NewRoc Now

Two curiosities of downtown New Rochelle, or SoNo as it seems to be called, caught my eye this week, both on the same run to Glen Island on Sunday morning.   First thing is the new shop, Glass House, that opened at 5 Church Street that sells bongs, glass pipes, hookas and other assorted glass things.  To the best of my knowledge it is the only such store in all of the shore towns so I expect that it will do amazingly well if anyone actually finds it.

Second curiousity is a small monument where Main and Huguenot  divide near the Exxon station. There are two monuments, but I always stop and look at the monumen to Eliza Moulton. Eliza Moulton died at 87 years old on Oct 9, 1914 and is memorialized as a ‘friend to dumb animals.’  Considering my friends I may be remembered the same way, but unlike me, Ms. Moulton turns to be an interesting woman based on sixty seconds of Internet research.

Ms. Moulton lived at 237 Hugueont Street and was a small heiress who gave away all of her money to charities and started awareness about cruelty to animals in Westchester.  According to her obituary, Ms. Moulton was not only a friend to dumb animals but also was quite a patriot and an amazing woman.  She and two other women would take a rowboat for daily trips to Fort Slocum, a Civil War hospital off the coast of Glen Islan - even in the dead of winter - to bring fresh baked bread ‘of their own baking’ and clean under garments to wounded soldiers.   She was also known to take in troubled young women to live with her and help them get back on their feet.   She was an outspoken member of the Christian Women’s Temprance Union of New Rochelle and succeeded in getting a New Rochelle hotel’s liquor license revoked in 1900. She donated $30,000 to build Moulton Hall, their local headquarters.  I have no idea what became of that structure, if anyone knows drop a line.

Sad to see that the Speckled Door is closing its doors, but we just don’t have density to support all of the bars in the downtown area.   In a 5 block area there are over 10 bars including the Speckled Door (RIP), Spectators, The Spot and many more.  How many half-empty bars do we need?

The shop that I can’t quite understand is the dress shop, OQUENDO on S. Division.   A really nice designer dress shop with prices starting at about $2000.  I wish them well but no chance to have me as a customer, sorry, I’m broke.

Also proud to see a new Lingerie shop open on Main, a few doors south from the Speckled Door.  The guys in the shop have that confused look of shop owners who believed the hype and have that ‘what the f’ look on their faces waiting for customers.  I promise that you will fill all m lingerie needs guys!

If you can judge the health of a business by the amount of flyers it produces Habitat for Humanity is by far the most succssful enterprise in downtown New Rochelle.   They do great things it seems and they are really leading the way towards bringing vitality downtown.

and one other thing…..

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pick up your dog poop from the street if you live in the Avalon.  It’s getting out of hand all of the land mines I have to navigate making my way home.

Many  new-comers to downtown New Rochelle probably have no idea that we have our own NYC-class bagel joint right in the downtown - Sammy’s on Centre Street, 1 block east of Main Street.   Sammy’s is a really great bagel joint, and really Kosher as well, and Manny and his family that own the place are super people.   My favorites are the Sammy Stick and the Black Russian but I also love the poppy-seed and everything bagels.  Love the Lox Cream Cheese as well.  Sammy’s has tables, they toast and decorate bagels and its a great place to hang out, read the paper and check out people.  Beware that they are across the street from the Halen school so school mornings can get a little hectic.

Seems like good people are leaving us more and more before their time.  Rest in Peach to John, the owner of Optical on Main.  I personally bought 5 pairs of glasses from him over the years and while we weren’t great buddies, I knew his brother and daughter that worked there.  What a shock when you hear someone so young and active pass so quickly.  Best to his wife and family and employees.

The one complaint I have in New Rochelle is the complete disregard for pedestrians in the downtown area.  Crossing North Ave., from the north to south (K Buidling to Chase Bank) is literally taking your life in your hands.  I have seen people killed there and I hope that I am not the next.  Granted turning traffic was not the cause for the death I have seen in traffic there but it is only a matter of time before someone is killed on that corner.

Speaking of North Ave. the crossing from the Metro North platform across North is an absolute joke as well.  There is no crosswalk, no yield to pedestrian signs, no police ever helping people cross and many people stranded in the middle of North trying to cross as cars dart down the street with no regard at all for pedestrians.  Again, the right turning traffic from Huguenot to North is a huge issue.  Since they installed the no turn on red sign drivers treat this as a racing turn to beat the red light with absolutely no regard for pedestrians.

Not only could the City make a mint ticketing reckless drivers on that corner one afternoon a week, but they could actually prevent a future death by making drivers more aware of pedestrians.  I do think that New Rochelle is negligent on enforcing these laws, especially on this corner, and lets hope that it does not become criminally negligent if someone is killed crossing that corner.

Even in front of my building on Memorial Highway I have seen cars actually speed up when pedestrians are crossing to catch the green light across Huguenot.  NRPD could be helping to save lives by ticketing reckless drivers on this street but instead they park their cars to block traffic on Memorial and the entrance ramp onto 95 rather than working.  NRPD seems to be unaware of the fact that there are automated signs for this purpose. Though I am aware of state laws that require some police presence it seems very stupid to waste police resources on blocking traffic when they could be helping to promote a safer community and potentially saving lives.

It seems to be a zero priority for the New Rochelle Police Department to enforce pedestrian access laws but I do hope that this can be changed before someone is killed crossing North Ave.,

If there is a theme of New Rochelle it is reinvention. From the Huguenot origins to the revolutionary war to the civil war to prosperity to Glenn Island to Norman Rockwell to Eddie Foy to Dick Van Dyke to Lou Gherig to Rodney King riots and now to Capelli dreams, New Rochelle has seen it’s share of success, adversity and promise. But now downtown New Rochelle seems stuck in promise and in the midst of redevelopment that’s loosing momentum and funding, stranding many businesses that have bet on New Ro.

Time after time the small business owners I speak with are disappointed with downtown New Rochelle.  Dentists, real estate brokers, hair shops, coffee shop’s, restaurant owners, bar owners and others are asking the same question, “Where’s the traffic?”  The small businesses that seem to be succeeding are the old-line stores like Mexican restaurants, dollar stores and Merry Go Round.  But newer ventures are having a very tough time getting traffic.  Of course New Rochelle has it’s share of very successful businesses such as Cross Cultural Solutions, Tempranillo Inc., Sidney Frank Importing, Steiner Sports and others, but these successful companies don’t rely on the foot traffic economy.

The Trump building which was supposed to have heralded in a new era for New Ro remains largely empty. The view I have from my office confirms that more than 75% of the 30 or so apartments I can see are vacant and the pool is mostly empty.  At night the building looks like a lighthouse, tall and dark,  with a few lights guiding people here.   The doormen stand mostly idle and it has turned from a hot buy to rent to own.   The rumored stores like Wholefoods never materialize and cavernous empty retail caves echo with unfulfilled promises.

The Avalon communities are a different story, nearly filled to capacity and breathing life into downtown. But it is not enough.  Most of the people in the Avalon are college students or city workers, neither of which venture too far off the block to find interesting things in New Ro.  My incredibly informal survey shows that many venture to White Plains, the City or neighboring towns to shop, though it is far from universal

Habitat for Humanity is working very hard to breathe some life into downtown with street music from local high school students, street sales and a trolley.  A new upscale food market on Main may give more reasons to shop in New  Rochelle and slowly some of the poorly run dollar stores are turning over.  The farmer’s market limped back to South Division, though it is down from more than 4 vendors to about 2 this year. In spite of these small signs of life,  the impression remains that big redevelopment projects such as the Church and Prospect Street parking lot redevelopments, the second Capelli high rise, New Roc City redevelopment and the ‘New Street’ project all seem to be off track or off the table.

I’m sure that New Rochelle will deliver on it’s promise as it has done for nearly 100 generations but for now it seems locked in a cycle of perpetual promise that never quite delivers. Certainly it is not failure though as the base of New Rochelle is far beyond the events of the last five years and there is a lot of good to check out.  Maybe New Rochelle is just a reflection of the general malaise of the economy, but regardless, I can guarantee that for those that venture off the block and make it down here you won’t be dissappointed with what you will find here if you keep your eyes open.

one of the more unusual stores in New Rochelle is the Little Ranch at 328 Huguenot st, 2 blocks south of the Avalon.  They have a lot of funky cowboy boots for cowboys and cowgirls, more than anywhere else I have seen in Westchester.  Such a little funky store doesn’t really belong here, it seems, but if you like funky boots, this is a cool place.

I want to update that the New Rochelle fireworks, as seen from Five Island Park were really nice.  Last year I was at Hudson Park and the view from Five Island was much better and much less crowded.   Next year I will find out about the New Rochelle fund raising party that they have on Five Island park and register early to get a bracelet that allows access to the tip of the Island.  I had a great view of fireworks from Pelham, Glenn Island and Mamaroneck and it would have been even nicer from the tip of the Island.

Second year in a row of crap weather for July 4th, but still plenty happening in Nuro.   The fireworks in Nuro are ok, not great, but certainly worth walking to.  Don’t bother driving to Hudson park because you can’t even get near.  It’s just a short walk down Franklin Ave if you park at New Roc City, but regardless of where you park walking is the best idea.  Personally I prefer the fireworks of Mamaroneck because they have a nice carnival most of the day and it is a nice crowd. Nuro has a concert at 6:30 at the band shell but it’s nothing like Mamaroneck.  If you can get to Five Island Park that is a great place to see the fireworks in Nuro and Larchmont simultaneously.

The Avalon, and White Plains, Scarsdale and most of lower Westcheseter seems deserted and I’m sure the crap weather is further dampering the festivities.   I grew up in the DC area and this is nothing like I remember, especially the old ’smoke-in’s at Lafayette Square, but that’s a different story.

Enjoy yourself!

2 interesting Indian places that I’ve recently been to and are worth checking out are Shirley’s and Matha, both are on South Division Street.  Shirley’s is mostly a caterer but they have fantastic take out that my Indian friend assures me as close to authentic as we have here.  I had a fish curry that was extremely spicy and very good.   They do catering and supposedly it is great as well but if you are looking for some spicy, very good take-out Shirley’s is great.

Matha grocery is in the same building as Shirley’s and is a nice Indian grocery with  a quiet owner.  There are great dishes to keep in the freezer and all sorts of incense, spices, etc.

Two small places to check out, but definitely part of the bigger picture of the fascinating locale of downtown New Ro.