Big, exciting news.  New Rochelle has won a $10 million State grant through New York’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI.)  This afternoon, State officials visited the Remington Boys and Girls Club to make the announcement.

This highly-competitive program chooses only one winner per year from the entire mid-Hudson Valley, a huge multi-county region with dozens of municipalities.  New Rochelle’s selection is, therefore, not only enormously helpful in material terms — we can do a lot with $10 million! — it is also a powerful validation of our ambitious downtown development plan, which has received widespread, positive recognition.

NRHS students join in celebrating New Rochelle’s $10 million win.

New Rochelle’s application to the DRI focused on the Lincoln Avenue corridor and surrounding neighborhoods, with the goal of forging stronger social, economic, and physical linkages between this vital area and our downtown as a whole.  We want prosperity and equity to go hand-in-hand.

The precise use of the funding has not been decided and will be determined through a collaborative and inclusive partnership among State, City, and community representatives.

There is much more information in this press release.  And following below or at this link are my remarks from the Remington event.  (Governor Cuomo was originally scheduled to join us, but was called away at the last minute.)

Congratulations and thank you to everyone whose hard work and advocacy made this victory possible.  I have never been more proud of New Rochelle or more excited about our future.

Remarks of Mayor Noam Bramson

So let’s be honest – and meaning no offense at all to George and Howard, who are outstanding public servants – we’re all a little disappointed that our guest of honor was called away at the last minute, and I know that many people here adjusted their schedules, specifically to give the Governor a big New Rochelle welcome.

But even though we can’t express our gratitude in person, it does not diminish the gratitude we feel.  Because think about what’s just been announced. This is a great day for New Rochelle.

So let’s give it up for the Boys and Girls Club for hosting us this afternoon and for serving our children every afternoon.

Let’s hear it for the advocates, the residents, the neighbors, young and old, black, white and brown, here on the Lincoln Avenue corridor, who have stood up for this community – for our community – with passion, and vision, and determination.   This is your success.

Let’s acknowledge the drive and energy of our development staff, who created the most innovative and effective strategy for growth in the entire Hudson Valley. It is working, unfolding before our eyes, almost by the hour.

Thank you: Chuck and Luiz, Gina and Kevin, Kathleen and Suzanne, Adam and Chris and Max, and the entire City team.

Let’s give it up for our great community partners. What a cross-section of leadership is here today. Schools and libraries, our hospital and our colleges, investors and builders and business people, houses of worship and providers of service, and planners throughout our region. And an extra shout out to Marsha Gordon and the Business Council of Westchester for always believing in New Rochelle.

And I have to say a special word for my colleague Jared Rice, who was instrumental in making our case to the Regional Council. He couldn’t be here today, but he’s got a good excuse – he’s celebrating his 10^th wedding anniversary a couple thousand miles away. I told him: “ten years, a million dollars per year, why don’t you bring Jasmine and celebrate with us.” He said: “love, before money.” And he’s got that right. But let’s give him a round of applause anyway.

And it’s not just Jared. Every member of the City Council, Democrat and Republican, is joined together in pride and satisfaction on this exciting afternoon.

And let’s be clear about why this announcement matters so much. It’s not just the money – although that sure helps, we’re not turning it down; we’re going to accomplish a lot with $10 million.

It’s something bigger. It’s a validation of the hard work we have done together to bring New Rochelle back. And an affirmation of the core belief that we’re all in this together. That a healthy city doesn’t leave anyone behind. That prosperity and equity can, should, and must go hand-in-hand. That’s the New Rochelle we know and love.

Now, I am sure some of you are already asking yourselves: how exactly are we going to spend this grant?  Good question.

So let’s be perfectly transparent: beyond promising that I will not be redecorating my office, that is still to be determined.

There’s going to be an inclusive process, with State officials, local officials, and the community. All of us thinking through the possibilities together, with guidance from the best planners.

But make no mistake about the goal. It is to take the center of our city, where we are today, with all of its promise and all of its challenges, and link it together – socially, economically, and physically – to the growing prosperity of our downtown. To lift up this vital part of New Rochelle, in a way that benefits all of New Rochelle.

What a thrilling opportunity for every one of us.

In that spirit, and on behalf of 80,000 grateful residents, I say to Governor Cuomo, to Howard and George, to our great State delegation, to the Regional Council, and to the entire Administration: thank you.

Thank you for conceiving a program that benefits not just New Rochelle, but dozens of cities like New Rochelle all across New York. For understanding that smaller downtowns – from Kingston to Middletown to New Rochelle – are vital to the economy and character of our entire state. For knowing that when we invest in our downtowns – in jobs, in homes, in opportunities to live, work, play, and grow, where we can walk to the store and take the train to the office, and see people every day whose lives and traditions are different from our own and reflect all the beauty and diversity of humankind – that when we do these things, everyone wins.

So this is truly a great day, one of the best. A day of excitement and satisfaction, with a sense of a job well done . . . and an even larger job still ahead.

Friends, neighbors, colleagues, and partners: let’s roll up our sleeves and together make the most of this moment.

God bless New York, God bless New Rochelle. And thank you all so much.