| Since 2000 the BID has facilitated $150 million in private development on Main Street. Its major accomplishments have come through its technical assistance, development initiatives and financial programs. Property or business owners or prospective owners may avail themselves of any or all of these opportunities.
In July 2006 the BID constructed a Downtown WiFi network, bringing free wireless internet access to people in stores, offices and wide open spaces. The New Rochelle BID was the first to established WiFi in Westchester County and the Hudson valley. (more)
Commuters can conduct business while waiting for the train. The first computer information kiosk at any train station serving Metro-North is located at the New Rochelle Train Station. (more)
 One of the BID's most popular programs is the Downtown Clean Streets Program, run in partnership with the City of New Rochelle. The BID Clean Streets team keeps sidewalks and parking facilities free of litter seven days a week. The BID also handles fall leaf removal, snow removal at crosswalks, landscaping maintenance and sidewalk power washing.
The BID maintains an ongoing public relations campaign. As a result Downtown development and activities have received coverage in the local, regional and national media, including the New York Times and WABC’s Eyewitness News. Through these promotional activities Downtown has developed an exciting new image that breeds continued success.
The BID works with the owners of large vacant and underutilized properties to plan and implement a development program to bring these properties back into productive use. This program has initiated more than $125 million in new development privately financed and paying full real estate taxes. A top priority of the BID is to identify privately-owned properties with vacant or underutilized space, help the owners assess the properties’ development potential and then work to achieve this potential.
 The BID helps owners wishing to rehabilitate their historic facades. This includes helping address code enforcement issues and existing building violations. All façade work is undertaken pursuant to the BID Facade Renovation Guidelines which outlines specifications for storefront improvements in order to facilitate good design and compatibility between buildings. In target areas, the BID also offers economic assistance and incentives for property owners in targeted areas within the BID. For before and after samples click here.
In target areas, the BID arranges for matching grants to building owners who have completed facade improvements according to the BID’s Facade Renovation Guidelines. The BID expects to assist in the renovation of more than twenty storefronts over the next eighteen months.
A BID Retail Advisory Committee was established in 2004 under the co-chairmanship of Maryce Cohen of I.B. Cohen & Sons, Inc. and Louis Vaccaro of The Curtain Shop. The Committee advises the BID on matters such as special events, sidewalk sales, parking needs and networking opportunities.
Inspired by some enterprising local businesses such as the Curtain Shop and Wall Systems Unlimited which planted flowers in front of their stores, the BID has undertaken a program to beautify public spaces throughout downtown. The program has won enthusiastic support and financial backing from the City of New Rochelle, New Roc City, the Kaufman Building, Simone Development and Avalon on the Sound.
 Great activities designed for families are happening from September til June, in downtown New Rochelle. Presented by the New Rochelle Downtown BID with the Public Library, the City School District and the Department of Parks & Recreation, BID Family Days feature International Mini-Fests, performances, craft workshops, films, scavenger hunts – and much more! Events are posted weekly with a schedule of times and activities on our Special Events page.
During July the BID presents a free concert series on 3 consecutive Thursday nights, sponsored by Avalon on the Sound. The concerts feature a variety of music from Zydeco to Brazilian to Jazz along with dancing. Concerts begin at 6:30 pm and are held on the green in front of the library or in the Library’s Ossie Davis Theater in the case of rain. The concerts have been extremely successful in bringing people downtown with area restaurants reporting increased business. The BID also features an annual outdoor Movie Night. Families are encouraged to get together at 6pm and dine downtown, and then at 8pm attend a free family movie, shown outdoors on the green on a giant screen, sponsored by Monroe College.
Many community residents have asked that we provide more information on the rich history and architecture of our Downtown. In response we created the section “Downtown History” on the web site that includes monthly presentations on historic events, important structures and notable personalities. New Rochelle is very fortunate to have Barbara Davis as its Acting City Historian. Barbara is both knowledgeable and passionate about our history. She is also Chairperson of the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee for the County of Westchester and is the New Rochelle Public Library Community Relations Coordinator.
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 The New Rochelle Business Improvement District (BID) announced that more than a dozen restaurants and cafes in downtown New Rochelle are offering al fresco sidewalk café dining and free outdoor WiFi in the summer of 2009. The BID Dine Downtown program has been successfully helping many popular downtown restaurants and cafes create programs and amenities for the dining public. During the enthusiastic public response to the BID Stimulus Sawbuck Program, many customers asked about outdoor dining. The BID worked to win City approval for sidewalk dining on behalf of more than a dozen restaurants and provided each restaurant with sidewalk fencing featuring the Dine Downtown logo to make it easy and attractive for visitors to dine al fresco. To complete the diner’s experience, free WiFi service is available at these sidewalk cafes through the BID’s Outdoor WiFi Network.”
 The New Rochelle Downtown Artist Spaces Program has been designed to meet several BID goals. The program will help property owners renovate and lease long term vacant upper floor space thus preserving the City’s tax base. In addition it will attract scores of artist businesses thereby promoting economic development and supporting downtown restaurants and stores. Finally it will help emerging artists pursue their careers in a Downtown with a long and distinguished history in the arts, insuring that New Rochelle’s future will match its past. Studies have shown, Westchester businesses and residents rank the arts high as a factor contributing to the excellent quality of life that makes the County a popular place to live and work. Partial funding comes through a NYS Main Street Grant obtained by the BID and the City of New Rochelle Business Retention Fund.
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