Team New Castle: 'We're Open for Business'

NEW CASTLE, N.Y. – Team New Castle held a press conference Thursday to discuss its ideas for bringing business back into town.

The group is made up of local Republican candidates: Bob Kirkwood, candidate for town supervisor, Richard Diefenbach, candidate for town council, and Kevin Moore, candidate for town justice.  The group was also joined by Yorktown Councilman Terrance Murphy, candidate for county legislature’s 4th district.

“The town needs to announce it’s open for business,” said Kirkwood. “We need to market as a desirable location for IT, intellectual capital companies, medical and bio-technology firms.”

Diefenbach focused on what he considers to be the “vitality” and “historic charm” of the New Castle area. He proposed making signage on buildings more attractive and installing information kiosks around town. Diefenbach also tossed in the idea of having a downtown area trolley for special events. 

Diefenbach said he believes that by making these small changes, businesses will be more apt to choose New Castle as headquarter locations. “Resident taxpayers are being squeezed, and it is critical for the town to enhance its commercial tax base,” he said.

“We're here to listen,” said Diefenbach. “If our residents have ideas, we want to hear them.”

Murphy spoke about Team New Castle's plan to eliminate second floor mandates and regulations, which he believes discourages local commerce. 

One idea they offered as a means to bring business to town is to solicit a grocery store to Chappaqua to fill the empty space left after D'Agostino’s closed.

“New Castle residents pay some of the highest taxes around,” Murphy said. “There are a lot of things you want to rank number one as, but this is not it.”

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