New Castle task force outlines four‑part plan to boost downtown, cites 700+ resident survey responses

Eric Dinnenberg, chair of the New Castle Economic Revitalization Task Force, presented a status report to the town board on June 23, saying the volunteer group has organized four workstreams — outreach, marketing and communications, events and activations, and cosmetic/public‑realm improvements — designed to increase foot traffic and make downtown more attractive to visitors and prospective tenants.

The task force was established Oct. 16, 2025, and includes 11 members plus liaisons from administration and the town board. "We are a collection of volunteers with skill sets and professional expertise in marketing, communications, real estate, retailing, logistics, and town government," Dinnenberg said, adding that members have met every two weeks and spent considerable personal time on the effort.

Why it matters: Town officials and merchants say downtown vacancy and lower in‑town shopping after the closure of a communal tenant have reduced foot traffic. The task force’s goal is to reverse those trends by coordinating landlords, merchants and promotional activity and by creating durable communications infrastructure so merchants and residents can find and use local offerings.

Dinnenberg described a set of outreach efforts that have already taken place, including one‑on‑one meetings with regional brokerage firms and a restaurant tour of New Castle that drew about 25 restaurateurs from Westchester County and New York City. He said the task force helped facilitate landlord–tenant conversations on several properties and encouraged pop‑up concepts to test retail ideas without long‑term leases. "We had over 700 responses" to a recent resident survey, Dinnenberg said; the task force will follow that with a business survey to establish baseline merchant feedback and track changes over time.

On marketing and communications, the task force reported coordination with the Chamber of Commerce and work to create a single, consolidated website and calendar that would aggregate merchant listings, event schedules (town, civic groups and merchants), permit guidance and available spaces. Dinnenberg said modern, low‑cost tools — including AI‑assisted aggregation — can make a usable site possible without large ongoing costs, and that a comprehensive calendar is key for building recurring programming residents can plan around.

Events and activations were presented as near‑term levers to generate foot traffic. Dinnenberg credited the town board, parks staff and the task force with recent successful events — including a widely attended Knicks watch party and a community picnic tied to the July 4/America 250 schedule — and said such events can be structured to drive customers to nearby merchants through cross‑promotion and shuttles. He also described partnerships being formed with local cultural organizations to build evening and weekend activity.

Dinnenberg acknowledged merchant skepticism and said the task force expects buy‑in to grow as visible results appear. "If we can create an atmosphere where the train is moving now, I better get on," he said, describing a goal of converting early participation into broader landlord and merchant engagement.

Board members pressed on sustainability and governance: who will maintain the website and calendar when the one‑year task force disbands? Dinnenberg said the task force is evaluating hosting options — including the Chamber’s platforms and other local institutions — and expects to recommend a durable home or an evolution into a permanent structure in the future. He also said performance metrics will include merchant feedback, vacancy rates and anecdotal measures when hard sales data are unavailable: "Merchants and vendors don't always want to share sales information," he said, but repeat merchant requests to recreate promotions and reported increases in foot traffic will be used as indicators.

Supervisor Tip and other board members praised the task force's progress and encouraged the group to report back later in the summer or early fall. Dinnenberg said the task force will maintain a biweekly meeting cadence and expects to provide a consolidated status report when it returns to the board.

What’s next: The task force will complete its business survey, continue developing the consolidated website and calendar, pursue tenant outreach and measure the effects of upcoming events. Dinnenberg cited two recently announced new tenants as early visible wins.