NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (May 10, 2026) — New Rochelle Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert told an audience at national conference Monday that the city’s decade-old downtown development strategy has held rents down while surrounding communities saw double-digit increases, but warned that federal funding cuts under the Trump administration are threatening local infrastructure projects.
Ramos-Herbert spoke at the NewDEAL Forum Ideas Summit in Raleigh, N.C., alongside Phoenix Vice Mayor Kesha Hodge Washington during a session titled “Conversations on Solutions: Housing,” part of the summit’s opening plenary on the cost of living. The NewDEAL Forum is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that describes itself as a center-left network of state and local elected officials.
New Rochelle Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert at NewDEAL Forum Ideas Summit (Raleigh, NC | Monday, May 4, 2026)
Full Video (1:26 – 1:51)
The mayor described what she called the “New Rochelle model” — a form-based overlay zone created in the city’s downtown core in 2015, before she took office. The city identified underutilized and city-owned lots, completed environmental impact studies in advance, and set height limits with a community benefit bonus that allowed developers to build taller in exchange for payments into a community fund.
The city has since authorized 11,000 homes in the downtown core, with about two-thirds built. She cited a Wall Street Journal study published in August 2025 as proof that the New Rochelle model has worked. The Journal found rents in New Rochelle dropped approximately 2% while rents in surrounding communities rose by double digits, Ramos-Herbert said.
“When you add to the supply, the supply and demand argument has really proven to bring benefits to the city,” she said.
All new units carry a mandatory 10% affordability requirement, though Ramos-Herbert acknowledged the term “affordability” is relative in a suburb 18 miles north of midtown Manhattan. She said the city is preparing to break ground on 126 affordable condominiums in the downtown and offers a down payment assistance program covering 19% of the purchase price for first-time homebuyers.
Ramos-Herbert also said the city is working with Westchester County to preserve what she called “naturally occurring affordable” rentals, focusing on smaller and older landlords rather than directing residents toward newer units. She said residents had come to her office showing her mold and outdated heating systems in their homes, and that telling them to enter a lottery for a new unit felt “dismissive to lived experiences.”
She described New Rochelle as being in the “teenage years” of its development — disruptive, noisy, and uncomfortable — and said overcoming resistance requires sustained, data-driven communication.
Buildings are leasing at 85% to 90%, she said, with a quarter of tenants already New Rochelle residents and another quarter coming from surrounding neighborhoods.
She pointed to Clinton Plaza — formerly a parking lot she said residents called “the green monster” — as an example of community benefit. The redeveloped site now includes two residential towers, a public plaza, and 219 below-market-rate units, 77 of which are set aside for heads of household who have survived domestic violence.
On transit, Ramos-Herbert said the downtown is served by a Metro-North station with access to Grand Central Terminal and future access to Penn Station, an Amtrak stop, nine bus lines, a free on-demand electric shuttle called “the Circuit,” and a planned bike lane connecting to the train station known as the LINC project.
That project, however, has been caught up in federal funding disputes. The Trump administration clawed back $16 million from the $42 million project, which runs through an African American neighborhood, Ramos-Herbert said. She said delays caused by funding cuts drive up costs and that she advocated directly to Gov. Kathy Hochul, who subsequently restored the $16 million.
“I’m lucky not every state can do that,” Ramos-Herbert said, crediting relationships she had built with state officials.
She said the situation reflects broader challenges posed by the current federal administration. “It really is tricky, but we’re a tenacious group,” she said.
Mayor Ramos-Herbert offered social media tips for elected officials.
This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
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