Where are the Family Supporting Jobs and Local Business Opportunities?

Ten years into the redevelopment of the downtown, New Rochelle continues to fail to make good on its promise of family supporting jobs for city residents and opportunities for local businesses, according to the most recent report by Anchin, Block & Anchin, the compliance firm hired to administer the city’s Economic Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy.

The city’s 2016 Economic Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy established a goal of having new apprentices work 1,000 hours for every 20,000 hours worked in construction in the rezoned, redeveloped downtown. Data shows the city and developers are failing to deliver such opportunities. (Data from Anchin report)

The 2016 policy establishes goals “to ensure that City residents and historically underrepresented communities have access to” opportunities “generated by the redevelopment.” It passed unanimously at City Council shortly after they rezoned the downtown to spur development.

Anchin principal, Brian Sanvidge, presented his 2024 findings at the May 28, 2025 meeting of the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the Corporation for Local Development (CLD).

The City set the goal of “at least 20% of the work hours” to go to “Targeted Workers” during construction of projects benefiting from the 2015 rezoning and IDA-awarded tax breaks. A “Targeted Worker” is defined as a New Rochelle resident who is a “qualified and/or trained worker referred to a Construction Contractor or Employer” by the City’s First Source job referral center.

Developers reported that only 6.9% of work hours went to targeted workers in 2024.

In an effort to create a pathway to careers in construction, the City established a goal of having apprentices do 1,000 of work for every 20,000 hours worked building a project.

In this all-important area, which would deliver family-supporting careers in construction for scores of city residents, developers reported that out of a total of 735,672 hours worked in 2024, apprentices only did 3,724 hours of work, meeting only 10% of the city’s stated goal.

Commenting on this failure to even come close to the City’s goal, Sanvidge said apprenticeship “is an area that everybody recognizes has to be improved … everybody agrees it could be much better.”

When IDA/CLD board member Miguel Ayala asked, “How can we improve?” Sanvidge responded that developers need to engage with construction unions before contracts are awarded.

RXR, the City’s Master Developer, did just that when they sought bids for their two signature towers at One and Two Clinton Park. Because of this engagement, two cohorts of New Rochelle residents successfully graduated from a
pre-apprenticeship program to become apprentices in the union building trades. This resulted, in part, in the apprenticeship numbers for 2022 and 2023 being much better than those for 2024.

Celebrating the graduates from the 2020 Pathways to Apprenticeship Program (P2A), a direct entry pre-apprenticeship program.  

Ayala also questioned whether or not the City could “claw back” the tens of millions of dollars of tax breaks developers receive if they fail to meet the City’s goals. Commissioner of Development, Adam Salgado, responded, “There is a provision for liquidated damages for non-compliance [with the policy], but you’d have to meet the standard of non-compliance which, in the Economic Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy, is ‘best effort’.  So [the developer] would have to be grossly negligent.”

Ayala responded, “Then we have to start changing the language” of the policy.

Since its adoption in 2016, advocates for changing the policy to make it more effective have presented their ideas numerous times to the City Council, the IDA, the Planning Board and the Development Department. These include changing the policy wording “shall make affirmative efforts” and “shall make good faith efforts” to read “shall be required,” and adding “project labor agreements” as a requirement for developers who seek public investment through the IDA.

In addition, advocates have argued for strengthening the apprenticeship language in the policy to mandate that all contractors participate in federal or state-approved apprenticeship programs with a record of a successful number of actual graduates over a 5-year period for all construction trades in which they employ workers.

Pre-apprecntices at the jobsite. Some of those pictured here are now apprentices and are enjoying the benefits of a union contract and a career in construction.

Anchin also tracks the awarding of construction contracts. The policy states, “Each Prime Contractor shall have a goal of awarding 20% of the dollar value of subcontracts for construction work” to local businesses.

Anchin’s 2024 study shows that developers reported only $10,022,590 went to local businesses out of a total of $163,938,617 in contracts awarded to subcontractors.  That’s  6%, far from the goal of  20%.

Recognizing its continued failure to deliver on its promises to New Rochelle residents, the IDA adopted a “Social Equity Program” two years ago  requiring that 15% of a project’s total costs go to either local hire, union labor, or Minority or Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs).  While it is too early to see the results of this, advocates believe that this program sets a low bar that will result in continued failure to meet the goals of the City and IDA.

Meanwhile, activists continue to advocate for the Mayor and City Council to fulfill a commitment they made during their election campaigns to appoint an affordable housing advocate to the IDA/CLD who would  hold developers more accountable for building more truly affordable housing while creating good, family supporting jobs in exchange for the tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks they receive. 

The City Council appoints the seven-member IDA and CLD boards to three-year, staggered terms. The IDA and the CLD share the same board and meet concurrently the last Wednesday of every month, except during July and August. The terms of three current members expire at the end of February 2026.

Ayala, a lifelong New Rochelle resident and 30-year member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3, was appointed last year.

He has demonstrated to other board members, the community, and developers the importance of having a union representative on the IDA/CLD who understands development and the importance of creating careers in construction and building maintenance.

The next IDA/CLD meeting is Wednesday, June 25, 7:30pm.