Mamaroneck previews $4.5M New York Forward application; residents urge tree protections and careful review of Taylor's Lane

Village staff and grant-writing consultants from Choice Words presented the village’s pre-application strategy for the state’s New York Forward program, a competitive $4.5 million award intended for catalytic downtown revitalization.

Brianna Maloney, vice president of Choice Words, described the program and the application timeline, explaining the pre-application due Nov. 7 and noting that the state will later assign a planner to guide community engagement if Mamaroneck advances. She said the village should propose a compact project area (a few blocks) and suggested the team was looking at Palmer Avenue through Mamaroneck Avenue to Harbor Island Park as the focus. “Right now when we’re getting ideas, if we include them in the application, even if we’re funded, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll be funded, but you will all be part of that proposal,” Maloney said.

Choice Words described a menu of possible public projects — lighting and security enhancements (especially in the parking lot), sidewalks and streetscape upgrades, drainage and resurfacing, wayfinding signage and a potential rehabilitation of the old firehouse for events, retail or workforce housing. They said the state typically requires evidence of local support and matching or co-investment for some project types and that the state planner’s community sessions would shape final project selection.

During public comment, Gail Kohler (tree committee) urged that the application include protections and better tree infrastructure for Mamaroneck Avenue, proposing decorative fencing and groundcover to reduce tree grate lift and improve pedestrian safety. “That would protect much better pedestrians and the trees,” she said.

Resident Guillermo Zambrano asked the board to review recent parking enforcement on Johnson Avenue, stating he received multiple citations after signage was corrected to reflect a GP-permit-only restriction. Village staff said signage had been fixed to match the code and that parking-status questions should be referred to the traffic commission and police for review.

Barbara Novick and other residents urged the trustees to treat Taylor’s Lane and nearby marshland as a sensitive ecological area and to ensure a fully open public process before a consultant recommends uses such as playing fields or solar installations. Novick warned that physical changes could harm wildlife and that some options (solar or playing fields) might be inappropriate for that parcel. “Once it’s disturbed, we’ll never get it back,” she said, asking trustees for an open process and careful evaluation.

Other commenters pushed for stricter zoning enforcement to limit overdevelopment in flood-prone areas and said the village’s land-use boards should more consistently apply existing rules to protect neighborhoods from larger-scale builds.

Consultants and staff encouraged residents to submit project ideas through a short form for businesses/nonprofits and to complete a broader community survey; staff said the survey was already yielding responses.

The presentation concluded with a request for continued public input; staff said they would post links to the forms and surveys and hold additional outreach before the Nov. 7 pre-application deadline.