Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces First Metro-North Led Transit-Oriented Development Completed Near Harrison Station

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul, leaders from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and officials from AvalonBay Communities announced the completion of Avalon Harrison, a transit-oriented development at the Harrison Metro-North station built with support from the MTA. Transit-oriented development is intended to promote downtown revitalization and improve the environment and healthy lifestyles by providing residents access to shops, amenities, and rail stations within walking distance. The MTA is continuing to advance transit-oriented developments, with another active project underway in Westbury.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

As I said, it was a long time coming what we're experiencing here today, this ribbon cutting on this incredible project, but I also take great hope that this will not be the last, but the first of many. We just had a housing round table, a listening session for me, and what I heard was the communities like Harrison and Westchester and all throughout the state, they want more housing built.

And this is a perfect example of what can be done. People roll up their sleeves, overcome the barriers, and really shoot their sight so high. And we're showcasing today a transit-oriented development project. If you ever wonder what that means, transit-oriented development, TOD, just look out the window. This is what we're talking about, showcasing what we can deliver and how much New Yorkers lives can improve.

And I want to thank everyone who's been so involved in this. I do want to thank our Mayor Dionisio, Mayor of Harrison for his support for this project and his excitement about putting Harrison on the map with showing the capabilities when a community works together, what can be accomplished. Mayor, let's give him a round of applause.

We have my partners in government. At the state level, we have Senator Shelley Mayer. Thank you, Shelley, for joining us. Assemblymember Chris Burdick has joined us. I believe Steve Otis is coming. Steve Otis is here? No? Well, Steve's on his way. Also, we have our Mayors from our neighboring communities. I want to thank our Mayor of White Plains, I think is in the house. Mayor Roach is here.

We’ve got any other Mayors? Any Mayors here? I don't see everybody. Noam Bramson, I want to thank you for joining us, New Rochelle, and our County Executive George Latimer, who you'll be hearing from in a few moments. Thank you, George, for being a true ally in our efforts to make sure that we respond to the needs of our constituents, your constituents, to build more housing.

And so, I thank you for all your work. We also have Jamie Torres-Springer, the President of MTA Construction Development. Jamie, thank you for getting this done. Cathy Rinaldi, who's the President of Metro-North. Mitch Forlenza, the Senior Vice President of Avalon, who shepherded this project through to great success. And someone who has traveled every corner of the state in pursuit of building more housing. And that is our great Commissioner of Housing and Community Renewal, RuthAnne Visnauskas.

And to all the people in the development community, the MTA, the advocates who are here, those who support housing. And I just want to say, I was just here a few months ago in March, we had a round table of business leaders and elected leaders that was over in Rye Brook, and we talked about the challenges.

Why is this so complicated? And you think about the future of a place like Westchester, this county is on fire. You think about the state-of-the-art transportation, the thriving healthcare institutions and the growing economy. Regeneron just up the road with $1.8 billion of investment. We were there for their milestones in Tarrytown. Lionsgate, who would've thought this county would be the epicenter of new production film production? Hollywood on the Hudson, nearing a completion and up the road at IMB, a $20 billion investment in semiconductor and quantum computing. We were up there with the president to announce this.

A lot of great things are going. But guess what is needed at the foundation of all this progress, you need people to work in these facilities, but the people need a place to live. See the connection? The success of the economy of a county like Westchester depends on providing housing to attract people, and it has to be housing that people can afford.

And as long as there are shortages in supply, that’ll naturally drive up the price. That is what our residents are witnessing right now in the rental market, as well as in housing. So, we are focused on solving this for these businesses, for these communities, because if you don't keep growing, you stagnate and you decline. We will not let that happen here in the great State of New York, and especially not here in Westchester.

So, we all know how desirable these communities are. They're extraordinary. I've been coming to Westchester since I used to pale around with Congresswoman Nita Lowey. I was a brand-new member of Congress, and she brought me to some of the restaurants and the bars, and she was so proud of living in this fantastic community.

So, I saw this many, many years ago and I know she's proud and I'm proud when it comes to building housing, Harrison is leading by example. Now we talked about a plan last year. We talked about how it would be important to achieve the goal of building 800,000 new housing units to meet the demand of New York over the next decade.

If every community could grow at a rate of 1 percent increase a year, 1 percent. Harrison is just remarkable with a 6 percent increase in the past year. That's what I'm talking about. That happened organically and is a proof point that it can be done in our desirable communities that have the benefit of having a train station, transit-oriented development. And we can show this throughout the state.

So that's what I'm doing. I want the naysayers to see this. Come here, take a look at this project, walk around, talk to residents as they're grabbing that cup from Starbucks when they live here and taking a train ride 45 minutes down the road, down the tracks, and they can have their job in midtown.

Or reverse commuting, people can take the train and live here as well. And if we don't start doing that, if we don't start making up for a lot of lost time, then there'll be suffering. What am I talking about? The kids who grew up here with great public libraries. We just had our meeting at the library, the great public schools, the great amenities, the quality of life that is second to none. They become adults. They want their kids to be raised here as well, near grandma and grandpa, mostly for babysitting, I'm sure. But they can't because their own children, despite all these advantages, cannot find a place to live in the community they're raised in. That to me is a tragedy.

But also, young people starting out in their career, young teachers, firefighters, police officers, people working in technology, people working in healthcare, they don't start out in life being able to afford luxury housing or huge single-family homes. They just don't. Nobody does. So, if they can't live here, we lose them as well. And our seniors who built their lives here, who never, ever entertained leaving the community when they didn't need that big house anymore. They want to live here in suitable housing for them with others, and that's not available then they have nowhere to go.

So, we have an opportunity. This is a point in our nation's history, but particularly New York State's history. Well, we can lean hard into fighting these problems, lean hard into the challenges. And yes, they can be daunting to some, which is probably why no one talked about this all these years when this was unfolding. But we have a housing plan that is transformative, that meets the moment, and that's what I'm building support for with showcasing this project here today.

And I need the legislature to work with us as well. When they hear from the elected leaders, the mayors and supervisors that maybe they weren't right in what they are saying about a project last year because they didn't understand the dynamics. This is what I'm learning. We didn't talk about every community has to have enormous high-rises, overflowing with affordable housing or low-income housing. We weren't talking about that. But that became the narrative that hijacked the true message of allowing a community to build what they want to build. But just start building. It didn't have to be affordable. Although, there were advantages to do affordable. And I'm talking about transit-oriented development, what we're talking about and seeing right here.

So, in the meantime, while we wait for the legislature to come back into session, roll up our sleeves and solve this once and for all. I took executive actions. I was able to amass over $650 million into one fund which will support growth in our pro-housing communities. What does that mean? There'll be criteria put out by our housing community renewals offices, where communities that want part of this narrative be part of the growth of this state, can meet criteria, pass a resolution before your legislature or your city council or your town board committing to certain goals. Talk about how you're willing to break down barriers, rezonings where you need them. And we will be able to reward those communities with an advantage when it comes to our discretionary funding.

Secondly, I will be committed – am committed to reducing the regulatory burdens that exist today. There's so many regulations people can point to as a reason they don't have to go forward. Let's look at all those. Let's find out what they are and find out whether or not we can get around them and start making progress. I've also called on all state agencies to look for every square foot of abandoned, underutilized, vacant property that can be used and repurposed for housing. So, I'm doing what I can now to build housing, everything in my power, but we're also going to track success.

I want these pro-housing communities to share with us their data. Let's give them credit for the growth they've already accomplished. Let's look at that. This didn't just happen today. Communities like Harrison have been working on this for 16 years. This project, 16 years. A baby born that year is now driving a car in the time it took to build this project. I say, “No more.” Projects like this, yes, but delays like that no more. And I know that's exactly what we need to do to meet the demand.

So, I've made a real point of listening to people in our communities. Elected officials, I spent 14 years as a local official. Communities just like this. I understand the pressure people are under, but you also are in a position of leadership. You also can go out there and dispel the myths, talk to the naysayers, tell the truth about what we're trying to achieve and the benefits for your community if we continue to grow and not stagnate.

So, take a look out the window, absorb this. This is a day where people in this community finally can realize what we've been talking about. And I want to make sure that we realize this was a parking lot. Nothing offends me more than a single story round level parking lot because I see an opportunity to put, yes, more parking, quadrupling the amount of parking, doubling the amount of parking by putting parking garages or ramps above ground or underground. But in circling that, with housing units for people to live in, they literally could wake up in the morning, throw on their clothes, grab that cup of coffee and be on a train. That is the definition of a quality of life. It's beautiful in its simplicity, and that's what I want to do all across our region. So, it's all about connecting people to transit. The transit's there, get them living close by, and it's a recipe for success.

So, right now, we're talking about 143 new apartments, 758 parking spaces because people want to be in Harrison, but you have to find a place to park. Right, Mayor? 475 of which are reserved for the public and commuters. And we'll have over 5,000 square feet for amenities and 27,000 square feet of street level retail and commercial space, helping someone start that business they've always dreamed of.

And also, what's impressive is this wasn't funded by the MTA. It was not MTA capital dollars that needed to be spent here. It was paid for by Avalon who did this amazing work. So, if you're looking at how we can continue to make this happen, I need more developers like Avalon to do exactly what they did here.

So, you know the advantages. We've been clear. I think this is an opportunity to talk about what we really have had in mind all along. Let the communities embrace the opportunity to grow. The state is your ally and your partner and will help you make that happen. So, let's get it done. Let's make sure we continue making progress. We're going to continue making progress with great leaders that we have right here in Westchester County. And I want to thank George Latimer for all he has done to help promote our initiatives to allow us to grow. Ladies and gentlemen, George Latimer.