Reaction to Grand Jury Indictments involving Wilder Balter Partners, L+M Development Partners and The Stella in New Rochelle

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (May 4, 2023) — Talk of the Sound has requested statements on our story yesterday: Manhattan DA Announces Indictments in Massive Construction Fraud Scheme Involving New Rochelle High Rise.

We will add statements as we get them.

Westchester County Legislator and New Rochelle Mayoral Candidate Damon Maher

During my tenure as Chair of the Labor & Housing Committee of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, The Stella was one of the four residential construction projects in downtown New Rochelle in which the County provided substantial funding and IDA investment to incentivize development of affordable housing. Accordingly, I will be requesting that the County Attorney review the matter and advise this level of government on whether clawback proceedings may be appropriate.

City Council District 3 Candidate for Democratic Party Nomination Kwamaine Dixon

The Grand Jury indictments announced this week reveal a level of corruption, fraud and malfeasance that is truly breathtaking. The Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has validated every concern raised by myself and many other residents over the years about the development of downtown New Rochelle.

The charges raise grave concerns about whether current and past government officials participated in criminal schemes to enrich themselves while defrauding the community.

If Wilder Balter Partners and L+M Development Partners, the companies that developed The Stella in New Rochelle, violated their agreements by defrauding the residents of New Rochelle, they should be stripped of all IDA tax breaks immediately. They should be required to pay full city and school taxes. They should reimburse any monetary benefits they received during the construction phase along with paying heavy fines and fees.

It appears the City of New Rochelle has failed to protect “We the People” in a major way. Money and politics have been allowed to steer the ship.

We need a complete shut down of all construction sites in New Rochelle while the City opens the books for re-evaluation in a transparent process. We need to have an independent investigation into what happened to see if anyone in City Hall played apart in any of this.

New Rochelle City Manager Kathleen Gill & New Rochelle Development Commissioner and Assistant City Manager Adam Salgado

The City is firmly committed to expanding opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses, and recognizes the vital role of accurate reporting in accomplishing this goal. We, therefore, applaud the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for uncovering this alleged criminal scheme, and if asked, we will cooperate fully in the investigation to ensure that justice is done.

There is no suggestion in the indictment that the alleged criminal conduct extends beyond a single sub-contractor on a single local project, nor does the City have any direct or indirect relationship with subcontractors.

Even so, out of an abundance of caution, the City has retained an outside audit firm (Anchin), led by Brian Sandvidge, a former New York State Inspector General, to review all of the City’s IDA-funded projects to ensure compliance with all IDA requirements and applicable laws.

If warranted by the facts, the City will pursue all options related to IDA benefits including recapture.

City Council District 4 Candidate for Democratic Party Nomination Shane Osinloye

Corruption, cronyism, co-opting minority causes and sweeping issues under the rug continue to plague our communities. In 2021, I asked NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins why MWBEs receive a disproportionately high amount and bring contracting funds back to majority communities. Lisa Rossi checking the boxes for Lawrence Wecker, Joseph Revello and Michael Speier is an example of this happening right here in New Rochelle. The Majority Leader made it clear that officials must make sure bad actors do not take opportunities from historically disenfranchised entrepreneurs. I’m happy to see the Manhattan DA setting an example of what this vigilance looks like. Our issues cannot be used to check boxes and greenlight projects for the usual suspects. New Rochelleans deserve leaders on the ground who are willing to replicate such oversight.

As a Democrat, I’m running for City Council District 4 because clearly the nuances of inclusion, like disparities in MWBE contracting, are completely alien to Ivar Hyden, the sitting District 4 Councilman. Hyden is Chair of New Rochelle’s Industrial Development Agency that cleared $10.7 million in tax breaks for a federal tax evader, Wecker, who is allegedly exploiting MWBE inclusion requirements for JM3 Construction LLC. The IDA should prepare to recover the $10.7 million in tax breaks afforded to this project that they gave another 20-year tax break to. Even Hollywood has ethics clauses. Let’s see if District 4’s leader, who Chairs the IDA that gives away multi-million dollar tax breaks, had the same foresight.

Lawrence Wecker was convicted of Federal Tax Evasion and has known associations with literal crime families. I know from experience that businesses have to jump through hoops to get on New Rochelle’s approved vendor list. How in existence did Wecker and his company, JM3 Construction LLC, end up with top billing on a $102 million project anywhere near the City of New Rochelle? Money talks. I wonder who it spoke to.

Once again, poor leadership is putting New Rochelle in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. How little due diligence is being done? With one Google search, one single effort, Wecker’s past could have been uncovered. Having a weak mayor/city manager structure is the perfect way for our local elected officials to pass off accountability and not be responsive to our mature city with a diverse population. It’s time for a new generation of leaders who have less tolerance for corruption.

In our debate for the New Rochelle Democratic Committee, I asked Ivar Hyden “who is this development for?” The working class needs more affordable housing. The middle class is striving for homeownership without being drowned in property taxes. Our city has 30 approved new projects with almost 10,000 apartment units, but they’re more than 90% unaffordable and none are available for home ownership.

Such indictments uncover the answer that we already know; these developments are here to benefit large corporate developers, not the people of New Rochelle.

City Council Member District 2 Al Tarantino

N/A

Yadira Ramos-Herbert Mayoral Campaign

N/A

Wilder Balter Partners

N/A

City Council Member District 1 Martha Lopez

N/A

New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson

N/A

City Council Member District 4 Ivar Hyden

N/A

City Council Member District 6 Elizabeth Fried

N/A

City Council Member District 5 Sara Kaye

N/A

Westchester County Spokesperson Catherine Cioffi

N/A

Campaign of City Council District 3 Candidate for Democratic Party Nomination Lianne Merchant

N/A