Yonkers Tribune

Saw Mill River Daylighting Underway By Hezi Aris

Under the aegis of Mayor Amicone’s Communications Director David Simpson, media were invited to be witness of the Saw Mill River Daylighting initiative having garnered Yonkers City Council and City Hall authorization to move forward and to be assured that $30 million is now in place. The environmental and urban planning remediation project is the most significant in New York State. It is the prize about which the SFC Yonkers Project will revolve and abut. 

After SFC Yonkers Approval a Pertinent FYI for Yonkersites Regarding Heretofor Undisclosed Economic Development Issues

Request for Proposals

Rezoning Downtown Yonkers 

City of Yonkers

Posted: 08/26/2009

Submittal Deadline: 09/30/2009

Website: www.yonkersny.gov

The Corporation of the City of Yonkers (the “City”) is soliciting sealed technical and cost proposals to establish a contract through competitive negotiation with a qualified planning and urban design consultant to assist the City in the visioning, analysis, urban design and zoning of the Yonkers Downtown business district. 

Yonkers City Council Approves SFC Development Project

Yonkers, NY -- The Yonkers City Council approved the Struever Fidelco Cappelli (SFC) project Tuesday night, October 13, 2009. The vote was 5 for approval, 2 against approval.

Councilwoman Dee Barbato - Yes

Councilman John Murtagh - Yes

Minority Leader Liam McLaughlin - Yes

Councilwoman Joan Gronowski - No

Majority Leader Sandy Annabi - No

Councilwoman Pat McDow - Yes

Council President Chuck Lesnick - Yes

State of New York’s Foreign Trade Mission to Long Island Deemed a Success

Trade Mission is the Largest in New York State History

90 Representatives from 38 Countries Met with State Officials and Business Leaders on Trade and Investment Opportunities in New Yor

Ninety foreign trade officials and business leaders, representing 38 countries and 50 regions from around the globe, toured Long Island today in an event organized by Empire State Development (ESD).  The objective of the trade mission was to attract international trade and investment, to provide opportunities for business development and to form institutional partnerships between foreign delegates, New York companies and leaders of business, political and academic arenas on Long Island.  The all-day itinerary focused on the region’s advanced energy, life sciences, information technology, defense and aerospace sectors. 

Ratner's Deal With Russian Oligarch By Hezi Aris

Brooklyn, NY -- Bruce Ratner's (pictured) Forest City Ratner has concluded a deal with Russia’s richest man for an 80 percent stake in the New Jersey Nets and a 20 percent interest in the financially precarious  Brooklyn project called Atlantic Yards.

NYS HFA Approves Financing for Apartments in Yonkers

Yonkers, NY - The board of the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA) yesterday approved $24.2 million in financing to build the Grant Park Apartments, a 100-unit low-income apartment complex in the City of Yonkers.

Forest City Announces Loan Extension and Tenants for Ridge Hill

Ridge Hill, Yonkers, NY

Cleveland, OH -- Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB) today announced that Forest City Ratner Companies, its New York-based subsidiary, has reach an agreement with a 13-member bank group on a two-year extension and modification of the $557 million construction financing for the retail/mixed-use Ridge Hill project, currently under construction in Westchester County, New York.

Documents Show Ratner and NY State Provide No Guarantees for Atlantic Yards Affordable Housing

Brooklyn, NY --  Journalist Norman Oder, on his Atlantic Yards Report, shows today that there are no guarantees that developer Forest City Ratner will build the 2,250 units of affordable housing promised for the Atlantic Yards development proposal in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. There are no guarantees that the developer will build any affordable units at all.

Expanded Yonkers - Manhattan Ferry Service to Launch on Monday

Officials Say New Midtown Stop Will Draw More Riders

Yonkers, NY -- The two-year old New York Water Taxi service operating weekdays from the Yonkers Pier to two stops in Lower Manhattan is expanding its service to include a new stop at in Midtown thanks to state economic development funds secured by the city, Mayor Phil Amicone announced today. Acid-tongued bloggers revealed the story on Friday, July 24, 2009: [Empire State Development Corp. to Extend Yonkers - Manhattan Commuter Ferry Service By Hezi Aris]. The expanded service will launch on Monday, August 3. 

Empire State Development Corp. to Extend Yonkers-Manhattan Commuter Ferry Service By Hezi Aris

New York Water Taxi at Yonkers Pier.

Yonkers, NY -- The Yonkers Downtown Waterfront Development Corp.secured an additional $300,000 loan from the Empire State Development Corp. (ESDC) to extend  commuter ferry service operated in partnership with Harbor Experience Cos., owner of the New York Water Taxi, an additional three months beyond the elapsed two year provision that was launched with an  initial $4.2 loan from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. The route was supposed to have ended on July 17, 2009. The Yonkers Tribune last week made public its assertion that Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone was desperate to extend the service lest his vision of economic development be publicly gauged a failure due to the stalled effort under his aegis and that of his cousin, Jim Pinto, the failed executive director of the Yonkers Downtown Waterfront Development Corp., only recently merged under the umbrella of Lou Kirven's Community Development Agency (CDA). Mayor Amicone's effort to maintain the commuter service may go to deflect attention from the paltry imprint vis-a-vis his vision for the downtown waterfront the ferry service represented. The valiant effort will accomplish nothing more than throw $300,000 into the majestic Hudson River and another memory of continuing failure by an administration incapable of planning success. 

An official announcement of the extended service will be made public on Monday, July 27, 2009. 

Fr. Pat Carroll Green, Yonkers' Newest Neighborhood, Opens with Fanfare

Mayor Amicone, County Executive Spano, and other officials cut the ribbon officially opening the homes.

Yonkers, NY -- Mayor Phil Amicone led a delegation of state, county and local officials on Wednesday in announcing the grand opening of Yonkers' newest neighborhood, Father Pat Carroll Green, an affordable housing development located at the corner of Ashburton and Nepperhan Avenues in Yonkers.

Sen. Stewart-Cousins Announces Relocation of Major Biotech Firm to Village of Ardsley Creating 400 Jobs

Village of Ardsley, NY -- State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D/WF – 35th District) today announced that OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Melville, New York will relocate part of its operations in the former Perdue Pharma complex in the Village of Ardsley within the Town of Greenburgh.

Now Struever Bros.in Financial Trouble by Hezi Aris

 Yonkers, NY -- William “Bill” Struever is known to have transformed old, run-down industrial buildings along the entire Eastern Seaboard into vibrant commercial centers, seeing life beyond designated       blight. Over the course of three decades Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse Inc., the Baltimore developer having busilt a legacy of infusing life intoatrophied property now struggles to maintain his own fcompany financially intact. Struever Bros. has defaulted on nearly $6 million in loans it borrowed to finance its construction projects and is facing lawsuits from Baltimore-area contractors seeking to collect wages from work on Struever’s developments.

Yonkers Economic Developments Pits Davids Against Friends, Family, and Goliaths

Yonkers, NY -- Its crunch time for Whisky Rio owners Timothy and Thomas Philps. Developer Collins wants the business evicted from their waterfront venue. Developer Dwight Collins has brought Whisky Rio before the courts asserting that Whisky Rio has not abided by their lease agreement. 

Senate Hearing Finds Ratner's Nets Arena Money-Loser for NYC; MTA to Bail Out Ratner; ESDC to Require New Hearing and Vote

Brooklyn, NY— The NY State Senate Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, chaired by Senator Bill Perkins, held an oversight hearing on Friday on the beleaguered and indeterminate Atlantic Yards project proposed by developer Bruce Ratner in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

Bruce Ratner (pictured), CEO of Forest City Ratner, refused Senator Perkins' invitation to testify before the committee, which was seeking answers to questions about the project's past and future viability. Though the developer did not deign to testify, he did send his flacks Joe DePlasco and Bruce Bender to orchestrate ongoing disruptions of the Senate hearing by people claiming to be union construction workers.

State Senate Hearingon Ratner's Atlantic Yards Proposal

NYC IBO: Nets Arena Would Be Money-Loser for NY City

MTA: Will Bail Out Ratner from Financial Commitments

ESDC: Modified Project Plan Will Require New Hearing and Vote

Brooklyn, NY -- The NY State Senate Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, chaired by Senator Bill Perkins, held an oversight hearing on Friday, May 29, 2009 on the beleaguered and indeterminate Atlantic Yards project proposed by developer Bruce Ratner in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

SFC Land Disposition Agreement(LDA) -Version 31 - Dated May 21, 2009

 

View the document below using the latest Free version of Adobe (c) Reader.

Download SFC_Land_Disposition_Agreement.Version_31.05-21-2009

Saks Fifth Avenue to Anchor Ridge Hill

New York, NY and Yonkers, NY -- Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC), the New-York based subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises, Inc. [NYSE: FCEAand FCEB], yesterday announced that renowned fashion retailer Saks Fifth Avenue has signed a letter of intent to anchor the  mixed-use development, Ridge Hill, which is currently under construction. The center is located between the New York State Thruway and Sprain Brook Parkway in Yonkers, NY. Ridge Hill will offer the only Saks Fifth Avenue in the county.

Yankees - NYC Deal for Sale of Old Stadium Memorabilia By Assemblyman Richard Brodsky

"The value of the relics of Yankee Stadium is clearly much more than $11.5 million. After a year long delay which cost the people of The Bronx access to their parkland, the deal that has apparently been struck is again an economic victory for the Yankees and an economic defeat to the taxpayers.  There is no dispute that the people of the City owned the old Yankee Stadium, and there is no reason to cap their economic gain at $11.5 million.  We also believe an appraisal was required before the deal could be struck, and it is not clear that any such appraisal was done.  We will continue to uncover the truth about this pattern of taxpayers finishing second to the Yankees with respect to their own property."

Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins Announces New Economic Development Task Force

Task Force to Initiate Job Creation Programs

New York State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D – 35th District) announced that the Senate Majority has created an economic development task force made up of over 30 business and community leaders from across New York State.  The task force will be charged with developing new programs specifically designed to attract new businesses to the State.

The SFC - Land Disposition Agreement (LDA) Posted May 11, 2009.

Download REVISED_SFC_Land_Disposition_Agreement.5-9-09

 

Yonkers Tribune suggests you view the above noted document by using the latest Free version of Adobe (c) Reader.

What is the Common Denominator in the Evolving Economic Development Scene in Yonkers? By Hezi Aris

The financial markets have collapsed nationwide. Its impact was exacted upon Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone in his telling of the financial crisis. Mr Amicone gave a PowerPoint presentation to the Yonkers City Council Membership in Executive Session. Excluded from attending the Executive Session that took place in the Mayor’s Conference Room on Tuesday, April 7, 2009, it is understood that the proposed $1.6 billion SFC Yonkers project has been scaled down to 1/3 of its original concept. The very telling of that fact shocked most, if not all of the Councilmembers.

Game Over for Nets' Atlantic Yards: Gehry By Rich Calder (NY Post Columnist)

New York, NY -- The renowned architect who designed Brooklyn's embattled Atlantic Yards project says he now believes it will never be built because of the economic downturn. In an interview with The Architect's Newspaper, Frank Gehry yesterday referred to Bruce Ratner's $4 billion plan to bring an NBA arena and 16 residential-office towers to Prospect Heights as one of several "unrealized commissions" he most wishes had been built. "I don't think it's going to happen . . . That would be devastating to me," he said. Ratner said in a statement last night that it is "understandable" that Gehry and "others have concerns about this project happening in the worst economic environment since the Great Depression," but the developer promised "Atlantic Yards will get built."

Ratner May Cut Gehry Beekman Tower in Half

New York, NY -- Developer Forest City Ratner, it appears, is going to stop vertical construction 38 stories short of completing its 76-story, 900-unit Downtown Manhattan, Frank Gehry-designed tower (Beekman Tower pictured). 

Contract for Daylighting of Saw Mill River at Larkin Plaza Awarded

Yonkers, NY -- Mayor Phil Amicone today announced the award of a design and engineering contract for the much anticipated Saw Mill River daylighting public works project at Larkin Plaza.