Outcry Builds Over Private Developer Plans for New Rochelle’s Flowers Park

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (November 13, 2025) — Forty people spoke out against a proposed public-private partnership for Flowers Park during a meeting last night at New Rochelle City Hall, with zero speakers in support.

Among the complaints raised by residents were the lack of transparency, the fact that the community wasn’t consulted or engaged prior to the drafting of an RFP, that the process has been manipulative or deceitful, that the economics of the plan don’t make sense because the amount of money that the developers will have to pay to banks or investors is not justified by the fees that they would charge for the youth sports programs that use the park now.

Speakers also noted that the RFP talks about bringing in professional or semi-professional teams, suggesting that the youth sports programs and amateur athletics that occur there will be driven out, whether that’s Youth Tackle Football or New Rochelle Lacrosse, and softball baseball teams or colleges and universities that use that facility.

There was universal suspicion that whatever was being said about this project would turn out not to be true and that the developer will end up controlling the property regardless of what promises were made.

A number of people expressed concerns about the use of eminent domain, and in one particular speech, a woman who owns property on East Place was in tears, expressing concern about the city taking her home where she’s lived for decades, and where she raised her family and where she now cares for her grandchildren.

People that came out included some from the Barnard / Larchmont Woods area. A number of people referenced the failed IKEA project, a number expressed concerns about the damage to the youth sports programs, a number made the point that once a decision was made to go into a public-private partnership that there would be no going back from that decision, a number noted that this is a park that’s been in use as a city park for 100 years, and others cast doubt on the claim that this was being motivated by concerns about flood mitigation.

Overall, people simply didn’t believe what they were being told.

The Westchester County Clerk, and former New Rochelle Mayor Tim Idoni closed out the meeting speaking against the plan and telling the city council to kill the deal that night.

Westchester County legislator Terry Clements had a statement read at the meeting clearly opposing the plan.

Earlier in the evening, it was made clear that there’s three council members, Albert Tarantino, David Peters and Matt Stern, who are not enthusiastic about this program, whether they would actually all vote against it remains to be seen. Tarantino seems like a sure no vote, but the other two may be subjected to political pressure.

The council certainly got an earful, but largely remained impassive except until Tim Idoni spoke; his remarks clearly were upsetting to Yadira Ramos-Herbert.

This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.