Not everyone is foolish enough to show up for a tree-planting in a suit and tie, but apparently that’s how mayors celebrate Arbor Day. Last month I assisted a great group of students from NRHS (who were all dressed much more appropriately for the task at hand) and we placed a new sapling in the ground by the Twin Lakes.

Trees are unsung heroes of our city. By providing shade and creating a pleasing streetscape, trees make New Rochelle a nicer place to live (and help increase property values). Through photosynthesis, trees clean the air we breathe and reduce carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere. With strong roots and a healthy thirst, trees also help control flooding and erosion.

Not that one tree can make that sort of difference … but thousands can. New Rochelle has nearly 400,000 trees, 30,000 of which are under public ownership. And one of the goals set forth in last year’s GreeNR Sustainability Plan is to plant 10,000 new trees on public property by 2030.

So maybe Arbor Day really is worth dressing up for.

If you check my website regularly, then you might have noticed that more than two weeks have passed since my last post. There’s a good reason for that: Catie and I were away on a long-planned vacation to celebrate our tenth anniversary. Because both of us really enjoy nature and hiking, we chose Costa Rica as a destination, and could not have been happier.

I could share with you photos of the pristine rainforest, diverse wildlife (the strangler figs and leaf-cutter ants were especially neat), or picturesque beaches — all of which we saw in abundance — but, really, you could see similar images on postcards or through an internet search.

So, instead, I have chosen this little sequence of images taken during our whitewater rafting expedition. We look reasonably assured at the beginning, but keep watching as our raft hits a dip in the river, spilling me and Catie into the water. Our guide tumbles in, too (which soothed my wounded pride a bit). Then we are rescued by a kayaker. A little more excitement than we had bargained on! But, in the end, a great story to share with Jeremy and Owen.

Anyhow, I am back at work and will resume more normal posting of news and information in the days ahead.

Next year brings us the opportunity to celebrate the 325th anniversary of the founding of New Rochelle. From 1688 until today, from a small settlement of French Huguenots escaping religious persecution to our dynamic, diverse city — we will have plenty to celebrate.

Former City Council Member Marianne Sussman is leading the volunteer effort to fill 2013 with events that commemorate New Rochelle’s history and culture. Several other prominent members of the community have already signed up for the 325th anniversary committee, but much more help is needed. If you are interested in joining the committee, or if you are a member of a local organization that would like to take part in next year’s festivities, please attend the committee’s kick-off meeting on Wednesday, May 16 at 7:30pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

For more information, bookmark newrochelleny.com/325. This page on the City’s website will be updated throughout the next year as plans for the anniversary celebration develop.

Also visit the New Rochelle Council on the Arts for details about their competition to design a logo for the anniversary.

For eight years, I had the great pleasure of sitting next to Joe Fosina at City Council meetings. Joe brought to the table a straight-shooting, common sense approach to issues and a genuine passion for New Rochelle. Plus, he was incredibly funny, with an on-point (and occasionally off-color) anecdote at the ready for just about every discussion. It didn’t matter that we belonged to different political parties, I admired Joe tremendously and learned a lot from him.

Although most folks in New Rochelle probably know Joe through his work in local government or as the long-time head of Youth Tackle, he’s earned a living as a sales rep for Riddell, the athletic company responsible for reconditioning New York Yankees uniforms. And that’s given Joe a close association with the team, plus a neat nickname: “The Tailor.”

Which brings me to the purpose of this post — a big profile of Joe in the new 2012 Yankees Yearbook. Check it out. It’s a fun read, especially if you’re a sports fan.

“Transit-Oriented Development” (TOD) offers residents, businesses and employees expanded transportation options, lower commuting costs, and access to a wider market for goods, skills, and job opportunities. TOD projects are also more energy efficient than those dependent upon the automobile. That is why our downtown’s convenient access to mass transit is among New Rochelle’s major competitive advantages when it comes to attracting private investment.

With an eye to pressing this local advantage, the City has just released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a 3.2-acre site with enormous potential. The site, which straddles Garden Street, is directly across North Avenue from our Transit Center and immediately adjacent to Exit 16 on I-95. The development area includes a core under City ownership, and our Development Department negotiated agreements with nearby private property owners to permit the joint marketing of public and private land.

While the precise composition of any project is shaped by market conditions, we believe that commercial development will prove viable at this location, and that Garden Street’s immediate proximity to the train station will be especially attractive to office developers.

The RFP will be circulated widely to the development community, and responses are due on June 29th of this year. I am hopeful that we will receive a range of attractive proposals, but only time will tell.

As previously reported, I had the pleasure — if that’s the right word — of participating this past Sunday in “The Stride,” the annual 5K race sponsored by Sound Shore Medical Center. The event was a big success, with lots of runners participating, a nice amount raised for diabetes care, and a general feeling of good cheer.

For me, the morning started on an unpleasant note. I woke up with a 24-hour stomach bug that eventually landed me in bed for the day. I probably should have opted out of the race, but decided that the embarrassment of a last-minute bailout would be worse than any physical discomfort. And, besides, if Cory Booker can rescue people from burning buildings, the least I can do is run three miles with a sour stomach.

Well, I am happy to report that I crossed the finish line in a respectable (albeit entirely unspectacular) time of 25 minutes and change. That’s me on the right in the photo above. I came down the stretch with Marty Friedrichs, a much better runner and all-around great guy. With my stomach churning, I thought seriously about leaving the field about 3/4 of the way through, but Marty really pushed me to the end. Thanks, Marty!

The Stride used to be essentially my only run of the year, but I’ve since joined New Ro Runners, and hope to be a more faithful participant in their activities during the coming months. Maybe I can bump up to three or four annual runs, and next year get my 5K time into the lower 20s.

The City Council has unanimously approved terms for a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Forest City Residential for the restoration of the Echo Bay waterfront. As reported last month, this long-awaited shoreline restoration project features about 4.5 acres of open space, continuous public access to the shoreline, approximately 250 rental apartment units, and 25,000 to 50,000 square feet of new retail space. The site is presently contaminated and inaccessible, so the positive transformation would be dramatic.

Precise financial terms cannot be settled at this stage of the process, but the MOU does establish a general formula — the developer would pay the City a fair market value for any public property as determined by an independent appraisal, with a credit for developer-financed investment in public improvements and infrastructure. The MOU also contains an important fiscal backstop: the cost of public services for the project during any tax incentive period shall not exceed the public revenues generated by the project, meaning that the development must offer a net benefit to taxpayers.

Approval of the MOU triggers an obligation on Forest City’s part to undertake a comprehensive environmental review that will explore every aspect of the project and provide residents with formal opportunities for input and comment. It is quite possible that components of the project will evolve as a consequence of this process.

The City Council also approved the key elements of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the former Naval Armory on East Main Street. The RFP, which is expected to be issued next month, invites applicants to articulate a vision for the adaptive reuse of the Armory building and to present a viable financial plan for both initial structural renovation and ongoing operations. Our goal is to encourage creative thought about how the Armory can best be activated for public benefit and integrated successfully into an overall waterfront plan.

After several years in which the weak national economy put us in a frustrating holding pattern, these are very significant steps toward realizing New Rochelle’s waterfront goals, but these are not the final steps. The Council will still need to approve the project’s environmental impact statement and adopt a land disposition agreement. The MOU is designed to provide a sensible framework for addressing unresolved questions and ensuring that complete and detailed information is available before any conclusive decisions are made.

Last year, the City received an outstanding report that carefully evaluated a range of options for the development of Davids Island. Produced by a Task Force of citizens and experts, the report will be an invaluable guide for our community as we consider the best means of realizing the Island’s environmental, economic, and civic potential.

This month, our staff presented to the Council a general framework for phasing Island improvements and for implementing an environmental clean-up plan. As this charmingly hand-drawn map illustrates:

• Phase I would focus on the central portion of the Island, including the former parade grounds, an area that requires relatively light environmental remediation. It would feature open space, parkland, and small watercraft access.
• Phase II would cover the western portion of the Island, including the western shoreline. This area would also feature open space and parkland, as well as interpretive signage and a more substantial dock. The Phase II zone would require somewhat greater environmental clean-up.
• Phase III would cover the northern and eastern portions of the Island. This is where any commercial development could be concentrated. It would also require environmental remediation.
• Lastly, Phase IV would cover the southeastern portion of the Island. This is the most heavily contaminated area — a former incinerator zone — and it is likely that the overall remediation plan would transfer contaminants to the southeast and then cap them. Once capped, this would be an ideal site for renewable energy generation, perhaps photo-voltaic cells.

As for the nature of commercial development, the Task Force Report suggested that the most viable and appropriate option would be a research and conference facility, paired with a hotel, with employees housed on-site. Access would be water-borne. Sustainable design and operation would govern any construction. While far from making firm commitments, the City Council has endorsed this concept as a preliminary working plan.

Achieving the potential of Davids Island will take a long time, but I am excited to have a community-based plan of action that points a promising way forward.

New Rochelle has lots of very impressive and accomplished residents, and one of the really nice things about my job is that it gives me an opportunity to meet at least a few of them. But I am still sometimes surprised by the breadth of knowledge and expertise in our city. Here’s one great example:

New Rochelle resident Geoff Porter is among the nation’s foremost experts on northern Africa, with a special focus on the political and economic ramifications of the Arab Spring. He had an op-ed recently in the New York Times and was just interviewed by Kai Ryssdal for Marketplace on NPR.

You can hear the full interview at Marketplace.org. (Geoff’s portion of the show begins at 17:10.) And you can learn more about Geoff at geoffdporter.com.

This has nothing to do with City government, but I think it is neat to learn about the interesting things our neighbors are doing in the wider world.

On Sunday, April 15th, I’ll be participating in the annual Stride 5K, which raises funds for diabetes care at Sound Shore Medical Center. You can enter the race as a runner or walker, or just come by and cheer us all on.

(Being a terrible runner myself, I typically end this race feeling as though immediate medical attention is needed. The opportunity to have a good laugh at my expense is another reason to drop by.)

Hope to see you on Sunday.