Spotlight on Westchester 2023

SPOTLIGHT on WESTCHESTER

In Westchester County, we’re always about taking the next step towards economic development and growth in our communities. We are proud to have developed a culture in Westchester as a place where innovation thrives.

While we are strategically located just outside of New York City, life here isn’t just about our big neighbor to the south. Our County is a great place to visit and an even better place to call home – a beautiful tapestry of more than one million people. We are a picturesque and green County, boasting beautiful views, parks and landscapes, and a vibrant County with bustling downtowns and business districts.

We are home to a distinct and diverse corporate roster, which has allowed our strong economy to excel above the rest. From IBM, a great multinational corporation, to financial services companies like MasterCard, to consumer products from PepsiCo, to the biotech and health care boom powered by companies like Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. – Westchester truly has it all.

We are constantly searching for new ways to improve life for our residents and business community, to help our startups and small and mid-sized companies succeed. Our office of Economic Development has introduced a host of new programs to aid our fiercely talented workforce, and we are working in lockstep with our chambers of commerce in all of our municipalities in Westchester.

Our new Downtown Improvement Grant (DIG) Program will help multiple municipalities reimagine and revitalize their downtown economic engine through a program consisting of professional consulting, and up to $250,000 in implementation support. Launch1000 is an innovative, self-paced program designed to help turn creative ideas into viable ventures, and has helped hundreds of businesses to launch and thrive in Westchester. Our Tech Accelerator Powered by Cela and the Westchester County Biosciences Accelerator Program help established startups scale quickly.

We are all about reaching beyond our borders to welcome fresh ideas from all industries.

George Latimer Westchester County Executive

Photo by Margaret Fox

On the road to discoveries

Westchester County gives a tour of its burgeoning Life Science field

In Westchester, it’s not out of the ordinary to see groups of visitors arrive at tourist destinations like the Kykuit or Lyndhurst estates or perhaps Sleepy Hollow. But on a recent spring morning, the people filing off the bus in Tarrytown were arriving at a site that was far more non-descript from the outside while holding wonders of its own within.

The group was arriving at the labs for Sapience Therapeutics, a clinicalstage biotechnology company forging a new class of peptide-based cancer therapeutics for two presentations to kick off the first Life

“Experts like Dr. Cairo are a draw,” she says; startups and mid-sized companies will often look to position themselves near leaders like Cairo and others in Westchester to possibly collaborate with them, gaining credibility and experience.

Novick adds that the cluster of businesses and research centers are important in other ways. “Companies want to come where there’s an availability of talent—even for the accountants because you’ll find one who’s an expert in life science business—and employees know it’s less risky to move to a region because if their job doesn’t work out there are other companies there.”

The big magnet in that regard is Regeneron, the 35-year-old biotechnology company that has 4,000 employees in the region and continues to expand its footprint. “Regeneron is a fantastic asset and gives us credibility,” Novick says, but while a visit to their lab and campus anchored the tour, she adds that the company was a hook to show off the broader array of activity. “All of this spotlighting work is ‘Regeneron plus…’ saying, ‘Since we have your attention…’” The tour began with start-up Sapience, which was a start-up in New York Medical College’s BioInc@ NYMC incubator, which has expanded rapidly and moved into its new digs last December; and Retia Medical, which developed the Argos Cardiac Output (CO) Monitor for advanced hemodynamic monitoring of high-risk patients.

Sapience founder and CEO

20,000 square feet, as well as about the college and Westchester County Medical Center campus, followed by a drive around the grounds to see buildings like a new pavilion built in 2019.

Next up was a visit to two neighbors, Leviant Inc. and Clarapth Inc. Leviant CEO and co-founder David Eigen showed off the company’s patented Focused Multivector UltraViolet Light equipment which disinfects hospital rooms, killing 99.9% of infectious pathogens in under two minutes; the company, which had $2 million in sales last year and expects to triple that this year, is currently redesigning its equipment to make it even more flexible and space efficient, Eigen said. (They are currently raising about $7 million in growth equity.)

A tour of Clarapath showed off SectionStar, the first, fully automated, all-in-one tissue sectioning and transfer system that increases capacity, reliability, and consistency—this is an especially crucial development because New York has a shortage of histotechnologists who can even handle slides in the old-fashioned time-consuming manner by hand. “The biopsy backlog is a public health crisis no one talks about,” says president and CEO Eric Feinstein, who added that their machine will not only speed up the process dramatically but will dramatically reduce human error. “We’re at an inflection point, with an aging population, higher incidences of cancer and labor shortages and we’re flying blind.”

The penultimate stop was Regeneron, the county’s superstar, which senior director Marcus Jones noted had been named the top biotech company in the world six of the last twelve years by Science Magazine. He said the company, which develops all products in-house, has had nine federally approved drugs but with 35 products now in clinical development, they hope to double that total in ten years.

The company debuted its genetics center in 2013, which was the highlight of the tour but there’s plenty more to come. Regeneron is planning a major expansion of eight new buildings and more than 3.5 million square feet of construction over 14.5 acres, including its own power plant, a daycare center and other amenities like an event space and buildings that put science on display, says Ben Suzuki, Executive Director, Real Estate & Facilities Management. “We want to celebrate science.”

Sciences Tour organized by Westchester County; the guests on the tour included representatives from Empire State Development who fund projects, organizations with investors, and other interested parties.

“This was an awareness campaign,” says director of economic development Bridget Gibbons. “We want to make people in New York City and in Westchester aware of the globally significant scientific research and development going on here. It’s too well kept a secret.”

Deborah Novick, the county’s director of entrepreneurship and innovation, says the government can help bring people together to invest, create start-ups or foster collaborations. “We want to let the outside world know about what is happening in our key sectors,” she explains. “These people might know developers or start-ups or investors who might start a business or move here if they understand there’s a lot of vibrant activity and support from the county government.”

Westchester, which has more than 8,000 life science jobs, is becoming known for therapeutics and robotics with a lot of research going on in cancer and brain issues, both Alzheimer’s and traumatic brain injuries. But Novick and Gibbons say that this is happening organically; even when they choose winners from the competitive entry for the county’s biotechnology accelerator program— which offers six months of free, personalized founder education and which has created 62 jobs and raised $15 million—they are not picking thematically.

“We don’t interfere with the market,” Gibbons says. “It’s natural selection.”

The tour served two purposes—showing how close the labs and research centers are to Manhattan but also how close together they all are to each other. Gibbons points to world-renowned experts like Dr. Mitchell Cairo, a leader in pediatric oncology research at Westchester Medical Center and New York Medical College, who gave a talk on the tour.

Barry Kappel explained that scientists understand a lot about why cells become cancerous but it remains difficult to target them with drugs; his experiments have been developing stabilized peptides to penetrate the cells; if these new therapeutics improve effectiveness, this approach has the added advantage of being far less toxic than radiation or chemotherapy.

Marc Zemel, co-founder and CEO of Retia Medical, explained how their monitor is an early detection system for when patients are oxygen deprived, providing better outcomes at lower cost by finding problems before disaster strikes. (He says it’s 50 percent more accurate than the nearest rival.) Retia raised $15 million a year last year to expand their business and has grown to 20 employees; Zemel says the hospital not only improves care and saves hospitals money but it has a high-profit margin.

The next stop was the biotechnology incubator (BioInc@NYMC) at New York Medical College, where the first speaker was Dr. Robert Amler, a dean at the school, who explained that the incubator not only provides lab space but high-tech freezers a start-up could not easily afford. He credits Kappel and Sapience with putting the program on a map. “Barry showed you could start with an idea and make something happen,” he says. “This is real people making real discoveries.” There were several other speakers including Dr. Cairo, who discussed cell therapy as the future for curing once-intractable diseases like sickle cell anemia; he told the story of a six-year-old boy on a ventilator who received experimental trial treatment and was cured and is now a high school football star en route to Harvard University.

The discussion also included information about the expansion of the BioInc space, which has recently doubled in size and is approaching

Before the evening reception, the bus made one last stop at the non-profit research center Burke Neurological Institute, where Dr. Rajiv Ratan talked about the looming epidemic of brain issues from traumatic brain injuries and dementia. “In Westchester at

Neurocures New York, we have industry, government and academia coming together to solve problems,” he said. A group of postdocs then explained their experiences and their work before leading a tour of BNI’s labs.

Overall, Gibbons says, the tour was a tremendous success. “We’ve gotten such great feedback that we’ll probably start doing this twice a year,” she says. The next one is planned for October.

“There is so much happening here that we’ll have other companies to show off on the next tour,” Novick added.

Participants and organizers of the Westchester County Life Sciences Tour.

Jonathan Levy, General Counsel + Co-Founder, Arjun Patel, Director of Engineering, Leviant Inc., with their SPACE-1 FMUV Cleaning Device For Full Room and Equipment Cleaning.

Ready to ride

Rye Playland’s makeover includes new rides and much more

For a 95-year-old person, a facelift may seem an excessive indulgence. But for an amusement park nearing the century mark, a major makeover is a necessary step. Parts of Rye Playland will be a grand work in progress for the next couple of years, but, executives say, it’s all in the name of steering the park toward a brighter future.

The park had been run by Westchester County until last year when Standard Amusements, founded by local boy made good, Nick Singer, was awarded a 30-year-management agreement. With the deal in place, both the county and the company are pouring resources into Playland. “Nick wants to return the park to its glory,” says Playland’s new general manager Jeff Davis. “We’ve met with community groups, and they’ve been great. Everybody wants Playland to succeed and communication is good.”

Last year, the park didn’t open until June because of construction, so 2023 marks Standard Amusement’s first full season. The work is continuing, so Playland’s prices are remaining low. (Westchester County residents already get discounts across the board.)

“It’s a great time to come because we’re a real value proposition,” Davis says. “We’re probably the cheapest amusement park around right now.”

Davis says all the work is necessary because the park had fallen into some disrepair. “When the work is complete, almost every part of the park will be touched and Playland will look brand new while retaining its historical features.”

The park added a new ride last year, The Old Rye Motorbike Factory, and has another newcomer, Jack the Puppeteer, coming

here,’” Davis adds, pointing to the “gorgeous location” on the water as another benefit.

The beach will have volleyball courts and kayak and paddleboard rentals, the Tiki Beach restaurant on the pier has a new owner with a new beer garden and a refreshed menu and paddle boats, shaped like dragons and swans, are being reintroduced on the lake. At the fountain plaza-- which, like the boardwalk and other parts of the park, is open to the public without charge— there’ll be a new interactive adventure called Play!Verse, with 10 unique thematic rooms that feature LED light shows, interactive infinity mirror tricks and more, creating a multi-sensory and dynamic photo op for all, as well as a new retail shop. “We’re taking the park into the future, even while the rides are paying homage to the history,” Shuster says.

haven’t been here in a while,” Davis says. “We want to re-educate people so they know it’s new and improved with all these things to see and do.”

Davis says the New York market is big enough to accommodate Playland and multiple amusement park competitors but that there’s so much out there-- from big league sports to Broadway-- that Playland must find ways to stand out. “There’s so much noise,” he says. “There’s so much to do, forget about the money, it’s about getting people to part with their time.”

Last fall, the park ran a Black Friday promotion offering discounts on summer passes. Shuster says the season pass sale was “a chance to try different messaging” and a way to get people thinking about Playland at a different time and hopefully to spread the word about all the renovations and additions.

from Italy this summer, with a new ride for 2024 in the works. (It will be announced later this summer, Davis says.)

Meanwhile, Standard Amusements refurbished the area around the beach-- adding a 35-foot slide for kids, along with new furniture and kayaks. “Additionally, the County did a beautiful job of creating a gorgeous $30M family- style pool, with a four-foot depth maximum, as well as redid the locker rooms and Bathhouse,” says Davis “We are doing a heckuva lot of work here.”

Director of Marketing and Sales Stacy Shuster says change begins at the front door. For the first time, she says, the park will have a grand entrance-- “a fountain plaza, with water and music and lights” -- that will give visitors “a sense of arrival.”

Beyond that, Playland aims to fulfill Nick Singer’s vision of something new to do every ten feet.

“Giving people lots of unexpected things to do is a key here,” Shuster says.

“We want to turn this into a campus, a destination where people will know about all the things to do and say, ‘Let’s spend a weekend

Davis wants people not only to stay longer on each visit but to come back more often. Toward that end, he’s looking to extend the calendar by opening earlier to take advantage of spring break and extending into the fall with activities around Halloween. “I don’t think there’s a park out there that doesn’t do something like that,” Davis says, adding that he’d even look for Christmas possibilities, like a lighting exhibit, ice skating or a holiday marketplace. He also envisions public art around the property. That’s something that he says will also appeal to the locals in the community who come to enjoy the beach and boardwalk for free.

“There are people here every day, in every kind of weather, which provides a unique energy.”

To make this all happen, Standard Amusements has brought in a slew of new staffers, including Davis and Shuster. “We added expertise across the board, from the finance guy to the rides guy,” Davis says, adding that while there are still some county employees working in maintenance and other areas, some retired from or left the county’s employ to come work for Standard Amusements. Playland is also a major employer of local youth each summer-- Davis says the park employs more than 800 locals and the food vendor, whose employees go through Standard’s training too, adds another 200 hires.

With all these new ingredients, the next step is bringing people out to sample the goods.

“It’s amazing how many people know Playland, but

Pass members, who are traditionally locals, are vital, Davis says because they provide a financial foundation. “They push you through the slower weekdays and the days with questionable weather,” he explains. “Then when summer time arrives we get the vacationers who tend to spend more and they push you through that season. So, we need a multi-faceted approach in driving attendance.”

Now that they can offer a full day or even a weekend’s worth of action, Shuster says. Playland will try to expand its circle first by going after people in the further reaches of Westchester. But then she will also target Long Island and New York City, starting with promotional outreach on Metro-North, which is how many city folk would travel there. After that, she’s set her eyes even further afield; hoping to draw visitors from Connecticut’s Fairfield County, with one day hopes to become a national and international destination.

Old Rye Motorbike Factory ride.

Playland Park, open since 1928.

Playland’s brand-new family pool.

Get your thrills on new and classic rides, make a big splash at our beach and pool, and create unforgettable memories all day long at Playland. Get your tickets today at playland.com.

A Yonkers renaissance

The City’s mayor says emphasis on housing, jobs, education and green space is paying off

college-bound there are plenty of film industry jobs and they will be connected to that world through their school experience.

That school and the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Community School now under construction will help ease a capacity crunch that Spano has made a major priority.

But schools superintendent Edwin Quezada says that while the mayor has worked diligently to improve the situation the state must provide more funding.

“Albany needs to be more responsive,” Quezada says, explaining that many of the city’s school buildings are more than 90 years old and need “significant investment.”

Quezada argues that the state needs to change its funding to more accurately reflect life in Yonkers, which is treated more like a suburb because of its proximity to New York and home in Westchester County, then like a city with many underprivileged children.

“This formula gets in the way,” he says. The state’s Foundation Aid, which is money for education, gives Buffalo $688 million, Rochester $515 million and both Yonkers and Syracuse below $400 million, Quezada says, even though Yonkers and Rochester are roughly equal in population while Buffalo is only marginally larger (and Syracuse is notably smaller.) This problem extends to other aid, for buildings and transportation— “I hold everyone in the state government accountable,” he says. “We need the formula reviewed. Yonkers is an urban community and needs to be treated the same as these other cities.”

Mike Spano has lived in Yonkers his whole life and he also has represented it in the state legislature or from the mayor’s office for much of the last thirty years. So Spano knows well the city’s major issues and what the priorities need to be. These days, Yonkers—the state’s third largest city—has crucial housing and business development plans, ambitious goals for, and tremendous pride in, its education system and a desire to add a touch of green to this dense city.

While much needs to be done, Spano, now in his third term as mayor, feels the city is heading in the right direction. “There are great things happening in Yonkers,” he says. “It’s a wonderfully diverse city bustling with activity. We’re going through a renaissance—and our diversity is a strength.”

The city will be bustling even more when its plans for Chicken Island come to fruition… finally. Chicken Island is a huge lot next to City Hall in the heart of downtown that the city has been looking to redevelop for forty years. “Nothing has panned out but now we finally have plans,” says Jim Cavanaugh, president and CEO of the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency.

The property was bought by AMS Acquisitions, which has just succeeded in getting through a lengthy rezoning process and City Council approval. Next up is the planning board before construction finally begins. The end result would be a “huge development,” Cavanaugh says, that includes 3,500 units of housing—the city has added 12,000 under Spano since he became mayor in 2012 so this would be a significant addition.

“We’ve done pretty well along the waterfront but this would extend development upland and into downtown and that’s really important,” Cavanaugh says.

A large chunk of the new units would be affordable housing. Cavanaugh explains that Yonkers has an ordinance requiring 10 percent of all new units be affordable but the City Council is likely going to bump that number to 13 percent. “While you want a mix of housing in the city, we do need affordable housing here because the household income in Yonkers is lower than in White Plains and a lot of other local towns and villages,” Cavanaugh says. He says they’ve reduced the percentage of families stressed by housing costs (at least 30 percent of their income) from 46 percent in 2015 to 42 percent but they’re still above the county average.

Spano is proud of the 12,000 units added already but also of the

fact that Yonkers already has been exceeding its own rule—in his three terms, about 22 percent of the new units have been affordable. “I challenge anyone to find another city in the state that’s at 22 percent,” he says.

There’s potential for even greater growth, Cavanaugh says if as the city expects, Empire City by MGM Resorts gets one of the three downstate casino licenses the state is getting ready to issue. He says that as a racino the site already generates about $21 million in revenues for the city “but if it becomes a full casino, revenues could as much as double and jobs will ramp up.”

The other major player in Yonkers, Lionsgate, is also growing. The company’s initial studio there worked out so well, Cavanaugh says, that they bought a property a block away and have begun building a second studio and they are now in contract for a property on the Yonkers and Bronx border to build on a third site.

Spano says the housing the city built, often after cleaning up brownfields on the site of old factories, was appealing to Lionsgate and encouraged them to come here. “We’re enjoying the fruits of our labor,” he says, though he adds that the new jobs that will continue coming from the casino and the studios will mean even more housing will be needed… making Chicken Island even more important.

Both MGM Empire, which Cavanaugh notes is a union shop, and Lionsgate, have provided local jobs with good wages but soon Lionsgate’s connection to the community will extend even deeper. Cavanaugh points to plans for a new school on the new Lionsgate site.

Great Point Studios, owner and operator of the Lionsgate Studio Yonkers, will manage renovations of the buildings already there. The school, which should open in 2024, will accommodate 500 students from Grades 6-12, with a focus on media and the performing arts—the curriculum will be developed with S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Students will have a pathway to acceptance at Syracuse, although Cavanaugh points out that for students who are not

Despite these disadvantages, Spano points to the fact that the city, with 70 percent of its students living below the poverty line, still graduates students at a 90 percent rate, which is higher than some wealthier Westchester towns.

As a child of Yonkers, Spano knows not only the importance of educational opportunities but also of having a livable city, which is why he has focused so much attention on creating access to the city’s waterfront and more green space. “We’ve taken every opportunity to expand our parks—if someone doesn’t pay taxes or

abandons a property and it’s next to a school or park, then instead of re-selling the land, we preserve it,” he says.

Last year, the city snapped up a bus depot and added a sliver of county property along the waterfront, spending $13 million to create a 3.8-acre park there for the city’s families. The newest park (and 81st in the city) was developed in a public-private partnership called Martin Ginsburg Park. It is a terraced park on the side of a hill which will also provide locals with access to the 26-mile Old Croton Aqueduct State Trail. “It’s a beautiful property and we could have sold it for several million dollars to a developer, but we knew it needed to be protected as parkland,” Spano says.

Spano believes people “like the vibe here” in Yonkers and that maintaining the focus on housing, jobs, education and parkland will keep it that way.

70 Pier Street.

Hudson Piers rendering.

YONKERS IS THE NEW HOLLYWOOD ON HUDSON

The unprecedented renaissance underway in the City of Yonkers is now premiering a spectacular new sequel! Yonkers is Hollywood on Hudson, home to the new 1 million square foot Lionsgate Studios complex, the largest modern fi lm and TV production facility on the East Coast. Located along the beautiful Hudson River, this state-of-the-art media center is helping to complete the transformation of the Yonkers waterfront with local businesses benefi tting from the expected 1000+ people working at the studio complex. And with the rapid growth in streaming media, other major fi lm and TV studios are now eyeing Yonkers which offers one of the most easily accessible locations in the New York Metro area.

Rising high

The Cappelli Organization reaches new heights with its Westchester Towers

When the 28-story tower, 3Thirty3 opened at 333 Huguenot Street in New Rochelle last June, developer Louis Cappelli expected the building’s 285 luxury units to rent out in perhaps eighteen months. Yet here it is less than a year later and the 435,000 square foot building—which features apartments with white quartz countertops, walk-in closets and panoramic views—is more than 92 percent leased.

“It’s the most successful rent-up on any job I’ve ever done,” Cappelli says. “The demand is out there—it costs so much for a mortgage right now that people are probably deciding that renting is the more cost-effective option, so they are flocking to rental apartments. The demand is strong.”

It’s not just this one building, either, says Cappelli, the managing member of The Cappelli Organization. “We have more work going on now than we have had in 46 years in the business,” he says, explaining that some of those projects are underway, some are just getting started and some are going through local approval processes. “There are millions of square feet to be developed and thousands of apartments that we’re working on in Westchester County, mostly in New Rochelle and White Plains.” His company is also finishing projects in Coney Island and the Bronx.

Among the projects are another 28-story tower across the street from 3Thirty3 at 325 Huguenot, with another 244 luxury units, which is expected to be completed by year’s end. Additionally, late last year, the Cappelli Organization and RXR broke ground on Hamilton Green, a $650 million project on the site of the former White Plains Mall. Located just two blocks from the recently renovated White Plains Metro North Train Station (and only a block from the White Plains Central Business District), the project features four mixed-income multifamily buildings totaling 860 rental units, more than an acre of publicly accessible open space, dining, retail and commercial spaces.

The other famous mall in White Plains, the Galleria, was still surviving but needs a re-thinking—so the owners, Pacific Retail Capital Partners and Aareal Bank, are partnering with SL Green Realty and the Cappelli Organization to redevelop the property. They plan to transform the site into a mixeduse development centered on residential development and amenity-based retail.

All this activity is not merely the result of pent-up demand after the world shut down in 2020 because of the pandemic. In fact, Cappelli points out, their company didn’t really miss a beat.

“We worked straight through the lockdown,” he says. The company was considered essential because of our contractors’ work on utilities and brownfield cleanups. “Everybody worked in the office, and it was a go full-on our job sites. We had nurses and protocols in place and testing on the job every morning. We spent a lot of money making sure people were as safe as they could be. We had very few people test positive.”

The full calendar is the result of a confluence of factors, starting with low interest rates and a booming economy pre-pandemic, followed by money from the federal government in the aftermath of the pandemic. Additionally, a lot of the jobs have been created on former brownfield sites or in Opportunity Zones. Cappelli says, “they are great projects in great locations and those sites are incentivized for building.”

Even the current economic situation with inflation and climbing interest rates doesn’t particularly strike fear into Cappelli’s heart. “We’re in it for the long term, so everybody’s looking past this,” he says. “In a lot of places we fixed our rates so we’re not floating on everything. We managed the finances well.”

Additionally, he notes that at 71 he has seen it all before.

Born in the Bronx and raised there and in Yonkers, Cappelli graduated from Notre Dame with an engineering degree and worked for his father in electrical contracting before moving into real estate development. His first property was in Valhalla and he made his name in the mid-1990s taking over development and construction of New Roc City, the first big step in revitalizing New Rochelle’s downtown. A decade later, he helped start the reshaping of White Plains with City Center. All his successes have made him one of the county’s premier builders. Beyond being the founder of the Cappelli Organization, Cappelli is the Chairman and CEO of two subsidiaries—LRC Construction and Cappelli Development Company.

“I’ve been through four or five recessions in my career, but you get through it and it has always been a happy ending,” he says, adding that concerns about transit-oriented development when Manhattan’s offices are sitting halfempty are also overblown. “How many times have we seen everybody write Manhattan off—in the ’70s, the ’80s, the ’90s—only to have it come back with a roar. So, I think transit-oriented development is a good place to be and will continue to be very successful.”

In a recession, he says, the key is to pick locations or deals where people didn’t finance properly and need to get out. “There’s valuations of land you can buy right now that are extremely attractive if you have a long-term view,” he says. “Now is the time to be buying that land and getting approvals done.”

Cappelli has long praised New Rochelle for their “brilliant” reimagining of the land use process that created an overall environmental impact statement that now enables building approvals within 90 days of submission and developers are adding 6,000 units to downtown, which “gives everybody confidence because you can see an actual city being built.” But in this particular moment, he notes that the more traditional approach of White Plains and Yonkers—where it can take a year to eighteen months for approval and “you need to be way more patient”—can also work in their favor.

“If it takes time that’s actually fine; why rush to get something approved tomorrow when the interest rates are at eight percent,” he says, adding that while some equity investors are pulling back, the smart ones know it makes sense to start a job now when you don’t need the construction loans. “It’s smart to spend your development money getting something approved during the recession and then start building later. In a year, certain rates will be going back down. It’s an election year next year and the smart money is saying that things will be fine by then.”

The company has an added advantage when it comes to dealing with the ebbs and flows of business from supply chain shortages to climbing interest rates.

“We have a different perspective because we are the developers or co-developers but we’re also the builders so we’re much more in control of our destiny,” Cappelli says. “We can’t control interest rates or the banks, but we can hedge that. We can’t control rising costs but we can redesign something if the original materials become too expensive. We have fewer moving pieces.”

Bruce Berg, the Cappelli Development Company CEO adds that other in-house disciplines like architecture and engineering help the company with redesigns or pushing projects through in a cost-effective way. “That’s a unique trait among developers,” Berg says.

That ability to adapt fits in with the “everything comes and goes; you have to work your way through it”—a sagacity that Cappelli has gained in his decades in the business. Still, he says, dryly, “I like wisdom, I just don’t like being 71. I would like to have the wisdom and be 51.”

Centre at Huguenot Phase II. This is the second phase of the 435,000 square-foot Centre at Huguenot complex in New Rochelle. This 28-story building features an additional 249 apartments and ground-level retail space.

Hamilton Green. Hamilton Green, a state-of-the-art residential project that will replace the shuttered White Plains Mall with four mixed-income multifamily buildings totaling 860 rental units. This includes 78 on-site affordable units, accessible open space, as well as a variety of dining, retail and commercial spaces.

One & Two Clinton Park. One Clinton Park located at 26 South Division Street in New Rochelle features 352 apartments in a 28-story tower with ground-level retail space. Two Clinton Park, a 28-story tower with 390 apartments and ground floor retail space.

A PROMINENT LEADER IN REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION IN THE NORTHEAST WITH A 45-YEAR TRACK RECORD OF PROVEN EXCELLENCE.

I N N O V A T I O N

S T A R T S H E R E

S i t e s e l e c t i o n a n d a n a l y s i s

P r o j e c t m a n a g e m e n t a n d d e v e l o p m e n t

C o n s t r u c t i o n m a n a g e m e n t a n d c o n t r a c t i n g

T e n a n t r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a n d l e a s i n g

P r o p e r t y a n d a s s e t m a n a g e m e n t

R e a l e s t a t e i n v e s t m e n t a n d f i n a n c i n g

S u s t a i n a b i l i t y c o n s u l t i n g a n d L E E D c e r t i f i c a t i o n

www.cappelliorg.com

D e s i g n a n d a r c h i t e c t u r e s e r v i c e s

An easy summer getaway

Warm weather ushers in plenty to do in Westchester County

As spring transitions into summer, Westchester County is in full bloom, with a bouquet of activities offering something for everyone.

“Warm weather travel is already underway,” said Natasha Caputo, Director of Tourism & Film for the County. “Westchester has so much to offer visitors and locals alike this summer.”

The season kicks off with the re-opening of Kykuit, the majestic estate that was home to four generations of the Rockefeller family. “Kykuit is an iconic attraction and a strong draw for visitors who

want to be wowed in Westchester County,” Caputo comments.

The months of June and July feature an abundance of new activities and old favorites, starting with Westchester Magazine’s Wine & Food Festival, June 6-10 that is a multi-day celebration of wine, food, beer, spirits, chefs and restaurants. The following week, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts commences its summer season, now featuring more family concerts and a diverse musical lineup including, classical, opera, gospel, roots, punk and more.

The County’s culinary scene is thriving with more new restaurants opening, including Red Horse by David Burke, which opened at The Opus in White Plains. A new Spanish restaurant Buleria Tapas and Wine Bar in Tuckahoe featuring authentic, classic dishes inspired by Seville and One Rare Italian Steakhouse in Scarsdale.

The idea of making Westchester a place for all visitors is also evident in two new programs for people with disabilities. Westchester County Airport’s (HPN) Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program supports passengers with hidden disabilities and accessibility needs. Travelers can voluntarily choose to wear a sunflower lanyard as a way to discreetly inform the airport staff and others that they have a disability.

Westchester County Parks recently launched an Adaptive Hike Program allowing individuals living with disabilities the opportunity to immerse themselves in Westchester County Parks— at no cost to the user—on All-Terrain Track Chairs. Individuals with their family, friends, or caregivers will be able to experience a guided hike of one to two miles.

This summer, Westchester will be featured in the very first Cycle the Hudson Valley bicycle tour, a fully supported seven-day, 200-mile tour from the Albany area to NYC which follows the Empire State Trail—the longest multi-use trail in the nation.

Partnering with others in the Hudson Valley has been a great success, further supporting the overall visitor experience,” said Caputo, noting that Caramoor, the Jacob Burns Film Center, Historic Hudson Valley, Storm King Art Center and Hudson Valley

The Abbey Inn & Spa.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, photo by Gabe Palacio.

Shakespeare Festival have joined together to offer the Hudson Valley Summer Arts Pass this year. “It’s about introducing visitors to new venues and making sure they have the best possible experience at each one.”

Screen tourism is another draw for tourists and people who live in the Hudson Valley. The county is a magnet for filming, from period pieces like “The Gilded Age” (which drew new visitors to the Lyndhurst estate) to utterly contemporary projects like “American Horror Story” and “Law & Order SVU.” Other filming locations within Westchester have included The Belvedere Estate in Tarrytown, Glenview Historic Home at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, Playland Amusement Park in Rye, and Edith Macy Center in Briarcliff Manor.

Caputo notes that film locations are actively embracing the fans of movies and shows. The award-winning series, “Dickinson,” which

SPOTLIGHT on WESTCHESTER

starred Hailee Steinfeld as poet Emily Dickinson, filmed some of its third season at Jay Heritage Center in Rye. Playing off the show’s Civil War-era setting, the center hosted an exhibit called “Unknown Soldiers: The Making of ‘Dickinson’ at the Jay Estate and the Real-Life History Behind It,” which featured props and costumes from the show.

Looking back even farther, Revolutionary Westchester 250 organizes and supports events relating stories of the Revolutionary War period and the founding of the United States, including reenactments and festivals.

“These events are drawing visitors and engaging local residents,” comments Caputo.

Golf is another popular outdoor activity in Westchester—and for good reason. St. Andrew’s Golf Club in Hastings-on-Hudson was the site of the first round of golf played in America. Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck has hosted a PGA Championship and six U.S. Opens.

In September, the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship will take place at Sleepy Hollow Country Club and Fenway Golf Club in Scarsdale. Recently announced, Winged Foot in Mamaroneck will host its seventh U.S. Open in 2028.

While most of the area’s golf courses are open to members only, there are six impressive County-owned courses, with great history, which welcome everyone out to play in Westchester.

Among them are Dunwoodie Golf Course in Yonkers, which opened in 1903, and Mohansic Golf Course in Yorktown Heights, Maple Moor in White Plains and Sprain Lake in Yonkers, all of which will celebrate their

centennials in this decade. The clubs are far from worn or weary. In the last ten years, the county has poured more than $28 million in capital improvement projects to its six courses. “Westchester County Parks are always looking to improve their public courses and we try to make them appealing to everyone,” said Caputo.

Another course, Pound Ridge Golf Club in Pound Ridge, is the only Pete Dye-designed course in New York and one of the toughest courses on the East Coast.

Economic issues are impacting leisure spending and price-sensitive travelers are looking to invest in experiences wisely. Westchester County in the Hudson Valley is a smart destination choice for those looking to go beyond without going far.

Henry Gourdine Park, Ossining.

Tarrytown waterfront, photo by Tim Grajek.

Building and listening

New Rochelle remakes its downtown with an eye on the community

New Rochelle has been dramatically reinventing itself in recent years with more than 6,000 units of new housing coming on board as the downtown soars skyward. The new look was fueled by an innovative approach to city planning that supercharged the approval process for developers.

“New York has a net housing shortage and New Rochelle is really filling a need,” says Adam Salgado, Deputy City Manager and Commissioner of Development, adding that the lease-up rate of over 80 percent indicates strong and sustainable demand. “But people don’t just live in buildings, they live in neighborhoods. We’re investing in the streetscape to support healthy lifestyles and welcoming communities.”

Kathleen Gill recently moved up from Deputy City Manager to the top spot as City Manager, attributing the building plans’ success partly due to it being “nimble.” During Covid when demand for office space evaporated, the City Council shifted zoning to allow more residential development.

Salgado notes that the flexibility of the zoning code and responsiveness of the IDA has meant that they’ve “been successful at weaving local incentives in with financial products from state and federal government to spur the creation of affordable housing.”

Gill says that in order to be truly beneficial, growth must be inclusive and sustainable. “Commissioner Salgado and I go around the city regularly and modify plans based on what we hear in communities,” she says, adding that after hearing from locals they wanted more ownership opportunities, Gill says the IDA set new policies incentivizing townhouses and affordable condominiums.

Gill points out that New Rochelle also ensures the give comes with a take. “We are requiring a social equity fee,” she says. “We’ll channel the developers’ resources to provide opportunities for our communities.”

Those street-level community benefits include a refreshed Anderson Plaza, which provides retail opportunities, multi-use open space, a splash pad, and multiple communal areas, including two dedicated directly to youth programming—one in the New Roc development and one at the High Garden Tower.

“The main focus for us right now is youth and senior programming,” Gill says, “We’re fortunate to have revenue coming in from development and Covid relief funds, which gives us the opportunity to enhance and add new programs.”

Gill says the city has tripled the size of its summer employment program and will add opportunities for part-time employment for students during the school year. Meanwhile, Gill says, the senior center downtown is small, and she has heard it’s difficult to reach for seniors living in other parts of the city. “We’re looking to provide programming in other areas of the city in community centers and churches, bringing services to people where they are,” she says.

Revenue from development is also boosting their second major focus: enhancing the infrastructure supporting the new buildings and those already there. “We’re replacing the sewer system downtown, which was long overdue,” Gill says. “We’re also doing a citywide drainage study and will go into the design of flood mitigation projects throughout the city, with the work hopefully starting next year.”

The next focal point is retail, which suffered mightily during the pandemic, and which naturally lags behind construction. “We convened a retail task force,” Salgado says, “bringing together leaders here to set up interventions and initiatives to create retail opportunities for local businesses.”

As forward-thinking development projects built around community-driven initiatives continue to emerge around New Rochelle, it’s evident that the city has worked to foster a working approach that prioritizes the needs and interests of the community—embracing its small businesses and enabling greater mobility options for its residents. Salgado says, “we want to attract potential new retailers by bringing more life to downtown.”

Through this mindful development and utilization of direct community engagement, new initiatives like the upcoming “Downtown Summer Sizzle” summerlong concert series can succeed and grow. Every Saturday evening from Memorial Day until October, residents and visitors downtown can enjoy a new opportunity for fun entertainment and local delights alongside their neighbors. The much-anticipated summer festivities will be full of live music, fun for all ages, flavors from local cuisines, and delights and wares from celebrated local vendors.

NEW ROCHELLE’S PLANS FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

Celebrating Diversity

Our diverse neighborhoods, historic businesses, and new startups make up the fabric of our city, showing character and sophistication.

Planning Cohesively

The New Rochelle recipe for sustainable growth fosters economic opportunity, social equity, and sustainable development, and serves as a model for the region and the country.

Developing Vibrancy

The energy and culture of downtown New Rochelle allows businesses and residents to thrive. Open your dream cafe, boutique shop, or new o ce just steps from the transit center.

Cultivating Connection

Accessible infrastructure and neighborhood parks throughout the city give area residents access to local businesses, work opportunities, and recreation.

LIVE HERE. WORK HERE. GROW HERE. Learn more at ideallynewrochelle.com/work-here

New Rochelle Downtown Skyline from Five Islands Park Nightlife - Photo by Gina LeVay.

Life in green and blue

Cortlandt develops business areas while protecting open space and readying a new swimming spot

Richard Becker is collecting money for sewer systems. Becker is the supervisor for the town of Cortlandt and knows that making his plans—from transit-oriented development to a reinvigorated swimming area in an old quarry—requires finding funding for sewage.

“To develop any transit-oriented development we need to improve the infrastructure,” Becker says, pointing to seven million dollars awarded by the state that will update a sewage plan in the village of Buchanan and allow the town to connect into it. The improved sewer services will ultimately lead, Becker hopes, to housing being developed near the train station.

“We definitely need more rentals as well as townhouses for purchase,” Becker says. “We need all types of housing because there are very few rentals in this area and not everyone can afford to buy.”

While rental units would attract younger people, Becker also believes the 99 townhouses planned for the new “Medical-Oriented District” would allow people living in bigger homes to downsize when they’re ready and then move into the area’s planned assisted living facility to continue to “age in place,” Becker says. “The MOD has been approved by the town board and developers are now actively engaged.”

The second property in the MOD has been approved for up to 150,000 square feet of Class A medical space, which Becker says will likely be developed in cooperation with New York Presbyterian. The other area needing new sewer and infrastructure work is known as the Quarry Site in the hamlet of Verplanck. Cortlandt

wants to develop the limestone quarry that dates back to the 1850s and is now filled with water. (It acquired the land from Con Edison.) “The water is pristine, it’s an aquamarine blue green that looks like the Caribbean,” Becker says.

Economic advisor George Oros says the idea of developing the area around it with restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts and other businesses is an “easy sell,” or will be when it’s all connected to the municipal water and sewer system. “We now have a $3.2 million dollar grant to get started on our plans,” Oros says before adding that the town is also listening to the desires of the residential neighborhood nearby. He expects decisions to be made by the end of the year.

“This will happen,” Becker says. “I don’t care if it happens slowly where we do only one thing at a time—get people swimming then add a restaurant and then a bed-and-breakfast—and let it all evolve over many years.”

For Becker, it’s another way to fulfill his mandate of keeping Cortlandt a sustainable, semi-rural town with an emphasis on open space. “For every acre we develop, we try preserving an acre,” he notes, adding that last year when a developer was having difficulty financing a 30-acre plot, even after planning board approval, the town bought the land to preserve it and make sure there was green space in the area near a commercial district.

“We’re strict about what gets developed in our green areas,” Becker says. The town recently updated its policies to pass a strict ordinance that prohibits clear cutting of trees to make room for solar panels. “We’re not getting rid of woods for that; those areas are already green.”

Of course, Becker also believes in nurturing the town’s businesses and is looking to boost the area of Montrose. To do so he needs money to modernize the facades to create a more coherent community feel, and, of course, to extend the sewer system in the downtown. Cortlandt has reapplied for the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which would provide ten million dollars.

He says most applicants get it on their second or third time and he’s confident about Cortlandt’s chances. “That money would allow us to totally re-envision this commercial district,” Becker says. “The boost for businesses would encourage developers in the TOD, which would encourage more businesses, creating a virtuous cycle.”

THE TOWN OF CORTLANDT IS WHERE LIFE WORKS AT HOME, WORK AND PLAY

AND IT IS PRIME FOR INVESTMENT!

Commercial space is often available with twice the space at half the cost, along with access to a highly educated and diverse workforce as well as a location near major transportaation. Cortlandt is committed to aiding investors and entrepreneurs through a streamlined approval process.

Four Strategic Areas for Growth

In all, there are four strategic areas of potential economic growth,based on Cortlandt’s award winning Sustainable Master Plan.

The Master plan focuses on trends for the future of employment, such as work from home options and co-work spaces in order to reduce commute times, reduce negative impacts on the environment and attract a new talented workforce.

WHAT WORKS FOR YOU?

For more information on how the Town of Cortlandt can help bring your business and investment here contact: George Oros, Town of Cortlandt, Economic Development Coordinator at goros@townofcortlandt.com

If you are looking to locate, expand or relocate your business, Cortlandt is the smart choice.

Cortlandt is where life works… for your employees, your customers and your business.”

- Supervisor Dr. Richard Becker

Clocktower Crossing, Cortlandt.

Unpacking data, informing philanthropy

Westchester Community Foundation uses its new data index to target philanthropy

face. “We want the nonprofit sector and our communities to become more data driven. People can get lost in data, so we want them to have context for understanding what the data reveals. ”

The Foundation’s board chair, Sarah Jones-Maturo (who is also president of RM Friedland), praises the Index for being “interactive and user friendly,” which she sees as fitting in with the mission of “strategically fortifying nonprofits and supporting the overall economic vitality in the community.”

Users can look at the Index’s key indicators like graduation and poverty rates for education to see where the inequalities are, she explains, which can inform giving strategies as donors seek nonprofits that have had success tackling specific issues. Rossi notes that the Index allows users to focus on one specific topic across all Westchester communities or to look at all the subjects in one given municipality.

Connecticut, has developed a shared standard for water quality testing to measure the health of the Sound. “We provided a strategic framework and supported innovative work by partnering closely with scientists and community groups,” Rossi said. By providing early money, the Collaborative established annual reporting standards that the Environmental Protection Agency is now funding, enabling funders to move on to other Sound-related issues. One top priority is workforce investment, which grew in importance during and coming out of the pandemic. Rossi says the Foundation’s “multi-pronged approach” involves working with job-training providers, local institutions of higher education and local employers to ensure that training providers are better synced up with employers and potential employees are ready to start on day one. (Programs help with workforce development in fields ranging from construction to health care to information technology.)

Westchester County is home to some of the nation’s wealthiest communities, yet it also features cities and neighborhoods with high rates of poverty, along with health, environmental, and socio-economic disparities—issues that are directly correlated with race and ethnicity. The Westchester Community Foundation (a division of the New York Community Trust) seeks to address those inequities, and now Executive Director Laura Rossi is making the most of a new tool they’ve developed, the Westchester Index.

“We want to help donors and foundations target effectively and to help the press access data to tell these stories,” Rossi says, adding that the Foundation is writing a series of articles (the first is about housing affordability) to illuminate what the data is telling us in terms of understanding the complexity of issues our communities

(For instance, the housing article shows that homeownership rates countywide among Black and Latino residents are 37% and 35%, compared to 73% among whites, but are even lower in places like Yonkers; the percentage of residents paying at least 30 percent of income on housing is just 23 percent in Scarsdale but hits 50 percent in Mount Vernon.)

The Foundation takes on an array of issues, from workforce development to human services to studying transit-oriented development to environmental sustainability. “We try to find promising approaches, seed them and then bring them to scale,” Rossi says.

The Long Island Sound Funders Collaborative, which the Foundation helped establish with funders from Long Island and

Speaking of the pandemic, Rossi says the Foundation is “wellversed in crisis” and how to have the most impact, whether it’s dealing with families displaced by Hurricane Floyd or something bigger, like Covid-19. “We have provided support to the COAD-Communities Organized After Disaster—a group that now meets regularly instead of waiting until the next disaster.”

Overall, Rossi says, the Foundation does a lot of funding to strengthen the local nonprofit sector. “Our role as a philanthropic organization is as a connector and convener and as a funder—we have the flexibility to invest that government often doesn’t have,” she says. “We make strategic investments and work well with the county government to share information and avoid duplication of government funding.“

Five Benefits of establishing a Corporate Donor Advised Fund in the Westchester Community Foundation

Volunteers pack pantry goods at HOPE Community Services, New Rochelle.

Photo credit: Ari Mintz

A splash of color

How MacQuesten Development breathes life into affordable housing

When Rella Fogliano, CEO of MacQuesten Development, was six years old, she’d tag along to construction sites with her father, Sabino Fogliano—an Italian immigrant who had become a successful general contractor. She’d also go into Manhattan and look at the beautiful buildings and dream of owning one.

Enamored with this world, she began working part-time for her father at seventeen and then, after graduating from Fordham University, she joined him full time. When he retired in 1988, she created her own company, named for the Mount Vernon street where they’d started out. The company has become a force to be reckoned with in Westchester and New York in developing and building affordable housing, with “a blend of income qualifications”—50 to100 percent of the area median income—says the company’s executive vice president Joe Apicella, who joined Macquesten in 2015, adding that their projects in Westchester are transit-oriented development. (He brings the expertise in navigating the government agencies that help with the financing of affordable housing.)

But the company doesn’t just throw up any affordable housing. “Most affordable housing looks like a box and it’s very easy to point them out,” Apicella says. “We make a conscious effort to make sure our buildings stand out. We build affordable housing in ways that others don’t, so it looks and feels like high-end housing.” Affordable housing should not be stigmatized.

MacQuesten’s slogan is “We blur the lines between luxurious and affordable” and the company emphasizes the use of color and distinctive design touches outside and inside its buildings to give each a unique flavor.

Apicella says that’s Fogliano’s imprint. “This is a family business, and she wants to put a personal touch on all her buildings,” he says. “She brings in colors and patterns for exteriors and interiors and common areas that really enliven each building. She’s really a genius at that. The exteriors become local landmarks.”

For instance, in Mount Vernon, the Modern, home to 81 affordable housing units just a block from the train station, is an 11-story building adorned with bright red and yellow squares. Also near the station is MacQuesten’s 22 South West, a 17-story building with 189 affordable housing units (many with Hudson River or Manhattan views) and 149 underground parking spaces, which features orange accents along the facade. (The $95 million building replaced a gas station and parking lot after a brownfield cleanup.)

“This project won design awards and people have held it out as a model for TOD and affordable housing,” Apicella says. “The building materials don’t have to be expensive—as it’s about design effort and being selective and having a real sense of what looks smart and neat and sustainable.”

Currently, Apicella says, the company has three projects in Westchester. Breaking ground this summer is St. Clair Residences in Yonkers, which will add 76 affordable units and a 2,500 square foot retail space to the Waterfront Downtown community—it will feature a range from studio apartments up to three-bedroom units. (The project will contribute 240 construction jobs and about 20 permanent jobs). Next up will be a 74-unit building in Ossining to provide affordable housing for seniors 62 and older. That project is moving into the financing phase, Apicella says, with the first shovelful of dirt expected by year’s end. And in pre-development,

there’s “The Parker,” a 16-story, 160-unit building (with 144 parking spots) in Yonkers.

For Apicella, who previously worked on luxury projects like the Ritz Carlton White Plains and Trump Plaza New Rochelle, he says his years at MacQuesten have been “a great experience.”

“It afforded me the ability to service a different market, where we create housing for people who otherwise might not have a roof over their heads,” he says. “It’s very gratifying.”

22 South West Mt Vernon, St Clair, Yonkers.

SPOTLIGHT on WESTCHESTER

A winning bet

MGM Resorts is ready to earn a full casino license, bringing revenue and jobs for Yonkers

competitive” but she will confess that they are hopeful for a variety of reasons.

Of the ten major applicants, Empire City is the sole applicant from the Hudson Valley and Duffy points out that like Resort Worlds at Aqueduct, they currently operate as a racino. “Speed to market is critically important to the state and we are ready,” she says. “We can transition the gaming floor from a video lottery facility to a full casino immediately.”

Additionally, the gaming commission is looking to repatriate the jobs and revenue New York is currently losing to casinos in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut, Duffy says, arguing that all roads lead to Empire City, and easy access from all three states to Empire City is “absolutely a positive.” Then, of course, there’s the track record, not just at Yonkers Raceway but around the world.

“MGM Resorts is a global leader in entertainment and gaming,” Duffy says. “MGM Resorts is the third largest ticket seller of live entertainment in the world. We’re operating with nearly a $100 million payroll for our workforce and the investment we make in our communities and in our workforce, which is union-represented, supports our application.”

the fabric of this community and our community partners are as excited as we are for this property to be developed to its full potential,” Duffy says.

While Duffy won’t reveal details for developing the remaining 60 percent of the 97-acre property, she points to what MGM Resorts does elsewhere as a predictor, meaning a performance venue and other world-class amenities are likely. She explains why it would be a boon for Yonkers and Westchester residents. “We would triple our workforce, resulting in the immediate hiring of thousands of new employees.”

“These are well-paying, family-sustaining jobs,” she says. “It’s a special industry because regardless of the letters attached to your level of education—it could be GED or MBA—there’s a career to be developed at MGM Resorts for you. We invest in helping people develop careers, not just jobs.”

When New York State eventually announces the three winners of full casino licenses in the downstate region, most experts predict that two will go to Resorts World at Aqueduct and Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts (Empire City).

Taryn Duffy, Vice President of Public Affairs, Northeast Group, isn’t declaring victory just yet, saying the process is “incredibly

One final factor in Empire City’s favor, Duffy notes, is that this is the rare licensing process nationwide that is counting community support as a major ingredient. “Many of the others will be hard pressed to get community support,” Duffy says. (Most proposals in Manhattan, for example, are facing stiff local opposition.) Yonkers Raceway has been operating for 124 years, Empire City Casino is headed into its seventeenth year and MGM Resorts has invested more than $800 million in the property. “We’re part of

Beyond the individuals hired, Duffy points out that even as a racino, they draw nine million visitors yearly, generating more than $4 billion for the state’s education fund over sixteen years. “We also support non-profits in the community and focus on procurement efforts with local companies for services and product—we spend more than $30 million with companies within 20 miles of our property while having an incredibly limited offering,” she says. “We haven’t even scratched the surface of our potential.”

Duffy predicts a full commercial license will support the creation of nearly 10,000 indirect and induced jobs and generate a billion dollars of economic activity for the region. “It’s very exciting,” she says.

balancinglifesissues.com

Balancing Life’s Issues provides seminars, podcasts, executive training, diversity & inclusion training and consulting services to help people experience their lives differently.

With 1,800 trainers, our programming reaches over a million people per year, each of whom discover new skills, become creative problem solvers, and cultivate a mindset that helps them live healthier lives and grow their careers.

Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts boasting one of the largest gaming floors in the country replaces more than 20 percent of its games with the newest state-of-the-art fan favorites.