Spring-Summer 2004 Published by the CITY OF City of Yonkers Office of Economic Development VISION YONKERSPROGRAMS AND SERVICES THAT BENEFIT BUSINESSES IN YONKERS Yonkers Facts Yonkers Business Week 2004 At A Glance Taking Your Business From Today Into Tomorrow • POPULATION: Approximately 200,000 • AREA: 18.3 Square Miles – 4.5 miles of extra day to the program. City officials are cross- waterfront ing their fingers that the weather gods will be kind • RELATIVE SIZE: 4th Largest City in New this year. York State • POLICE FORCE: 686 Speakers who will be making presentations at • FIRE DEPARTMENT: 443 Yonkers Business Week 2004 include Mayor Philip • RETAIL SALES TAX: 8.25% A. Amicone, who will be the keynote speaker at • CITY TAX RATE (proposed): $346.61 Per the Kick-Off Breakfast on April 26 and Bruce $1,000 of Assessed Value Ratner, president and chief executive officer of • AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL TAX BILL: $4,853 Forest City Ratner, who will address a breakfast • TOTAL LABOR FORCE: 95,000 session on Wednesday, April 28. The developer, • UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 6.3% who recently announced plans for a massive • PUBLIC SCHOOLS: 39 development in Brooklyn that will include his lat- • PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS: 23 est acquisition – the New Jersey Nets basketball • COLLEGES: 6 (including 2 Seminaries) team – will provide attendees an update on what • PARKS & PLAYGROUNDS: 100, 1 skating will hopefully be his next “slam dunk” – the pro- rink, 2 pools, a rifle range and 3 posed $600 million Ridge Hill Village development community centers project in Yonkers. • GOLF COURSES: 2 (Dunwoodie, Sprain Lake) • LIBRARIES: 3 branches (Riverfront, Will, Yonkers native Jay Walker, founder of Crestwood) Priceline.com and president of Walker Digital will • MUSEUMS & OTHER ATTRACTIONS: Hudson speak at an April 28th luncheon, while Staples, River Museum/Andrus Planetarium, Rutledge Inc. founder and chairman Thomas G. Stemberg, This year’s Yonkers Business Week 2004 pro- Police Museum, Philipse Manor Hall and who early on in his retail career was a frequent gram, which will run from Monday, April 26th to Sherwood House visitor to a Finast Supermarket, formerly on Saturday, May 1st, will feature a host of major • HOSPITALS: 2; St. John's Riverside, St. Joseph's Tuckahoe Road, will be the keynote speaker at an luminaries from the fields of business, politics, Medical Center April 27th morning session to be held at Hudson environment, education, entertainment and • POSTAL FACILITIES: 5 Park South Tower on Pier Pointe Street. • CHURCHES/SYNAGOGUES: 20 Roman Catholic, sports, including many who got their start right here in Yonkers. 43 Protestant, 3 Eastern Orthodox, 7 Presentations by New York State Department of Synagogues Environmental Conservation Commissioner Erin • HOTELS/MOTELS: 3 Last year, despite rather nasty spring weather, Crotty and National Brownfields Association's • MEDIA: 1 Daily Newspaper, 2 Weekly approximately 4,500 people attended the event, so director Robert Colangelo on brownfield opportu- Newspapers, Cablevision of Westchester, 2 many in fact that city officials decided to add an continued on page 3 Municipal Access Channels • SHOPPING MALLS: 17 • BANKS: 12 (Over 40 branches) • RAIL SERVICE: Metro-North Commuter Diam International to Relocate Railroad/Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and AMTRAK Headquarters to Yonkers • BUS SERVICE: 20 Routes In one of the largest lease transactions in years ■ • AIRPORTS: 4 within a 20-40 minute radius in Westchester County, Diam International, a global maker of retail displays, will be relocating its cor- porate headquarters from Woodside, Queens to a Tenants Begin Taking 435,000 square foot building it now subleases from Qwest Communications. The deal will eventually Space At nValley bring as many as 700 new jobs to the City of Technology Center Yonkers. With some $14 million in renovations nearly After more than a year of negotiations with the complete, tenants at the 116,000 square foot building owner and the City of Yonkers, Diam nValley Technology Center are scheduled to begin International finalized its plan in February to relo- occupancy by late spring. The facility will be home Coming Soon cate the firm’s corporate headquarters to to a host of high-tech companies, an ambitious 555 Tuckahoe Road. “business incubator” run by Pace University, Diam International’s New Headquarters Atlantic Bank, Hudson Valley Bank, attorneys, Diam signed a 22-year sublease for the property with Qwest Communications, which leased the prop- accountants, Empire Zone and federal erty several years ago from Alfred Weissman Realty. The Denver-based telecommunications company Empowerment Zone offices, a Small Business had planned to build a lavish computer technology/data center at the property. However, those plans Development Center, the Yonkers Police were cancelled after the telecom bust of a few years ago. The property had previously been a Department and an nValley Café. distribution center for Saks Fifth Avenue. continued on page 5 continued on page 5 YONKERS CITY OF VISION – Spring/Summer 2004 • 1 Video Slot Casino To 50-Year Anniversary 1954-2004 Restaurants Have A Philipsburgh Hall continued from page 2 Open At Yonkers quality of life and is a clear example of what can Cross County Shopping Center Big Appetite For be accomplished when civic minded individuals Raceway By 2005 Celebrates With $100 Million Expansion/ work together. “We are pleased with the role Yonkers PPAC is playing in the Downtown District and the As New York State completes an environmental Renovation Plan IDA was happy to be in a position to assist,” said review on the impact of Video Lottery Terminals The success of Zuppa Restaurant and Mayor Philip A. Amicone, who serves as chairman (VLTs) at Yonkers Raceway, analysts believe the In early March, city officials got the first Lounge in downtown Yonkers and Boulder of the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency. availability of VLTs will significantly boost atten- glimpse of a major expansion/renovation project Creek Steakhouse on Central Park Avenue has dance at the track and will provide a major shot in planned for the Cross County Shopping Center. spurred incredible interest from the restaurant The effort to revitalize the former Philipsburgh the arm to the Yonkers economy. industry in locating to Yonkers. In fact, a host Hall began in the late 1990s when the leadership The facility, which this year marks the 50th of new establishments are on the menu and of St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Published reports indicate that Yonkers anniversary of when the first shovel went in the expected to open later this year. Yonkers and Greyston joined forces to revitalize Raceway management is hopeful that the state’s ground on the development, will be undergoing a the abandoned building on Hudson Street. The review of the project will be complete in the next major renovation program that will reposition the Phil Leggio, co-owner of Zuppa Restaurant and two not-for-profits reached out to numerous pub- few months to allow for construction to begin this property as a modern open-air neighborhood Lounge, said the restaurant, which opened a year lic and private entities to assist them in revitaliz- summer. Track officials have stated that they want community shopping center. In addition, the ago at the former Gazette Building at 59 Main ing the property, while also creating affordable to suspend racing at the track for several months plan calls for approximately 200,000 square feet Street, has been highly successful thus far. housing at the site. Today, all the apartments are to install the estimated 5,500 VLTs at the facility. Rendering Of Cross Country Shopping Mall of new retail space. Part of the new retail space Zuppa Restaurant And Lounge fully rented and the Philipsburgh Performing Arts will include expansions of the existing Sears and “It has been better than we had anticipated. Center is a place where the Yonkers business Raceway officials have stated that they hope to Macy’s department stores. It also calls for the The project is expected to create hundreds of We expected it would take two years to break Leggio said the Zuppa facility, which can seat community and city residents can gather for cul- have the video slots up and running by early 2005. construction of two new anchor stores, another jobs during the construction phase and hun- even and we are already beyond break even,” he 160 patrons, opened a private wine cellar dining tural events and fine food. ■ Yonkers is one of eight New York State tracks to be major retail location and several restaurants. dreds more once the renovation and expansion said. “It has been a great first year.” room in December that has proved very popular. granted permission to apply for a VLT license. plan is complete. Mr. DelBello said that the pre- The plan also calls for improving current liminary job cost estimate of the project is more The 9,500 square foot facility that offers He added that with the addition of a num- The addition of VLTs at Yonkers is expected to parking facilities, the construction of a new than $100 million. patrons the finest in New Age Italian cuisine, ber of restaurants in the downtown district in revive the racetrack, especially considering that five-level parking structure and a host of other has received high marks from food critics at the months ahead, Yonkers will be able to A Familiar Face attendance at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway has infrastructure improvements aimed at improv- In its presentation to city officials, Brooks The New York Times, The Journal News and offer a Restaurant Row of sorts for diners to Westchester magazine, Leggio said. Zuppa doubled since its video slots operations opened ing access to the site. Shopping Center stated, “For over 50 years, the choose from. Some attendees of the upcoming Yonkers Restaurant and Lounge is a family–owned earlier this year.