New Rochelle rolls out quality-of-life program: app launch, lighting upgrades, pet-waste pilot and more

City Manager Steve Madrigs gave a progress report July 8 on a multi-pronged Quality of Life initiative meant to coordinate public-safety, cleanliness, business vitality and civic engagement efforts across New Rochelle.

"We embarked on this quality of life campaign at the end of last year," Madrigs said, describing the program as an organizational umbrella for many projects already on the 2025 work plan.

Madrigs said the city has replaced 120 LED ornamental streetlight modules so far and is repainting poles in two priority corridors: North Avenue (between East Chester Road and Mayflower Avenue) and the downtown area bounded roughly by LaCount Place, Main Street and adjacent blocks. The Department of Public Works and traffic operations are doing the work in-house with budgeted fixtures the city purchased this year.

On pet waste, staff installed four pet-waste receptacle stations downtown as a pilot after mapping complaint locations and dog license data. "In the areas where there were more registered pet owners, there was a lot more compliance," Madrigs said. The city is partnering with the business improvement district (BID) on maintenance and is offering a small leash-mounted bag container to residents who register their pets.

A new mobile reporting tool, the GoGoV app (branded as a New Rochelle mobile app in the presentation), will launch the day after the meeting. The app lets residents submit issue reports with photos, choose from multiple report categories, track status updates and access municipal information in English and Spanish. Madrigs said reports go straight to the city manager’s office and from there into the complaint-tracking system; staff confirmed submitters who provide contact information will receive email confirmations and status updates.

Public-safety elements in the update included converting an underused structure at Ruby D. Park into a staffed police kiosk and staging area for the bicycle unit and planned downtown ambassadors; the city is in design and consultant phases for interior renovations, lighting and signage. The downtown bicycle patrol has been operating for six to seven weeks and, according to the presentation, responded to 14 city-code or parking violations and six disorderly-behavior reports in that short interval — a decline of about 10 incidents compared with the same period last year, Madrigs said, while cautioning that the data set is small.

The city added three community service officers (CSOs) focused on downtown parking enforcement and reported an increase in enforcement actions so far this season compared with 2023–24. Private security mobile overnight patrols now run from about 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in municipal lots, the transit station and the garage, intended to boost visibility and deter unwanted activity.

A "soap and water" downtown power-washing program is slated to begin in August with a monthly cycle proposed initially to clean sidewalks and curbs. The administration also outlined tactical urbanism ideas for temporary sidewalk and plaza improvements (planters, benches, partlets and wayfinding) to improve retail walkability; staff said placements will be modular and coordinated with parking-management consultants and the BID to avoid taking excessive parking.

On long-term vacancy management, the city plans a storefront vacancy registration (proposed start in September) aimed at properties vacant more than 90 days to create a live storefront map for brokers and tenants. Madrigs said the first year would be fee-free while the city builds an inventory; thereafter a small fee would cover administrative and enforcement costs.

Madrigs summarized recent code and enforcement changes that have already been enacted: zoning and permitting requirements for smoke shops and legal cannabis dispensaries, adopted massage-parlor regulations that led to the inspection and closure of 13 facilities, and a January code change creating an official designation and rules for pedestrian plazas.

On social services, the administration described a "Need Assistance" outreach campaign after meetings with about 15 social-service providers. Staff have created printed and digital outreach, a resources web page, and partnerships to promote services at community events; the effort also expanded a resource list to include Sun River Health and Lexington Center for Recovery.

Cooling centers: the city expanded its cooling-center inventory from two (a prior year set of locations) to at least five locations this year and said the activation criteria were revised; staff confirmed centers were being activated the day of the meeting in response to high heat.

Enforcement and streets: the city signaled stepped-up property-code enforcement — graffiti abatement, junked vehicles, landscaping and litter — and proposed pursuing a "home rule" request and state legislative support to pilot school-zone speed cameras at selected sites (Madrigs cited Pelham Road by Webster Avenue and other corridors as candidate locations). Madrigs framed the camera proposal as a public-safety, not revenue, measure and said the city will seek assembly and senate backing for the home-rule authority.

Council members asked for clarifications during the Q&A: Councilman Peters urged attention to a local "kids zone" near Brook Street and Memorial Highway where residents have asked for physical traffic calming for years. Councilmember Stern and others pressed for app functionality (notifications, anonymous reports, and attachments), and staff said app users who sign in can receive status updates and that anonymous submissions are allowed.

Police Commissioner Neil Reynolds and staff said traffic and speed concerns reported by residents are investigated by the traffic unit and that the app will provide location data useful to enforcement and planning.

Madrigs and council members repeatedly framed the update as data-driven and cross-cutting, with at least a dozen new initiatives launched or expanded in 2025, and noted the projects will continue to be refined as staff gather usage and performance information.

The presentation closed with council praise for staff work and a request for continued attention to communications and branding — council members asked that city vehicles and cleaning units be visibly marked as New Rochelle operations and that any police kiosk use clear language such as "community police center" to balance approachability and clarity.

Next steps identified in the meeting included ongoing monitoring of pilots (pet-waste receptacles, bicycle patrols and power washing), rollout of the mobile app, formalizing agreements for additional cooling-center sites, and developing the home-rule request for school-zone cameras for subsequent council review.

Ending: Council thanked city staff for the presentation and moved on to other agenda items, including zoning and grant public hearings scheduled for later in the evening.