After seven years as second fiddle, Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins now leads the band.
The business community had a glimpse of what’s to come the morning of Thursday, Jan. 23, when Jenkins held what was billed as a “fireside chat” with Westchester County Association President Michael Romita at the Pelham Country Club.
The talk came as the Jenkins administration faced its first crisis: the decision of Standard Amusements to terminate its 30-year management agreement to run Playland amusement park after only three years.
Among other issues on Jenkins’ mind: the future of Westchester County Center; the bogged-down Westchester County Airport master plan; and the rise in county property taxes in its special districts.
Jenkins, D-Yonkers, who was deputy county executive under George Latimer for seven years, was appointed county executive on an interim basis on Jan. 7. He spoke with Romita as he gears up for a Feb. 11 special election to fill out the final year of Latimer’s second term.
He’ll face Deputy Elections Commissioner Christine Sculti, a Rye Republican, in February. He’ll run again in November for a full four-year term.
Jenkins said he was proud of the Latimer administration’s assistance to businesses looking to invest in Westchester.
“The work that we do is getting out in the streets and working with everyone and making a difference in removing roadblocks,” Jenkins said.
What’s next for Westchester County Center
Plotting the future of the Westchester County Center is among the top issues on Jenkins’ agenda as the county starts to reimagine what could come next for the aging venue, last renovated in the 1980s. Gone is its role as a health-care hub during the COVID pandemic. Gone to Brooklyn is the New York Liberty women’s professional basketball team.
Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins chats with attendees at the Westchester County Association’s annual business breakfast at Pelham Country Club Jan. 23, 2025.
Latimer had hoped to address the County Center in his second term, but his term was cut short a year with his election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Jenkins is concerned with possible competition from MGM Resorts’ plan for a 5,000-seat entertainment venue in Yonkers if it wins New York state approval for a full casino operation.
“We are working with our friends at MGM in Yonkers, which is going to be great for the city of Yonkers and Westchester County,” said Jenkins. “But the reality is that they want to build a 5,000-seat arena as part of their development. We all wish on the county side that they would build a 10,000-seat arena because we have a small County Center that has a 5,000-seat capacity that would be kind of in direct competition with that.”
More: Latimer launches new airport master plan process with pledge for robust public engagement
Reviving Westchester County Airport master plan
Another project from the Latimer years that’s yet to come to fruition is a new master plan for Westchester County Airport. Latimer launched the plan in February 2020, but it has languished as the Latimer administration became bogged down in litigation over expansion plans and new services offered by the county’s fixed-base operators that serve private planes.
Also in play is the future of the airport parking garage, still run by a corporation whose partners include prominent White Plains developer Louis Cappelli. The garage was to revert to Westchester in 2025, but the county gave Cappelli’s company an additional 29 months to 2027.
Jenkins said the COVID pandemic, which disrupted air traffic less than a month after Latimer announced the new planning study, derailed the study, which never got back up to speed after restrictions were lifted.
“We’ve got to get our master plan back on track,” said Jenkins. “Stay tuned as we move forward with that. There’s certainly some legal challenges that are going on right now, but we are going to get through those.”
Westchester’s general fund could rise
During the talk, Jenkins noted how the Latimer administration had lowered county property taxes in its general fund during four of the past six years. Romita, citing my columns in recent years, noted that county taxes had risen quite dramatically during the Latimer administration’s tenure, thanks to rising taxes in special districts.
Jenkins warned that continued reductions in the general fund may not be on the horizon.
More: Cappelli’s donations ‘purely coincidental’ to new lease at airport garage, says Jenkins
“All the financial folks in the room would say, ‘Can you keep that going?’ “ Jenkins said. “That answer is probably not.”
Jenkins said tax increases in the special districts, which do not impact all county taxpayers, have not heavily burdened property owners, even though the percentage increases were substantial.
“The number says it’s like 9%, but it’s $20 to $50 a year, so we are able to get back to investing across the board,” said Jenkins.
Ken Jenkins’ pop culture favorites
Romita’s conversation with Jenkins ended with a lighting round of personal questions that touched on the county executive’s tastes in the entertainment and sports world.
His favorite musical artist? The late R&B singer Luther Vandross.
His favorite movie? Star Wars.
His favorite streaming series: The Lincoln Lawyer.
His high school TV crush: Bernadette Stanis, who played Thelma in Good Times.
His favorite sports star: Reggie Jackson.
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David McKay Wilson writes about tax issues and government accountability. Follow him on Twitter @davidmckay415 or email him at dwilson3@lohud.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Westchester NY exec Ken Jenkins talks airport, county center, taxes
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