A New Rochelle retailer has delivered a blunt verdict on the city’s once-vaunted downtown mall: “It just sucks.”
The shopping center, New Roc City, opened in 1999 at 33 LeCount Place amid great fanfare and a nearly $200 million price tag, promising to anchor a revival of the long-neglected downtown. Spanning 1.2 million square feet, it debuted with Westchester County’s first IMAX theater, fitness and education businesses, dining options, and the Space Shot thrill ride that drew families and young visitors.
DC Andino, a county resident who once took classes at a nearby Monroe College campus, recalled the center’s early promise in a recent interview. “New Roc City was supposed to be the ultimate hangout spot for friends, couples and single people,” Andino said. “But now it’s dead. I grew up coming here and it used to be so lively. Now, it’s all dim and dead.”
The enclosed design and location have worked against the mall for years, community leaders said. The facility sits apart from the main street rather than integrated with it, a separation that has undermined its role in downtown life.
“It’s like Oz, and Oz isn’t real,” said Jim Killoran, a longtime New Rochelle activist and executive director of the Fuller Center for Housing of Greater New York City. “And who’s the wizard?
“It’s a mall next to a main street, and they call themselves separate,” Killoran continued. “There’s New Roc City and then there’s the rest of us. You don’t have people saying, ‘Hey, let’s go to New Roc tonight.’ It’s antithetical to a successful project. It’s like a whole different world to downtown.”
Safety concerns have compounded the mall’s struggles. A New Rochelle police outpost operates inside the shopping center, yet several disturbing incidents have occurred in recent years. Last year, a 47-year-old man was arrested on federal charges after a fire caused by a drug lab in a room at the Residence Inn hotel at New Roc City. In July 2024, police arrested two armed individuals in the New Roc parking garage following a nearby shooting. That came four months after shots were fired during a scuffle outside a Burger King inside the mall.
Groups of youngsters now occasionally roam the mall, intimidating patrons and families, while visible signs of disrepair and neglect mark the facility throughout.
James O’Toole, a local activist and past candidate for elected office, detailed the conditions in stark terms. “The smell of urine, elevators not working, rats and plenty of homeless in areas of the garage,” O’Toole said. “The fire system does not work after the city just installed a new one, most of the doors to the stairwells don’t work and most exit signs are not lit.
“There are plenty of abandoned cars on all levels of the garage,” he added. “The garage entrance near the Hotel has been closed off for over three months. The bottom level is littered with construction debris.”
New Rochelle resident Keith Collins offered a similarly grim assessment. “It’s abandoned,” Collins said. “We talk about this all the time.
“They need a medium level store like an Old Navy, maybe a Uniqlo or H&M,” he said. “For a mall, you need foot traffic.”
The city of approximately 80,000 residents has seen numerous high-rise residential buildings rise in recent years, with its Democrat-run City Council embracing a redevelopment strategy focused on walkable, transit-oriented development around the Metro-North station. That approach has targeted New York City commuters who do not typically frequent local establishments, a shift that has drawn shoppers away from the mall’s offerings.
Originally developed by Cappelli Enterprises, New Roc was sold nearly a decade ago to EPR Properties, a Kansas City-based real estate investment firm that still owns the facility. A spokesperson for the firm pushed back against characterizations of the mall as failed or unsafe. The shopping center “remains an active entertainment and mixed-use destination with tenants spanning entertainment, recreation, fitness, dining and hospitality,” the rep said in a statement.
“It has evolved over the years as consumer preferences and surrounding downtown have changed,” the spokesperson continued. “We continue to operate and invest in the property while evaluating opportunities to enhance its long-term role in New Rochelle.”
The rep added that EPR does not consider the mall unsafe or in disrepair, noting COVID-19’s impact on retailers and entertainment centers while asserting that New Roc “rebounded” with new tenants including an Audi dealership and Soccer Roof.
“Our focus is not on what might have been done differently, but on how New Roc City can evolved with the downtown,” the spokesperson said.
A representative for New Rochelle City Hall echoed that framing, saying the mall “has long been an important part of New Rochelle’s downtown and continues to evolve” alongside “significant growth investment” in the area. The rep said New Roc remains an important part of the city’s downtown plans.
The optimistic official stances contrast sharply with the view from one retailer doing business at the center, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It was a really bad idea and it didn’t work,” the retailer said. “They were trying to make it cool, but it just sucks. It’s a pain in the ass.
“New Roc City just sucks,” he reiterated. “It’s obviously been a big flop.”