A civic argument by Jay Mandel

Yonkers got $10 million.
Let’s be honest about what that buys.

The city is celebrating a downtown revitalization grant. In the community next door, the same money buys about four median-priced houses.

See the real scale ↓Read the case for a better plan →
NEW YORK’S THIRD-LARGEST CITY2.3 MILES OF CENTRAL AVENUEDECADES OF NEGLECT TO ADDRESS

Ten million dollars is a fortune to a family or small business.

In urban redevelopment, it is seed money.

Spending it on a few waterfront attractions will improve a few properties in Yonkers. It will not, by itself, improve life for people dealing with poverty, addiction, neglected storefronts and failing infrastructure.

Those are not the same accomplishment.
01 / READ THE CITY CLEARLY

Different places.
Different prescriptions.

Yonkers does not need one glossy master plan. It needs to protect what works, rebuild what does not and stop confusing a destination with a community.

Central Plaza storefronts behind a broad parking lot on Central Avenue
Central Avenue · Photo: Lerner Properties
01

Central Avenue

Works as a road. Fails as a place.

Existing value
Traffic, retail demand and commercial land
Required response
Rebuild selected properties around people, with compact districts where you park once and stay.
Pedestrians, storefronts and traffic in Getty Square, Yonkers
Broadway + Getty Square · Photo: Wikimedia Commons
02

Broadway + Getty Square

Character worth protecting.

Existing value
Culture, independent businesses and community
Required response
Rehabilitate buildings, support existing merchants and confront poverty and disorder.
Entrance sign for Cross County Shopping Center in Yonkers
Cross County · Photo: Wikimedia Commons
03

Cross County

A destination—with limits.

Existing value
Strong tenants, events and walkability
Required response
Keep investing in the experience while addressing the social conditions beyond the property line.
Pedestrian-oriented shopping street at Ridge Hill in Yonkers
Ridge Hill · Photo: DTS Provident
04

Ridge Hill

An experience, not a string of errands.

Existing value
Dining, entertainment and pedestrian streets
Required response
Add housing and connect the property more effectively to the rest of Yonkers.
Businesses and pedestrians in Getty Square, Yonkers
THE ASSET WE ALREADY HAVE

Broadway has what Central Avenue cannot manufacture.

Storefronts meet the sidewalk. People live above the businesses. Barbershops, Mexican restaurants, Dominican businesses and neighborhood relationships already exist.

Rehabilitation should let those merchants improve with the neighborhood—not replace them after years of neglect.

Getty Square, Yonkers · Photo: Wikimedia Commons
02 / FOLLOW THE MONEY

The city-scale
math is unforgiving.

The award matters. The victory lap does not. Private projects already underway in Yonkers show the scale of capital needed to create and maintain places.

Yonkers DRI award$10M
Cross County expansion$90M
Ridge Hill acquisition$220M

Relative scale, indexed to Ridge Hill’s $220 million purchase price.

THE PRELIMINARY ASK

$17 million requested from a $10 million award.

These projects are proposals, not final awards. Several could create public value. The waterfront emphasis still deserves scrutiny.

Immersive theater$5M
Nepperhan Community Center$3M
Point Street bridge$2M
Seasonal dining$1.5M
City Pier Dock + Dine$1M
Waterfront esplanade$1M
Boat marina$1M
Hudson River beach$1M
A SMALL DETAIL. A BIGGER WARNING.

The missing shopping baskets tell another Yonkers story.

At the Stop & Shop beside Cross County, a police officer told me the store no longer offers handheld baskets because people steal them—and shopping carts too.

A $90 million shopping-center expansion can create parks, boardwalks and events. It cannot repair the poverty, addiction, homelessness and public disorder surrounding it.

Good property management can improve a destination. It cannot repair the social conditions of an entire city.
03 / USE THE GRANT AS LEVERAGE

Fund what changes daily life.

The state program favors capital projects and reimbursement. That can make the money easier for established developers to use than struggling small businesses—and it cannot pay for every condition Yonkers needs to address.

✓ What it can fund

  • Building rehabilitation
  • Parks and plazas
  • Street and transit connections
  • Public art
  • Limited façade improvements

× What it generally cannot

  • Continuing addiction services
  • Routine salaries
  • Rent and utilities
  • Ongoing maintenance
  • Existing program expenses

What Yonkers should do.

01

Build compact districts

Turn selected Central Avenue properties into places where people park once, walk, eat and stay.

02

Invest without erasure

Fix Broadway’s buildings and public spaces while giving existing merchants a path to remain.

03

Address the human conditions

Treat poverty, addiction, housing and public disorder as city problems—not inconvenient scenery.

04

Demand larger commitments

Use the $10 million to attract far more public and private capital, tied to measurable resident benefit.

Central Avenue needs to become less transient.

Downtown Yonkers needs investment without erasure.

And people who are down and out need something more meaningful than a marina, a mural or another political victory lap.