New Rochelle, Pelham, Port Chester Among Those Recognized by Welcome Home Westchester

Welcome Home Westchester (WHW), a multi-stakeholder pro-housing advocacy effort, announced the release of its Housing Policy Scorecards for all 43 cities, towns, and villages in the county at Pelham Village Hall on Friday, December 12.

“Westchester, like our entire region, faces a significant housing shortage that can only be addressed by taking a comprehensive look at our local policies,” said Kate Slevin, executive vice president at WHW partner organization Regional Plan Association. “This report card is an important step toward understanding where communities are making meaningful progress and where additional action is needed to ensure every municipality contributes to solving our shared housing challenges.”

In September 2025, the Welcome Home Westchester campaign unveiled the “Five in 2025: Options That Every Westchester City, Town, and Village Can Take to Address the Housing Shortage” agenda to encourage every municipality to look at what policy reforms their peer communities had adopted and make progress on the policy that made the most sense to their housing needs. The five policies cited by this agenda were:

1. Produce a housing action plan;
2. Create a Green Fast Track for environmentally friendly and sustainable types of housing;
3. Promote accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and transit-oriented development (TOD);
4. Establish a “Core Curriculum” for land use board volunteers’ in-service training; and
5. Use the state-provided tools and become a Pro-Housing Community.

The newly-released scorecards evaluate each Westchester municipality’s progress on those specific reforms, which the campaign believes will lay a strong foundation to promote sustainable growth and be part of the solution for our housing shortage. By enacting reforms such as these, communities can set themselves up for smart housing growth in the years to come.

“Welcome Home Westchester’s inaugural Municipal Housing Scorecard report is a first of its kind tool that tracks the advancement of pro-housing policy throughout the county. It is a transparent measure of progress,” said Michael Romita, president & CEO of Westchester County Association, a partner organization of WHW. “The Westchester County Association applauds those municipalities that score well and encourages others to increase their efforts to embrace the Five in 2025 agenda. In addition to policy adoption, we recognize those communities that have aggressively increased their housing stock.”

With statewide efforts such as the Pro-Housing Community Program and significant investments from Westchester County, addressing the housing shortage is an all-hands-on-deck effort.

“Westchester County greatly appreciates the advocacy of Welcome Home Westchester. Since 2018, under the Latimer and Jenkins administrations, over 4,300 new units of affordable housing have been built with an additional 1,500 in the pipeline. We take great pride in the new innovative financing programs we have enacted,” Joan McDonald, director of operations for Westchester County, said. “Our $90 Million Flex Fund will create 1,200 new units of affordable housing. Building on that success, the recently adopted 2026 budget included $25 Million for Flex Fund II as proposed by County Executive Jenkins. The County Landlord Tenant Assistance Program (LTAP) provided $10 Million in much needed repair funds to housing authorities and buildings with 8 units or less. We will continue to work with our partners to explore innovative ways to produce housing in Westchester County.”

Tim Foley, CEO of the Building & Realty Institute (BRI), a partner organization of WHW, stated: "Westchester County has seen a surge in housing production over the last five years, and we are grateful for the elected leaders who have made that happen. However, we know that changes in leadership, a surge in local opposition, or unintentionally antiquated or sclerotic processes can create multi-year delays that prevent building the housing we need. We have been championing these five policies as a way to lay a strong foundation for sustainable housing growth in which every community could play a part. We also strongly believe that nothing is as contagious as a positive example, and urge other communities to study what their peers have done and figure out if it would apply to their own city, town, or village."

The Top 10 Model Westchester Communities for Housing Reform were also recognized, representing municipalities that have successfully implemented multiple Five in 2025 policies and provide recent examples of smart housing policy reform and growth. Those recognized are: Town of Cortlandt, Village of Croton-on-Hudson, City of New Rochelle, Village of Ossining, City of Peekskill, Village of Pelham, Village of Port Chester, Village of Sleepy Hollow, Village of Tarrytown and City of White Plains.

Croton-on-Hudson Mayor Brian Pugh stated: Croton-on-Hudson thanks Welcome Home Westchester for recognizing our successful efforts to provide new, diverse housing opportunities—from market-rate to affordable rental units and condominiums—critical for addressing the regional shortage. This investment broadens our tax base, creates jobs, supports local businesses, and provides homes for new residents, seniors, and young people returning to the community. We are grateful to all the dedicated participants and partners whose guidance will continue to be essential in the important days ahead.

Village of Pelham Mayor Chance Mullen asserted: "Welcome Home Westchester has shifted the regional dialogue by showing that new housing can take many forms, tailored to each community’s needs and character. If we want to make progress for the people we serve, municipal leaders should engage in this work with creativity, not just out of obligation. I'm grateful for their leadership."

Justin C. Brasch, White Plains mayor-elect, stated, “People who work in White Plains are having a hard time finding housing and paying their bills. We want people who work here — such as firefighters, police officers, teachers, city employees and hospital employees — to be able to afford to live in White Plains, so we are very focused on workforce housing. Most of us in public service want to make the world a better place. If people are having a terrible time finding affordable housing that is within their means, everyone should be working hard to build more affordable housing.”

Welcome Home Westchester’s full 2025 Municipal Housing Scorecard report may be viewed here.

About Welcome Home Westchester
The Welcome Home Westchester campaign is a multi-stakeholder advocacy effort consisting of business and nonprofit leaders, companies involved in homebuilding and the development of housing, academics, think tanks, anti-homelessness advocates, climate activists, faith leaders, and community advocates working together to drive a public conversation around fixing Westchester County’s housing shortage.

We work to shine a spotlight on the everyday barriers to providing the housing we need, and encourage our communities to make different, better choices. We believe that doing so will secure a Westchester that is welcoming to all who wish to live and work here – to our shared prosperity! www.welcomehomewestchester.org