort of create a better environment so that folks don't feel like excluded from the rest of the city. So, you know, not only is this a real catalyst for safety and pedestrian safety, it's a catalyst for business development as well. In addition, there are programs for neighborhood business and entrepreneurial opportunities, all of which are going to be packaged and studied and presented to you all for adoption and authorization as we continue to go through the exercise of studying what the right intervention is for to create this around the link project. Again, this is a picture of the new plaza on North Avenue that will result from the link. This is a parcel that we're working with a private developer to acquire and we were talking about home ownership on the top and residential and commercial activation on the ground level facing the plaza. And you know, just it came out of the engagement that we had with the Lincoln Avenue community and what we've heard from them and it was from the beginning. We don't just want to park, we want economic development. So we have, you know, this is an example of taking that park and sort of pivoting it as much as possible, keeping the green space, but providing the opportunities for the economic development to happen as a result of its proximity to the park. There is an actual demonstrable benefit that can result from improving the greening of space. So, and to the extent that we can ensure that that's going to serve this community directly is our mission. And in addition to that, in order to ensure that we're doing that and keeping us honest, we've had the opportunity to work with Harvard and Bloomberg on a leadership kind of training around the link, really studying it, but what came out of that was a fellowship opportunity with a specific student from Harvard who were going to work with creating a dashboard. This information that's here as an example is information that's available at the census level. Well, the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood and this ecosystem and these headboarders really kind of, it's not clearly defined by census tracks. So we really want to, so the first thing we want to do is really define what that area is. And we're going to work with this fellow to really define the area for illustration purposes here in this pink box. But then within that, once we've done that, there is so much data that's available at various levels. And the next exercise is to mine the available data, working with the Black World Data Center to really mine the data that's available to come up with a dashboard that's really going to report on the effectiveness of our various interventions or programs, the link project itself, plus any of the economic developments programs or projects that we implement, we can measure how well the impact is having on the community around the specific, where the black community in that vicinity. So understanding how to measure that and make sure that we're not driving unintended outcomes is really a key focus for us. So we're really sensitive to it and we're really excited to get going on this this summer. And I hope to bring back to you some updates on the advancement of this project. And then really, just this part of the AIM statement that we've had to do, you know, the city is committed to by 2030, Roushelle will ignite an economically vibrant and healthy African-American community in the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood, setting a precedent for sustainable and equitable city development through data-driven decisions, meaningful community engagement, and forward-thinking policies that enhance the quality of life and reconnect divided communities. So we're really committed to understanding at first what it's like now, the baseline, and then measuring our proposed interventions against that baseline to determine how well we're doing. And with that, I... You're open for questions. We call it. It's really these kinds of questions. I'm just now... You're asking me questions? How's my computer? Yeah, I mean, I have a lot of questions. And, I think the, as I look at this entire presentation, whether it's downtown, the bad god, and then moving into the areas around the Lincoln, the like, I really think that it's real clear that you're looking to as a team to create a model that can work, not just a model. And I think that the level of engagement that has been increasing over as we're now here, right, and these initiatives has, it's a good thing. I think it's a continuation. It's not something where it's one and done or a couple of things, it's something that's ongoing. And I think that that's going to have a really good effect with people. What I'm hearing from different community members is a sense of what I think has happened in an over-period of time, of not knowing, right, of just not knowing. And as they become more familiar once or twice or a third time in hearing about it, they become more available to the possibility. And I think that that's really important. And that can't be measured in many ways, right, around being able to be open to the availability because the policies over a period of time have had a very dramatic impact, right? And that impact has led to flight for people leaving or people feeling that they can't afford to be here anymore. Or worse, that you don't want me here anymore. And so the idea that this is something that's an investment, that provides a bridge for to consider what emerges from it and for people to decide to stay and to stay to build and not stay to survive, which is another piece of what's occurred surviving with all the different things that have been happening. I think that that's really important. The other thing is that on the ground, and the Lincoln Army District, we know when we talk about the significance of the data and when we begin to also understand that the community that was that had contingent of his boundaries and was firmly seen, viewed, and people experienced it as an intact black community is now very that used within the city of Misha. But what remains is the sense of a sintering place and space for people to participate. And I don't want us to lose sight of that because that's something that I hear a lot Depending upon where you are a new or shall people will say well, you know I want to be able to do this. I want to be able to go here. I want to be able to have this happening But I I go someplace else because it's just not there. This is now That possibly an opportunity so I'm So my comments are around that. So the more that this continues to be a commitment that we have, the less it will be a fantasy for people to not pay attention to. So I appreciate that. So thank you for that. As we continue to move, we're not there but we're moving moving and that's important. And measuring exactly what you're talking about is the focus of the summer fellowship program. It's exactly trying to find a way to quantify that and make it as tangible and visible as possible so that we can see. What we're doing is not having, when I say I'm going to attend the cons of the press, it's basically pushing people out. We don't want to do that. You know what we want to ensure that we're creating these opportunities for folks that we can expect. That exists through them. And the other thing is that it's a very diverse journey, as well. Right, unless you're the part of it. And so that inclusiveness is not somehow exclusive when we're talking about businesses and dollars being spent and people viewing and seeing and communicating and playing and being in different places together. It is an inclusive community for people no matter what in the section of the city who live it to in as well. So when we talk about a black business district, it's not talked about in the context of it, meaning this is only for black people. It's talked about in the context of having a business district that is available for many people that was removed, and that's what we don't know inside. My last comment has to do with, because I wasn't really clear about this in terms of our media campaign. And I still have something here around the amount. I was wondering how many, do we measure, how many people are living on our website, do we measure, how many hits that we are getting that are new people? I think that's something that I don't know about that. Or is it pretty much, or is it revolving more around people who always check? Because we have people that do always are looking into that. But my concern is that we may have, that that is just something that we have as an instrument for assessment or are we using it to see whether or not we are gathering new users around what we're looking at. Absolutely we've had 400 new users since we users. Mostly we're talking about our social media handles. And because we've been communicating a lot more through that, then like the website, the websites are posting things and they live there. But trying to engage with people has really been a function of our social media strategy. Right, so we have Instagram, we have Facebook, we have X, we have all these different, and we have two channels at the city, kind of our official city channel. We have the New Rochelle, New York, which has just reached, I think, 10,000 followers this year for the first time, which is growing in terms of user base. Then we have ideally New Rochelle, which we kind of dusted off. It was in place back in, you know, and then it kind of just went dorm, we just went dormit. And we, as when we did the Vanguard Disabilities, we kind of brought it up out of the, out of the mothballs. And so we started really activating it and having content on there, and we've gotten 500 new users, you know, a little over 400 new users since October. So in a relatively short amount of time, we've seen that base increase it, right? And so there's a sort of I think an exponential thing that starts to happen. That's more people look at it, they tell people about it and then it starts growing faster. So we're hoping to get to your point to attract new eyeballs to our to our chance. Thank you. Other questions you've got, with some colleagues at the table? I guess you, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Wait, hold on, let me finish this sentence. I'm sorry. Does anyone else have a question or a monkey's height? That's number six. Nope, I'm just the eye contact. Do you have to make a... Go head Councilman, please. Do you think? I'll just... I'll just... Just to... What's your part of the question? So, first one is a very... That's a very data question. I feel like in earlier presentations, the number of... The occupancy rate was like 80 or 83 percent. Has it gone up to 90 percent for... Yes. There's a recent number. Yeah. Has it gone up? 90% for yeah? There's a recent number. Any changes per quarter, depending on the cycle that building is on, how many buildings have come online and they're ramping up to a specific percent. So somewhere mature, somewhere just starting to lead. So that number is like pooled in and out. It's not bad. Depending on buildings coming in line. That's great. Did you want to? Yeah, so I'm running out. Thank you. First I want to say thank you for this presentation. It's thoroughly needed by overdue. Thank you so much for the hard work and for the compiling all the data. Love to see it presented this way with the data associated to the talking points that we're talking about. So thank you so much. And it should definitely be a model for anybody else that has to do presentations with us, I believe. So I'd like to grind through a couple of things. So let's try to fly. So we're not sitting here all night at it. I feel like this is not a critique. It's it's actually like a compliment. You kind of vary the lead in the presentation because you have the 50 new businesses at the bottom of the the 26 EV charging the 28 downtown murals which is awesome by the way. Very important, especially for those of us in this sustainable community that care about EV Charging's faces. But that's if you know businesses, I feel like that should be like the top number. It's just like a, you know, design, a design commentary, let's say. With those 15-year businesses, can we get a searchable map so that people can see directly where those new businesses are so that they can go directly to them? I actually just enjoyed my dinner at T.C. from T.C. So just so people know what's around, that was actually out of the company earlier for a taco project. So definitely I know a lot of people want to know, especially in the legacy buildings. We have a cord or on Pellum Road from my district to the Council of the Tarantinos that is just a ton of people that are looking for, well, what is this new development doing for me? And it might change your dinner plan. So I feel like- Well, because I remember Lucas, you might have something on this friend. You think that's a friend? I'm hearing you, and I'm thinking of the GIS mapping that can be created so that what people just go on the website is, you know, it's like North, South, East, West. And all of the different businesses that are just talking about this. Yes. Something that could be done to that point is I mentioned live at Switzi. and it's not a mention that LiveSWC is going to be a really robust platform that's going to be very accurate. It's going to be updated every three months and also the data is going to be... So it's going to be very relevant and that's why it's called a LiveMap, like a LiveSWCB. It can be also categorized in different ways and the also districts can be created. So we wanted to have like each council district and you can pool data for the businesses Just for each council district council district two or six or five Like it can be done that way as well and it can be filtered out in the back end in any way we want See vacancies in each district separately like the bid You can be a separate geography that can be food information just for the bid itself and stuff. I adore what you're saying because I actually love working with platforms, but for the people that are not as technical as we are, just having a direct map, it might even mean to be interested sometimes like a pretty good. We could host that map, that your base data can come from my xyz or come from us So the you know, we either way we can have something presented on a separate standalone page that is filtered and In a way that's engaging and searchable to your point I mean absolutely comes from a restaurant also asked about a similar map around flooding. Some just hearing this interactive map energy coming out for two different topics and just framing it. Just wanted to tie the two together with a little bow and ask her city manager to think about that moving forward. Actually, I'm trying to 14 more questions. 14 more questions. 14 more questions. Okay. Alright, one's out. So, for the, I saw the pull-up grades, love the banners. I have a few constituents that live up. All right. Point that out of the box. So for the, I saw the pull-up grades, love the banners. I have a few constituents that live upstairs from the lighting systems that we have downtown. This is a long-term score inquisition request, but can we look at how we're lighting downtown? Because some of the people that live in apartments, like literally one person that I know told me that they lived in a apartment a few levels above the lighting and the lights were literally shining directly into their apartments. So I absolutely, I you know, as a corner resident of the downtown, I like you know, those lights, they they they just they, you know, they just go in 360, right? Right, everything. So I think a new fixture program would be great. I know that the new DTOP commissioners has been really open-minded about it and, you know, in certain projects like the last one wasn't. Not the last one. Not the last one. Not the last one. No, I was saying like, the former deputy president of the city manager, I know, but probably just before I graduate. I'm not saying really how possible. No, I'm not saying like these before we're deep into the pressure on the city manager. I know, but probably support our record. But to be honest, it came up in the context of the link project recently. And we were talking about the day lighting. Right? It happens at night when you have, or what is it called, the dark sky kind of standard that's required now, and it affects bird migrations, affects a lot of things. And then it also saves energy, right? Because you can really focus the new, the new pictures that are available can really focus the lighting. So I think there's appetite and interest and energy around, of a look at that, I agree. I think we should. To the further deeper into the topic of lighting signage, things like that, can we, I've asked for a big angry dog, curvy dog signs. Can we also get similar signage regarding our parking? I know that I and several other people that I've been downtown with recently were confused as to if the new parking measures were in effect. So if we just had really clear signage on like what is it? What exactly is going on in a particular moment? That would be very valuable. I would- You published a better map. I agree on social media today with the Nangle streets with people. So people couldn't see that. But to your point, yes, on street, it- Please. You agree. Have you, what do you think? What do you thoughts behind increasing the daytime population? We were recently, I think on Saturday, at a conference for the National Association for real estate brokers. I'm getting all that out of them. Which they had a great amount of members. they had organizations and they're looking to frequently expand their presence in our area. And I know several other organizations would love to do that as well. So could we put, what is your thinking? I'm just thinking about conferences right now because they're on the brain. But in addition to that, I know we have new hotels and things like that. What can we do to package more of the daytime experience for people as well? Well, so a couple of things I think just to start off with, you know, Pratt Landing has that facility at the Armory, which I think is going to have a hotel attached to it. I think that's a great candidate to host a multi-day conference and really create a visitation that you're talking about, attract people. So as just one standalone product, the other side of it is that our overly-zoned, really allows for a variety of uses. Hotels and conventions are certainly in there. And we've been very market-based, kind of like letting that drive the types of things that are built in New Rochelle and being really responsive as those developers come forward. I agree that anything we could do to have an impact on the daytime population would benefit the downtown at large. And I'm happy to kind of take a better look. I think the so part of it is I'm trying to be careful with you know, there is, if you look regionally in New York City, right, commercial space is at an all time low, because people's work patterns have changed, people are not going into the office so you can get commercial office space at an all time cheap price in within the five boroughs in Inman Hat. And so I haven't really evaluated, I just heard so anecdotally, from developers that we're competing against that differential. Like a lot of the owners of the commercial spaces are trying to transition them into residential because they're just not getting the value on the property. So I don't know how that puts new reshell. If we're trying to attract that type of commercial kind of headquarters here, how, you know, we should study that a little bit more to understand like what that looks like to build the class A space here or what they would then have to charge a commercial tenant in order to recoup their investment when you have at the macro level because of the changing work patterns and the hybrid work schedules people working from home, you know how that impacts that. But the other dynamic I think that is increasing the daytime population in New Rishal just naturally is the work from home kind of pattern that's evolving. It's like you have people coming to New Rishal because they get a bigger space, The buildings have the type of amenities to support the co-working and that kind of thing. So I think we are seeing an increase in the daytime population. I think it's about measuring it and coming up with ways to evaluate it. But I think you're right on to something. I just, I think there are some headwinds against us sort of getting that to happen here in the Rochelle. But I think the conventions are a great strategy, as I said. You know, we have Pratt landing as a first product. I know there's been some talk about some of the other developments that are approved in the Rochelle or that are working on getting approved, including hotels and meeting spaces in them. So that would also create, you know, a daytime population. But we can compile those numbers and do a deeper dive with you. To that end of changing, you know, workforce patterns, what can we do to, you know, tap into our new residents, you know, target it, target them positively, regarding, you know regarding if they're working from home, have their own organizations. What can we do to get deeper into our new populations and really engage them? So part of the strategy with the marino has been to conduct focus groups of the downtown residents. And so to really kind of meet with them and understand what they are looking for in their downtown, how they're using, their apartments, how they're using your shelves, you know, the downtown space and how can it better serve them. And so I think to your point, those type of market research is going to be vital to really understand how to market to the next phase of developer to build out those types of properties that would increase the date of population. Regarding our nighttime population, we already were already working on parking. I I guess I can tie two questions together to make this one question shorter, but what can we do to increase our nightlife? And, you know, regarding policies like what we're doing with parking, where can we go to condense the policy changes that we've made or the code changes that we've made so that people could really understand what the new possibilities are. How are we getting the information of our changes out to our businesses so they know what the new landscape looks like? Well, my staff here, Mariana really goes door to door and has relationships with many of the businesses Kevin Jimenez has relationships with many of the businesses in Ho the businesses and foray and myself we've been sort of going out there and meeting with folks and explaining to them what the changes are to your point about the nightlife and that really is currently contained in the Vanguard district which is around Anderson Plaza and the city manager and I have spoken about, you know, and where to expand it and really looking at ways to, you know, really roll that out and provide those opportunities for those spaces, like, now Main Street going, you know, towards, basically, West, I guess, you know, towards the, from the Anderson Plaza down to sort of center or something, looking at, you know, how to do that and studying the impacts of it, but that's sort of how we would do it. And by doing that, you would alleviate those, you know, prohibitions on the night life and the cabaret type uses and you would hopefully see an uptick in vibrancy and nighttime life. Okay, but we're careful about it. We want to be careful. We don't want negative conditions. Right. Two more questions. How much is the bid taking on regarding some of the improvements for making downtown the investment there? I'll tell you tomorrow I'm meeting with the new we appointed executive director of the bed and I'm going to make a similar presentation today to just come and keep a prize of what we're doing and then we'll talk more about how to partner and advance our collective interests. So the moment it's been minimal because they haven't had staff or capacity. Okay. And last question is, can we create like a program where our businesses are sharing data during our activity, especially during our activations? Maybe take like a set, like a representative population and you know, ask them if they will volunteer. You know, we can't demand data from our businesses nor should we, we can make friends and just ask them because I know that after several, you know, taste of La Roy, two businesses came and one of the owners was actually not present that day but they came back to 20% of ticketment business was reported by one another reported that they made more revenue at Tase of Leroy than they did at well I was going to say. I mean, let's call it another city activation, yes, at the street fair so proud of that work and I definitely want us to replicate it so for similar stories that taste of union yeah yeah yeah yeah I'm on the market as well yes and well I I mean, that has one more question. We're all so different. Oh yeah, it's all straight. You know, uh, uh, uh, counts. Well, I lied. I'm gonna ask one more question. We're all so different. Oh yeah, it's all great. You know, Councilwoman Lopez, Councilman Tantino, and I have frequently been at Resonance Park meetings. And you know, Nurechelle and the Stalge, it talked about like the strong, very festival and things. How can we go further around the city than just the downtown core and get some of our downtown based businesses or some of our mobile businesses like Raisa Pannadas. How can we get them into different neighborhoods so people understand the people that we're doing business with on a regular basis. And when can I get my strawberry festival? I was saying something like that. I thought there's like activating other parts of the city with some of the downtown businesses. I think that would be really good. I agree. I'm rural parties. You know, the issue is that for the Department of Development specifically, I would have to coordinate with the City Manager and the other commissioners, a lot of the spaces that we're talking about are controlled by us. So it's a little more involved to do it outside of the downtown just because, you know, but I know that there's energy and appetite and desire to sort of engage with other parts of the city. I know we didn't really talk about the North End retail improvements today, but that is something that we are working on bringing to council to provide a similar program that's modeled on the signing on and program that we use CDBG1 for in the downtown because it's eligible in the north end and in other parts of the city they may not meet that criteria so we need to identify funds, city funds to do that or other funds. Right grant funds with that type of thing but all of that sort of takes a little bit of planning and advance of it. And so we are definitely working towards that. Beautiful. Commissioner Sondado, I thank you and your management team abundantly for your work. Please be calling. That's what I'm starting to have. This will be a question. Yeah. I wanted to say thank you because I know whenever we hear the complaint set of things about what people are worried about every time I can basically point to things that are in here is what we're doing to address it. So that was the plan. Yeah. You know, we all are ambassadors, right? Yeah. So I think if you have the data, you can represent. Yeah. So just in that vein, a few deeper questions. With the TET improvement fund, it's exciting to see 50 free applications, 53 applicants. Who are they? Can you just tell me what I mean? I would be sharing name, or why not. Like what kind of business is there actually? A whole variety of you wanna talk a little bit about the portfolio? Yeah, I'm gonna tell you. I mean, from the time that we've gotten as far we have a lot of experiential retail. So how are the exes, the brick Coleman? We have new businesses opening up in the downtown Tariaki Madness. So we have a variety of offerings. We have a spa, medical spa that's opening up. I just opened up, touched medical spa, yoga studio. So it's been very, you know, very throughout. You know, we've gotten a lot of different retails that have been expressing interest thus far. And they continue to, you know, existing businesses, new businesses, a lot of businesses that are expanding from different parts of the city, as well as those who are remaining in their existing locations for renovations, looking for ways to expand and bring more business into their current space. And have we seen any net life applicants? Yeah, good. So yes, we have a cabaret application right now. And you know, I'm working closely with them. You just submit his full application package. So his application is under review for the second quarter of applications. Great. What does that that have another smaller, the system business? Is it going to be a new business that wants to expand, to include like more language, type nighttime? We actually have two, but one of them is the most recent one. We have two exploring expansions to do that. Okay. Great. And then, particularly related to the geographic boundaries, what elements of this are geographically bound? And what is city-wide? Yeah. So the regulatory framework that I'm explaining is divided into different buckets. So the Vanguard District area that test bed for those regulations apply only within the Vanguard District. And that overlay district that you guys proved back in October. That's where the cabaret new business would have to be currently in the name of the guard. Because regulations are less restrictive than in other parts of the city everything else applies everywhere in the DOC Including the APE so anything categorizes DOC is what we say downtown apply so Ten on improvement on anybody within the DOC from TRENO down to you know out of Maine To Maine, from Pinterest all the way to, you know, to the east. Yeah, right. That all that, it's encompassing. The tenant improvement for every investment in other, like weekly enhancements, all my accessibility, accessibility improvement, all that applies from the Vanguard and your shell applied within that standard. Thanks. And then my last question. And there are some CDI things to your point, which is the Sineco Regulation Supply Citywide, the Storefront Design Guidelines of FI, CDI Day Travel together in that sense. Adam. I just wanted to ask something, this is probably important to have to cancel the K and, and, um, Council's start. Is that the corridor that is in North, in the North end, as of, um, 2024, I would say, like, it was pretty vacant. And I don't know if you have noticed now, we have a new, uh we have a new cell phone at least they upgraded like the front and you can see more inside we have also the northern grill that the the minimum press moved to the to the front of the street and Alvarada floor is which was currently which was downtown moved out to that corridor. So we see like new signage coming up from them and on X and S, the 40s across the street. So we see a little bit of a movement, but I know that you were like constantly like asking like what can we do. So we see that also that area being occupied, even if it's not in the downtown. Right here. Thank you. My last question is just on the green space front. Are there any other plans or ideas around bringing even more, like not just open space, but like green space? Yes, I mean, part of the, there's a couple of obvious ones coming in, no doubt, right? The train station revitalization that includes several new green spaces bioswales actually increasing the absorbent capacity you know formerly paid you know real you know heart scape but in additionally you know we're talking about we've been talking about the Hague Dorn building I think there's a there's a front lawn area, a quad type space that I think could really be activated as a gateway to the downtown from the West Side. We've been looking, working with the different developers to create pocket parks throughout the downtown as part of the project. So we're not just building you know from a lot line to a lot line. There's been some interest in appetite in actually creating those types of green space amenities in the downtown. So you know I think overall yes we're definitely moving in that direction certainly as part of the the lead project but also that kind of leak in avenue neighborhood rezoning. There's definitely creating... Um... ...of... ...of... the Loop project, but also that kind of Lincoln Avenue neighborhood rezoning. There's definitely creating green spaces as part of like a complete streets kind of program. And then finally, there's the complete streets program. I know where we've presented to you that program, but a lot of that is about incorporating sort of green buffers from the vehicle traffic to protect the pedestrian spaces as well. So yes, I think there's definitely a vision for increasing the green space in New show whether that the park's proper or just increasing the green of a more mistreatscape, like finding opportunities to address the heat islands that are created by, you know, in some areas of the city, finding ways to create triangles and bioswales and rain gardens to sort of mitigate that. So it is definitely a part of a strategy that we're looking to create those spaces throughout the city, not just in the downtown, although the downtown is the most ripe for the changes that we're talking about, but they're definitely a program, especially through the complete streets, go down. That we're gonna create those green spaces. Questions or comments? Have them all. I want to thank you so much, the presentation that you have given us is really very thorough. And I see what is going on, especially reaching out to the businesses and the outreach that you have done, Mariana and Jorge, and everyone. The whole team is amazing. The owning program and the facade, and it's just empowering the businesses, the small businesses is very, very important. And when you spoke about Ray and Bananas, I mean, I saw how excited he was when he was able to get a grant from you and a grant from the county and he was able to buy his You know, he's there and now he wants to make something bigger and that is what means so much to us We really to see how they prosper and how they stay and do business here. So thank you. Thank you so much Any matter, please I'll start with the loves. I mean I think I think it's great that the businesses that are growing are smaller and more grown. Honestly you know I think some of the the municipalities on Westchester that maybe have a more vibrant corridor they're not the box stores they're just like smaller local kind of establishments. And to Councilmember Lopez has this point, the four that you highlighted, I sort of feel like we've seen them movable. Not to, you can't take credit because they have to do all the work, but you've seen them scale, the branding change, the inventory grow. I've spent far more discretionary income at all four of those places that argue than I probably should percentage wise, but it's really awesome to see that. And if it's a launching path for Bryant Park, whatever way that we can help, again, it's the business owner, but it's really awesome to see that. And if it's a launching pad for Bryant Park, whatever way that we can help, again, it's the business owner, but it is nice to see that growth for sure. And that's great. And earlier today, it's funny. I was out in the Times Square area, who's walking, and I saw sushi bow. And I was like, oh, it was my kid. So it's like mommy, I was like wait, mommy's gonna stick pictures and he's like why? As a cuz we're gonna get one of these, like the literal. So to see this and know that, what's the street center? What's the street center? And what's the address? What's the address? The intersection that's actually, what's the free or swear word? Right, right? So to see, like, reason banana, you don't mean see sugar plums get the upgrade and then see sushi bow with a 12 course omakaze restaurant also coming in our downtown. I think that's pretty awesome, you know, and Let's just find ways to make sure we're telling these stories. I think profiling the four businesses and if the other stories Some of the names you mentioned Kevin as part of the tenant improvement like let people know know, right, that these are residents either, when your child's been there home, they raise their children, or they've moved here to establish roots and expand. I think some studies online retail and consumers, they wanna feel connected to those kind of narratives. You know, they don't necessarily wanna jump to the bigger box names, they wanna feel like they're a part of this small business development, and I think connecting that way, even just the bullet points. I think with just, give people a sense of what's happening. It's hard to kind of pin down, but there's a lot, a lot of really good things happening. I mean, I can't talk, I think, well, keep going, I mean, like, what can be, what can't you say about it to you? Like, it's amazing, you know? So really, really excited about that. then I'm trying to decide if I maybe we can talk about this. I have questions about stats though. The retail enhancements, the ground floor retail baseline, we we look at these numbers of occupied vacant and this last column that sums to 83. Of the 17 new spaces, where do they fall on this spectrum of occupied vacant and TI for the fun potential? So the 17 years, 12 of the 17 spaces are new, are occupying, are new developments, right? So there are five big and spaces in the new developments. Okay. Are any of those five imaginable to be TI-FIT fun potential? Potential? Potential? Yes. They're eligible. And how would we respond to critiques around that if they're eligible. And how would we respond to critiques about that, if they're new? I think that, you know, we have a program that, you know, is designed to catalyze the occupancy of the spaces. spaces and I think that they're they're making for a reason right for whatever reason the math didn't work, and the businesses that have come and looked at the spaces. So if the city's committed to activating those spaces, I mean, I think we need to do what's necessary. I mean, they haven't come really forward for those five spaces, even in the 12 that have been occupied, have not used any public funds. We've been talking to the developers about what is necessary for those investments to happen. I think if we were criticized for it, I would, I would feel it's defended, it's defensible because I think we need, we all collectively understand that there really needs to be a vibrancy. We want to attract the businesses we want. The types of businesses that could occupy those spaces in particular, they're sort of the larger format spaces in the new downtown. So we're talking about the types of vincis that I think people would be really excited about. And I think that we could partner with those developers to bring sort of those world class brands to the show. I think I don't know how much critique we would get. I mean, I think it would be, I mean, I think it would be a real score. I think the fact that they've been faking for a time can kind of says something is an issue. So the program is just kind of centralized, to kind of bridge that gap between what that issue was. It would have been right. It would have been occupied at the time of the construction. So there is something about it. It's not, you know, that's the kind of fun we do, kind of, to spark that. And the math would have to work. Right. And you know, it would be a $250,000 maximum grant per application. Right. So you could conceivably, you know, and then that would be evaluated for eligibility. So I mean, generally speaking, you know, I think if we did, If we did provide a grant for one of those spaces, I think it would be very tailored to specific outcome that we would, I think would be generally well received. I think it's important to see here that that's a factor and they're not treated as a crepe launch is maybe a smaller. Oh, no, maybe it's a package of the same criteria that anybody would be and they would be absolutely evaluated. And we would want to have a real understanding from the applicant by the developers not pitching in more. I mean, just to be blunt exactly. Right? Exactly. It feels different if it's a mom and pop establishment versus one of many new developments. That's brand new arguments can be made that it should have been ready for business, as opposed to seeking additional resources from the city, right? So I think in the space of where faster just for this, I think that's a question we can anticipate receiving from residents. I mean, it is part of the analysis, right? So the financial consultant that we hired has the same financial consultant grow America that does the financial the analysis for the pilots. Okay so part of you know that cost benefit analysis that was done when we issued the pilot included some funds right for the retail piece so that would be evaluated in the applications so we would want to see those funds that were were part of their CVA, the analysis, get to this business on the developer side. So we would just be kind of providing an incremental above what they've been committed and studied. I see. Right? Just good, because on the other side. Staying on the vacancies. So if there's 34 vacancies, seven high to some lages, that means there's 27 vacancies. And 27 of 83 for the lawyer who does not like math is about a third, like 10, 16, 8 is 24, right? 31 32 33 give me a map. 30 2.5 33 I'll take that for a lawyer. So 32 so I have like I have two two trains and of thoughts in my mind a how does that look like in the word best practices is coming to mind but I don't know if that's the right phrase right is that standard For a city our size with you know and and and and the more we talk about New Rochelle We know that we're not standard this like I'm calling it an identity problem That's not the right way, but tell my brain things about recidious of her city We're so I know we have some unique kind of nuances and how we are and how we present so I will and of course or any of us, or nothing, right? Can't be computer to others. But, you know, the is 32.5% concerning is that outside of the margins of what we'd be considered a healthy downtown. And then my other question, parallel to that, based on that answer is, when we talk about regulatory framework, right, like what are the tools that can be used to reduce that number If it is something that would be considered not healthy for downtown And so at a high highest level, you know San Francisco again a bigger city, but instituted vacancy taxes, right? Of commercial storefronts if they're if they're vacant for X number of time then there's like a regulatory framework that kind of You know kind of nudges a little bit right and there's problems with that And we've kind of discussed it at a very high level But I guess again if we're talking about it, you know seeing the numbers this kind of concretely It's like what what and we're already incentivizing so we're definitely giving you know This tenant improvement is it's it's a great and it has to match you know So there's a matching element and there's like a whole analysis, it's not just like who you guys like the most and giving $100,000. But if that doesn't work, and if this number doesn't reduce, and if this number's considered to be maybe not where we want to be to consider healthy downtown, then what are the other elements we're considering to kind of nudge the needle a little bit? I mean, you really hit on it. It's not an acceptable number per se. It's really the starting off point, right? So the 70% was the lowest hanging fruit. Like those are the spaces that are available, the businesses that are compatible with them. So that's easy. And that's what you see here. It's about six months since we launched the Vanguard Initiative. So we're seeing 60% engagement of those vacant spaces. The next 30 really require additional study rate or a hope. So to your point, it's really kind of looking at. So as we said, there are seven that are associated with assemblages of projects that have been approved by the Plain Board. There are other, I don't want to call that on any specific projects, but there are some projects that were previously assembled that are no longer currently assembled in a project, but that might, you know, that there's interest by the owners to assemble. So that's like, so let's say there's another seven or so tied to that category. So like the number does kind of trickle down a little bit bit then to your point. There's going to be a universe that is not exactly the philosophy that we know, we've sent businesses through the ten and approved fund to them to talk to the owners and they've been non responsive, they've been unrealistic, will give you a twoyear lease, things like that, but no plans, no interaction with us about what that is. And so those types of spaces, or so are going to require some additional intervention. I think once we have the data, we can come to you with something formulated in response to it. But in no way is this meant to say, this is an acceptable level of agency. It's really just the starting point for getting more granular about what specifically the dynamics are that are making this number of written is and coming up with a regulatory and a legislative response. Whatever that is, if it's, you know, I'll be optimistic and say, is it more of subsidy or is it more incentive or is it actual regulation? Yeah. It's definitely a carrot and a stick type approach to get to make a difference in this number. But this is kind of where the difference is going to be. So it comes from a space of how do you measure success, right? And I think that's like my favorite question for any project, right? I mean like we are faced with so many different presentations and models and some things we are naturally more gleaned on and others I'm learning from colleagues or from staff members, right? So if the big question is how do you measure success? You know, then there's different not there's different notes in that, right? And so when we have this baseline data of 83 total spaces which is helpful for the jumping point into your point six months. I just think, I don't know when your next presentation is, hopefully not as part of the budget. And I only say that because the budget is so much, right? I would love to be able to talk about this in isolation because, um, June, you get come to me every month on this, but I mean, so my point is that the numbers really matter, right? And I think the part that's hard is I, you know, just, and I'm not speaking for my colleagues, but, you know, if we sort of have it, it's just, when you sort of hear, it just, it pains me to, it's like, everything's nothing in the downtown, making storefronts all these things, right? And there's more work we can do to boost communication, writ large some of the stuff you've just presented here, you know, this is repackaging and making it social media friendly, you know, I've talked about newsletters interweaving mailers because when we think of our population, everybody's not on insta, everybody's not on the anyways, we can go onto a whole communication strategy, but um, and not that we're ever ever gonna be at a hundred percent full occupancy. We can't force people to do things, but we wanna be in a space where it's like, that's a healthy downtown. There's an acceptable, whatever best. And not that we're ever going to be at a 100% full occupancy. We can't force people to do things. But we want to be in a space where it's like, that's a healthy downtown. There's an acceptable, whatever best practices there are for downtown and whoever sets that standard, we're healthily within the margins. Because this is our window. This is our time. With the development and the new residents, this is our time. and arguably it's going to be this match that proves the longevity of the great experiment of our downtown, right? And so when you come back, I'm gonna drive I intend on fully drilling into these numbers and like where we are What are we doing and like what are we hearing because this is this is like hand-to-hand combat these numbers are Accessible renominant have know that this was the dynamic Mm-hmm, therefore we started engaging with this owners like by sending like a perspective businesses and tenants to them and getting hearing back their responses and like now we have a sense of what they're thinking is we didn't have that understanding of the spaces. They were just vacant because no one was interested in the business that's not true. Right. There are businesses that are interested in vacancy and for whatever reason, some of these landlords are not interested in renting their spaces to them. And kind of digging into that, I think is where the next chapter is. And so the baseline data is important and I appreciate the context. And maybe there's a way to pull the context and formulate that, right? Like there has to be a way to distill that into more of a like data info, you know, graphic because then you can continue to drill down on the metric and just very, I'm a dad, you know it, you know what I mean? Like because we can all feel how we want to feel. We can think what we want to think and people are going to challenge these 15 new businesses, arguably maybe some of them are not in the downtown based on the dots, but we're going gonna rock with it. But you know I'm just I just listen listen God, the pink goes outside the dots, I we're gonna rock with it. But, you know, I'm just, I'm just listening, listen, God, represent the pink goes outside the dots, I'm just flagging. So, you know, the dots, if I have to show it, I gotta defend it, right? So ambassadors, remember? So, anyways, I'm just flagging that, that's like the interesting point for me, and I know you guys are looking for pink dots. I didn't see it beforehand, I would have mentioned it. So I'm just flagging. If 32.5% is our opening bid, you know, I'm just curious to hear more about what that number looks like moving forward. Visa V, the downtown. And then the last part, and then what are other ways to measure metrics? Like, like stale stacks revenue for this corridor, I know the council impressionally he loves that, that point as well. But I was looking up some things, it was private investment leverage, which fascinating, you guys listed that, not fascinating, it makes sense in the development overview, what does that look like? I've even seen like the measure open space by square footage and not just like number of new parts, because how do we find numbers that allow us to kind of measure over direct through lines as we continue to have this information come back to us over time over time. It's great. We're being ambitious. The downtown development is ambitious and it is widely respected and I think we're doing so much. But this granular, let's us talk to residents, lets us kind of bring that information back and it's not challenging feeling or emotion, it's challenging numbers, right? And it's challenging efforts being made to reduce numbers. And my last point I'll say is I did just want to give you guys a thanks. I know the Harvard Bloomberg, you know, I think you all know I'm a fan of that program. And for Mother Friend, Mayor Friend, who've been able to participate. They've only spoken highly. I know it's a lot of work though. I know it pulls you away from your desk. I'm looking at, you know, the those of you that are away from your, I've heard. It's a lot of work though. I know it pulls you away from your desk. I'm looking at, you know, the most of you that are away from your, I've heard. It's a lot of pulling you away. It's going to hard work this summer. I know, I recommend it. So, well, they allow you to nominate staff members and they get an executive ed degree and I nominated Jorge and you got it. I know, trust me. I'm, so, anyway, as like a way to build capacity. So my point is that I'm happy Bloomberg is investing in us, but it only works if the staff participates and puts the time in. And I know that they ask for a lot because I'm still going through trainings. And the Blackwell's data similarly came from the African American Mayor's Conference and you guys jumped in on that and I know that that pulled some time as well. But I think it's giving us the tools to be as objective as possible as humans who are imperfectly imperfect. from African American Mayor's Conference and you guys jumped in on that and I know that that pulls some time as well. But I think it's giving us the tools to be as objective as possible as humans who are imperfectly imperfect, but to be as objective as possible, it's some really important. We're such a key moment. And like decisions we make now have lasting impact well after I'm off the stable and making sure we do everything we can to get it right. and I feel like you guys are leveraging the tools even though it adds your day job and your other responsibilities. So I really appreciate that. I think it comes with a number of times. I just had a question about the occupancy rate we're talking about a 90% occupancy in the buildings and my discussions with a number of developers over the last couple of years is that most of them tell me that their break even point is like 93, 94% occupancy. So, you know, there's still not, you know, people think they're making tons and tons of money off these buildings. They're right now it's still in the red on the building. So until we get to those numbers, we're not gonna see the fruits of what we have accomplished over the last nine years of the new degree development. The other thing that I was out to dinner about two weeks ago and I had one of the restaurant owners was talking about the parking at night and the first thing they asked is what are our plans on the parking because you know it's very very challenging for them right now people come to downtown it's difficult to park unless you're using VALA and if you get down here and you have a bad experience You're going to drive to another place. Maybe stay in Ersham with you in an area that's easy to park. How quickly are we going to implement something that will allow us to alleviate that problem? It's mostly a nighttime. The daytime problem isn't a problem like it used to be, it's now a nighttime crop, really sorry. So there are a couple of things that I have to not at liberty to discuss publicly. Yet, we're still working on a couple of potential arrangements to make more parking available in some of the key places in the downtown. And we have, so that was like a short-term type of intervention and then we have, you know, certainly working with the developers that are bringing their products online to improve the way the parking functions inside the development, and looking at,et type parking isn't really serving the people. People don't want to park in the valet type parking in the development. So trying to work with them to create more pulling parking and then in that have more capacity for additional municipal public parking uses. So incorporating that into the projects that are being approved going forward. I think we start to see new projects that have those types of features included in them. But then in short term I think the parking management consultant really is going to do a deep dive in the parking and really look at how the parking is being utilized. And there's an impression that the parking at night, being what it is, is a product of people are parking that are using their story vehicles in the downtown. And so it's not about building more parking per se. It's about regulating the city's parking supply better and more efficiently and making it harder for people to just park and squat and take those spaces away from our local buildings. The development was designed, the data house and the vehicles that were generated by those projects. So anytime, you know, we need to make sure that those apartments being utilized in the correct way. Just, and there's a balance that we need to strike. But just for the little background, I mean, we just changed parking back to 7 o'clock, the 3 parking after 7. And the reason why the parking was pushed to 12 was because what we were seeing is that people in the buildings were putting the cars there at five o'clock in the afternoon and two hour parking, and then they were there for the rest of the evening. And that was one of the complaints that I heard from two different restaurants down town that spaces aren't freeing up like they used to free up. So I think we need to, you know, just inform. Mainly what we need some. Where's the studies man? I mean, we're definitely gonna be looking at that and with no bias towards policies that were just recently implemented. Like, it's just that idea and, you know. No, no, no, but it's just the fact that the issue with home hearing is the issue is the inability us first enforce what's in place. I mean it's still you forget the seven o'clock you're not supposed to be parking there all night and that's and you know that's what's what seems to be one of the problems so just one of the that's it. Definitely from the Morrison's Mab, from the restaurant. I had a similar conversation with all of the people. The business owner. So just wanted to bring that out. Step in order to get from the Morrison's Mab from the restaurant. And I had a similar conversation with all of the business owners in the data. And I think that's something I'm going to ask you to do. Do you have one more question? I'm so sorry, probably quick. We're waiting for that. Well, you've inspired me. The conversation about vacancies, could we also, in our assessment, I didn't love one of them that lumping together new spaces with overall vacant spaces if we could get the lamination there visually so that people could see that. But then there's also the time value of vacancy. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I know, it's funny because I like that. And then it got very busy. and I was like, oh god, I'm gonna have to take one so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. a decade ago and I feel like that space was being attacked a decade ago. I feel like it was a vacant attacking before I left. So you know there's also a time value to which spaces downtown have been available for maybe a little bit unreasonably too long. I would definitely want us to dig into that. I think I would like for us to consider how we're using our finances for for different things. So, you know, it's great to have a grant program, especially for younger businesses that usually wouldn't qualify for support from other places, but maybe from more mature businesses. We have for giveable, low interest loan programs with deferred payments, six, nine, 12 months, where maybe we're batching, so you're only paying back half, or you need certain conditions so that we're, I'm just concerned because new development that we have is probably funding some of the, most of the improvements that we're doing, and I don't want those funds to run out for the next way the businesses after a few people see a success story. These were the early adopters in this experiment. So now we want the early majority to be able to pick up on momentum and be able to support them on their rise as well. And then last thing I swear, because I was, well this is third.. So just we've been talking a lot city manager about having local businesses have access to our RFP process. These numbers are amazing. You have a 29.55 percent success rate with the tough leave program. That's amazing. Thirteen doesn't sound like a lot, but out of forty four is great. for that, for MWBEs, veterans, any businesses that are of marginalized communities, any businesses that are of legacy communities, lifelong Newer Shellians, things like that, we've been talking about the RFP process, could we just see how we can give higher priority to locally own businesses? For just, let's figure out what the nuance is, oh is it a matter of what we can't take state funding and then, you know, only commit it to local businesses, whatever it is. Because economic opportunity is one thing to make things affordable, but it's another thing to help people afford things. And that's also our goal. So, okay, I'm done. There we go. I'm back here with the tape. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. Thank you. I didn't want to. Thank you. All right, we're going to move on to the consent agenda and if we count 100 keys as for a moment. Thank you. All right. We're going to move on to the consent agenda. And if we count the number case as per moment? Yes. Before we proceed with the vote on the consent agenda, I want to restate again that I serve as an unpaid volunteer board member for Sustainable Westchester and not proper organization. And I do not have and I've never had any financial interest in sustainable assistance or insurance contracts. Thank you. May I have a motion and a second to it? Yep, come from the turn ten. On item six, you can go from roll. So we'll do two through five. May I have a motion and a second to adopt items two through five previously moved for the consent agenda? As you stern and Ashen Luey, all in favor say aye. Any opposed? Okay, Madam Clerk, Council Member Tarantino would like a roll call on item number six, which is the proposed authorization regarding community choice aggregation, the memorandum of understanding. Oh, did you want to say something Council Member Tarantino or you wanted to go? No, no, no. Okay, sorry, please sit, but thank you. Okay. Did you want to say something on the members' guarantee? No, you wanted to go to the office. No, no. Okay. Sorry. Okay, please sit. Thank you. Okay. Council member, okay. Yes. I just want to make sure that, you know, what we did last time is for people to be well, you know, informed and to make sure that the outreach goes out, especially because there is concern about a low-income families seniors. And I know that many of us, if not all of us, are doing a great job, of reaching to the community and making sure that the information gets out there so that they can opt out. So another one, yes. Thank you, Kazuma. Health and Evertarantine? OK. My position has been pretty consistent on this. I'm not a big fan of this program. I don't think that it benefits the individual repayer on this. And I think that it's really like the woman I can't Edison tell was when I called about it to get out of the program She says it sounds to me more like a scam. So I'll vote no Council member Peters Council member Austin YA. This is the voting period correct. Yes Council member Yes. Council member K. Yes. Council member Stern. Yes. Mayor Wainless-Hurley. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Moving on to item number seven, which is a resolution for proposed settlement of a lawsuit. We discussed this last week in executive session. Any questions or comments on item number seven? May I have a motion in a second to adopt the settlement? No, I would also like to roll on that. I'm on roll on the side. Madam, just put on item number seven from the whole settlement of the lawsuit. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Neville Lopez? Yes. Councillor Neville Tarantino? Well, obviously, I had a family emergency last week, I wasn't able to be here so I didn't sit on the executive session. I don't have all the information on this. And that being said, I think that it would be a little advised for me without that information to vote. Yes, so I will vote no. Council Member Peters, absent. Councilmember Asin-Loye. Yes. Councilmember Kaye. Yes. Councilmember Stern. Yes. Mayor Ray-Mose River. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Moving on to item number seven, a proposed settlement of a lawsuit also discussed in executive session, which is another role call vote. Councilmember Tantino, my apologies, Madam City Clerk. might be a record even in my time. Um, it's like your third meeting so poor. Um, so... Another roll call vote comes in my pertain to my apologies, Madam City Clerk. This might be a record even in my time. It's like your third meeting. So, four. So item number eight is the proposed settlement of another lawsuit again discussed in executive session. Council member Lopez. Yes. Council member Tarantino. I have a couple of things that I would like to say again, I was not here for that executive session and we had some comp on some back and forth on this earlier on, but I didn't know where it was. And obviously it's come to a conclusion of a settlement and I had some questions, where are we on this case? Have they served the summons in complaint? Have we done any document exchange? Have we done any depositions? You know, I don't know if that happened. In one year, 17 years on council, I don't think I've ever seen a case being settled without first doing depositions and exchanging documents. So I'd like to know, do we have a recommendation from the attorney to settle this case? I know it may be privileged, but I would like to see correspondence from attorney about whether we're at risk of losing this case. If it was, where that was one thing, but if we weren't, that's another. And whether we would have a chance of getting the case dismissed by motion as we've done many, many times in the past. Another question I'll have, don't we have insurance? Why are we paying this? Excuse me. Don't you have insurance? Why are we paying for this settlement? Usually, if we have insurance, and I believe we do, they would pay for it. So it seems to me that insurance company isn't involved. I would like to see the correspondent between the insurance carry in the city. This should not be privileged. We have a fiduciary responsibility to the residents of New York, the defend litigation matters as settle cases only where it makes economic sense to do so. We're not doing this here and I did not support this action. I don't know. Councillor Mayer, repeaters, absent. Councillor Mebros and Leye. Yes. Councillor Mebros, stern. Yes. Mayor Ramos Herbert. Yes. And I just like to thank the Corporation Council for the information you provided last week in the exact session and follow the questions I had after that meeting. I'm assuming you want to roll call on this one too. Item number nine, proposed settlement of a lawsuit. Item City Clerk. Sure. Yes. Ordinance regarding the budget of the City Commissioner Shell, the rest of the settlement of another matter. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Council Member Lopez. Yes, yes. Council member Tarantino. Be quick on this now. Take your time. Take your time. matter. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Council Member Lopez? Yes. Council Member Tarantino? Be quick on this now. Take your time. Take your time. No. No. No. Okay. Council Member Peters, Ashley, you're on for a little. Council Member Ross and Leye? Yes. Council Member Stern? Yes. Oh, that's what we can. Yes, that's what I was sorry. Later, Rainbow's Herbert. Yes, and thank you's a very case. Yes, I'm so sorry. Mayor, the rain will serve it. Yes, and thank you, Madam City Clerk, one, two, three, four. Roll call votes, again, I don't remember that, so sorry, but thank you. Excuse me, I need clarifications on the move and the second for 789, please. Oh, wait. There. Okay. Because it wants a roll call. I understand. So can I have a motion and a second to do roll call for item number seven? So, Austreloy and Stern. May I have a motion and a second to move to roll call for item number eight? Stern and K. For item number nine, a motion and a second to do roll call for number nine. Oshanloy in K. Thank you. Now moving to item number 10. Do you need a motion? Second. Oh, sorry. Emotion in a second for item number six. We did a roll call as well. Oshanloy in a second. K, thank you. Council member K. Moving on to item number 10, which is a subject of the public hearing last Tuesday that proposed reallocation of community development block grant funds regarding various improvements, questions or comments on item number 10. May I have a motion to adopt the reallocation? I'll have a favor say aye. Any opposed And item number 11 is a proposed amendment to the charter of the city of New Rochelle regarding liability of the city in certain actions, also subject to matter of public hearing last. May I have a motion and a second to adopt item number 11? Osholuea and K, all in favor say aye. Any opposed? I'm informed by Corporation Counsel. We have no matters for executive session. I have a motion and a second to end this week. Ash and Lillian Lopez, all in favor say I. Any opposed? Have a great night. Wait a minute, I have one more thing to say. I have a flight at 9. you