2 | LAST CHAPTER FEBRUARY 22, 2016 | VOL. 52, No. 8
YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS
15 | SPECIAL REPORT westfaironline.com
AN INNOVATOR IN UNDERWEAR READIES TO LAUNCH BY JOHN GOLDEN jgolden@westfairinc.com
“Who would have guessed I’d be doing this with underwear?” Susanne Leary Shoemaker remarked to a recent visitor to her home office. She stood flanked by manikins, one dressed in men’s cotton boxer shorts and another draped in a woman’s simple yet elegantly cut black swimsuit, in a corner aerie of her 19th-floor apartment in the Halstead New Rochelle overlooking the Long Island Sound and the city’s sprawling, wind-andrain-battered downtown. A pile of wraparound women’s and men’s briefs and boxers — among them, a camouflage-patterned prototype for female veterans living with disabling wounds from America’s last
decade and more of war — lay on the office carpet. A former art teacher at private schools in Westchester and editorial proofreader at The New Yorker, Shoemaker at midlife has become a business entrepreneur as the founder — and, for now, sole employee — of Undercare Inc. Her company soon will launch online marketing of specialty undergarments whose patented design and Velcro fasteners enable people whose mobility is impaired by age or disabilities and those recovering from surgeries or injuries to dress themselves. In March, she will travel to Washington, D.C., to compete with nine other female entrepreneurs from across the nation in the finals of the U.S Small Business Administration’s annual InnovateHER: Innovating for » UNDERWEAR, page 6
Susanne Shoemaker displays product prototypes for her startup business in her home office in New Rochelle. Photo by John Golden
New zoning proposed around Mount Vernon rail station BY BILL HELTZEL bheltzel@westfairinc.com
C
ity officials have unveiled an ambitious zoning plan that would transform a blighted area around the Mount Vernon West train station into a mix of modern residences and
retail stores, but left unanswered for now what would become of the low-income people who live there. More than 100 people crowded into Mount Vernon City Council chambers on Feb. 10 with opinions divided between those who are eager to see the dilapi-
dated area developed and those who worry that gentrification will force out the current residents. The 46-acre site is in the southwest section of the city, bordering Yonkers and the Bronx River Parkway on the west and the central business district to the east. Metro-North’s train station anchors the site, and it is the station that planners think can spur real estate development. The idea has been kicking around for 10 years, said Tarrytown land-use attorney Steven Silverberg, who represents the city council. Formal planning began two years ago, and
last month Cleary Consultants of Northport released the draft generic environmental impact statement that was the subject of the hearing. The plan uses transit-oriented development — a zoning concept that surrounds transit hubs with mixed-use residential and commercial buildings — to create a district that enables pedestrians to use public transportation more easily. “The train station is one of our biggest assets,” said Marcus Griffith, city council president. “People can get on the train, go to the greatest city in the world, work and then come back and
live in Mount Vernon. This is a big deal.” “What bothers me,” said a woman who has lived in the city for 30 years, “when you’re rezoning and building high rises, who can afford to live there?” The area around the train station is peppered with vacant and underused buildings. Light industrial companies that once thrived along MacQuesten Parkway have left and there is little hope of getting new ones, said Dwayne Brown, president of the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce. The proposed transit-oriented district has already attracted inter» MOUNT VERNON, page 6