New Rochelle set aside $2.25 million to fill and fix up downtown storefronts. A walk past the businesses that got the money shows a clear pattern. Most of it is going to people who were already cooking, roasting or running a business in the city. Many of them are spending it on the hours after work: a beer garden, an evening event room, a café that turns into a bar at night.
The city calls it the Retail Tenant Improvement Fund. A business or property owner can get up to $250,000 for physical improvements, expansion or relocation costs. The recipient has to put in matching money, at a 50% match rate, so a $100,000 award needs $50,000 from the business. The money can't be used for payroll or daily operations. It pays for rooms, finishes and equipment. The first round, announced in May 2025, split $1.12 million among eight recipients. Five more were named in January 2026, according to Talk of the Sound.
The money pays for what owners couldn't afford the first time
Kevin Rucker co-owns Casaroma Café at 391 Huguenot Street with Yaretsy Flores and Donnell Culver. In an August interview with Westfair's Westchester County Business Journal, he explained what the grant changed:
"When we first opened, we couldn't afford a lot of what we'd planned. You open with what you can pay for and you tell yourself you'll fix the rest later. The grant is what let us do 'later' sooner."
Casaroma has since reopened. Rucker roasts the coffee himself, and he told the Journal the shop brings in about 70% of the business's revenue. The city's own description of the award lays out the plan: the café is rearranging its space to hold more evening programming, arts events and social gatherings. Rucker told the Journal that the book club is about 18 months old and has around 400 members. A crochet club is growing fast. A recent Paws & Portraits event offered pet owners free portraits, which are going on display at the Vanda Gallery next door. His goal for the calendar is "a reason the room is full at 6 p.m. on a Wednesday, not just 10 a.m. on a Saturday." The café is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The same reasoning, finishing a room that was planned from the start, explains the biggest single award on the list.
Leroy Place, where one family has cooked for decades
Andrew Abraham's family has run Indian restaurants in New Rochelle for a long time. Westfair reported that an uncle opened Abilash, one of the city's early Indian restaurants, in the 1980s. Abraham's parents opened Shirley's India in 1997, building it around catering and takeout. During the pandemic, Abraham turned Shirley's into a takeout spot serving South Indian fusion. In 2025, Westchester Magazine wrote about his next step, a sit-down room next door with an adjoining beer garden.
That room is Mona, at 15 Leroy Place. Its full opening came in May 2026, as reported by LoHud. The cooking draws on Kerala, the state in southern India where Abraham's family is from, and the bar program is built for lingering. In Malayalam, the name means "son." Abraham told Westchester Magazine, "I'm a New Rochelle kid, I have a lot of hometown pride."
Mona's grant of about $250,000 is going toward the next phase, according to Westfair: an outdoor garden, pergola and bar of roughly 7,000 square feet. As of September, Abraham was still working through architectural plans and building department approval. The restaurant's website says the expansion is planned "By 2027." For now, the site describes a hidden garden speakeasy at the center of the bar.
Mona already works with several of its neighbors.
- 18th Ward Brewing, 40 Division Street, is just down the block. Abraham worked with the brewery on Maanga, a pilsner with mango and cardamom notes that's poured at both places. The brewery's homepage lists a 2026 gold medal for Maanga Experimental Ale. On the taproom's calendar this week: Mario Kart Monday tonight, October 12, and trivia on Wednesday, October 14.
- 4Bros Pizza on Division Street worked with Abraham on a chicken tikka pizza.
- Krave, a Caribbean spot at 8 South Division Street, has co-sponsored events with Mona. Krave is open Wednesday through Friday from 5 to 10 p.m., Saturday from 2 to 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. It's closed Monday and Tuesday.
Shirley's India, Krave and 4Bros Pizza all took part in the city's Taste of Leroy event in July 2025. When the garden opens, it will add outdoor seating to a block where the businesses already work together.
Huguenot Street after work
On Huguenot Street and nearby, the grants are backing places to spend an evening that aren't restaurants.
PickleRage opened this spring at 173 Huguenot Street. Talk of the Sound described it as a 42,000-square-foot climate-controlled club with 13 regulation courts, locker rooms with showers, and video recording on the courts. Owners Henry Sztul and Brian Snyder are friends who play the game, and coaching is led by Geoffrey Jagdfeld. The club's site lists it as open seven days a week, with court booking available online.
At 389 Huguenot, next door by street number to Casaroma, the grant is outfitting the Lincoln Park Conservancy History & Cultural Center, a space for Black history and heritage. The city says the money will add a podcast studio, flexible seating, a lighting grid on the ceiling and updated furniture. On Main Street, The Self Studio at 632 Main offers yoga, meditation and sound baths in an infrared-heated room. Its regular weekly schedule started July 11, 2026.
The January round also backed Jolo's Vegan Kitchen at 49 Lawton Street. Jolo's has served Caribbean plant-based food, fresh juices and patties since 2008, and the grant is paying to renovate its kitchen and event space for more community events. Roc N Ramen, a longtime spot at 19 Anderson Street known for mixing Asian and Caribbean cooking, was part of the first round.
Businesses moving within downtown
Several awards are paying for businesses to relocate within downtown. The city's recipient list shows three businesses leaving 466 Main Street. Hour to Exit, the escape room, is moving to 33 LeCount Place, and New Roc City's owners got their own award to help build out that space. Touch D Medical Spa has moved to 602 North Avenue. V&M Sherman DDS is moving to 165 Huguenot Street. None of the published material explains why they're leaving 466 Main.
LeCount Place is where much of this is landing. Teriyaki Madness opened at 20 LeCount on April 24, 2026. QSR Magazine reported that the location is run by Tony Santarelli's Jumping Rock Management and that several team members are from New Rochelle. Ray's Empanadas, known for its oxtail empanadas, is listed by the city at 17 LeCount Place. The business's own site still describes it as a mobile operation, and a storefront there hasn't been confirmed.
What's open and what's still coming
| Business | Address | Status as of mid-October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Mona's 7,000 sq ft garden and bar | 15 Leroy Place | In design and approvals, planned by 2027 |
| Hour to Exit, new location | 33 LeCount Place | Underway, no opening date posted |
| All the Way Café | 72 Centre Avenue | Announced, no opening date |
| Graze Craze | 64 Centre Avenue | Listed by the franchise, hours not posted |
| Toast Coffee + Kitchen | One Clinton Park | Lease signed, projected early 2027 |
The Centre Avenue project follows the same pattern. Matthew Di Gesu, who owns Pizzeria La Rosa in New Rochelle, got the latest award listed for All the Way Café, a daytime café that becomes a bar at night. The city places it in the Downtown Vanguard District, its name for the retail, dining and entertainment area around Anderson Plaza. Toast Coffee + Kitchen is the exception. Daily Voice reported that it signed a lease for about 5,000 square feet on the ground floor of One Clinton Park, which will be its first Westchester location. It doesn't appear on the grant list.
A weeknight loop this month
All three stops below are open now and downtown:
- Coffee at Casaroma on Huguenot before 7 p.m., and check whether a club meets that evening.
- Walk to Leroy Place for dinner and a cocktail at Mona.
- Finish at 18th Ward on Division Street for a pour of Maanga, or trivia if it's a Wednesday.
If you'd rather play than sit, PickleRage is also on Huguenot Street, at number 173.
Jenny Jaffe has lived on the Sound Shore for decades and keeps track of what opens, what moves and what's still in approvals. If you're wondering how downtown New Rochelle's next few openings might affect a home sale or purchase, Jennifer Jaffe can walk you through it. Schedule a Local Market Consultation.
