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Small Businesses in Route 9W Corridor Say Road Construction May Be Their Death Knell
By Tina Traster
Rocky Alexander’s transition from corporate man to entrepreneur was personal. Shedding more than half his body weight with bariatric surgery and clean eating, the former 450-pound man originally shared his experience on social media.
But when his clean eating tips became a Facebook sensation, Alexander ventured into a bricks-and-mortar fast casual restaurant, Rock’s Kitchen, which opened at 158 Colonial Plaza at 158 South Liberty Drive (Route 9W) in 2018.
Alexander has soldiered through the challenges of opening a restaurant (most establishments fail within the first year), the COVID pandemic and rising inflationary pressures. But the disastrous traffic bottleneck and construction nightmare along Route 9W from road work on the Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE) pipeline might be the end of the line for Alexander’s business, which serves high-protein, low carb healthy fare, including vegan and gluten-free options, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“We started feeling it about eight months ago,” said Alexander, a Stony Point resident, “We’ve watched our numbers slide. At first, we thought it was just us, but we know it’s affecting all the businesses. The parking lots at the shopping centers during lunchtime are empty. People can’t get back and forth to their jobs in time to grab something so they stay away.”
Alexander said revenue is down 25 percent year to date. He doubts his business will survive, unless traffic eases or CHPE provides some kind of compensation for the loss of pedestrian and car traffic to his restaurant.
He is not alone. Other businesses, including fast food and fast casual restaurants, nail salons, liquor stores and others are suffering from a project that has choked the main artery of Stony Point’s commercial district with construction obstacles.
“The businesses are blocked in, there is zero business, some of their numbers are down as much as 75 percent,” said Mari Rodriguez, a North Rockland Chamber of Commerce member who is working with her board to see how they can help.
“This is tragic,” she added. “Many of these businesses have been there for decades. These business owners live here. They’re not fly-by-nights. They are what keeps Stony Point alive. Or used to.”
Many are miffed that CHPE has spread around funding for “fun events” like concerts, while longtime businesses owned by locals are left to flail.
Rodriguez emphasized that many of these business owners are likely to leave Stony Point because of the hardship.
Mom and pop businesses along Route 9W feel like there is nowhere to turn for relief from CHPE’s havoc. The project is slated to deliver 1,250 megawatts of renewable energy to New York City. The service area does not include Rockland County.
Seven years ago, Harry Floersheim lost his Wall Street job during a downsizing stint. After 15 years away from Stony Point, he returned and bought Halligan’s Public House on 32 South Liberty Drive in the Patriot Shopping Center, where he’d been bartending for years. Like Alexander, he squeaked his way through the pandemic, adding “we still have open wounds from COVID.” But the CHPE project is depleting his hopes of surviving. He reports revenue is down 25 percent year to date.
“It’s a disaster,” he said. “We’re praying to God we don’t fail. It’s getting worse and worse. I don’t even like coming to work, I drive the back roads to get here”
Floersheim, along with other business owners, feels slighted because some property owners received significant sums for easements. 52 Church Street 2002 LLC, the owner of the Patriot Shopping Center, received $420,000 from CHPE in May of 2024 for an easement under its property.
The Town of Stony Point is slated to receive $5.3 million for capital improvements, with $2.9 million for road improvements once the project is completed.
“None of the money has trickled down to us,” said Alexander. “Property owners who sold easements have not disseminated monies to tenants.”
According to the CHPE spokesperson, “there have been instances where CHPE has secured easements from property owners when construction activities have encroached on private property, but those easements can only be negotiated with owners, and conversations about accommodations for specific business interruption or impacts would need to take place between tenants and their landlord.”
Traveling on Route 9W in Stony Point is a challenge with detours, road closures, and police presence. On at least one detour, there were no direction signs to get back to 9W. Cars were simply shuffled west on Central Drive with the best guess as to how to reconnect to Route 9W.
“We understand that CHPE cable installation and Orange and Rockland gas line work happening along 9W in Rockland County is causing disruption to residents and businesses along 9W from Congers to Stony Point and we work daily with police departments, emergency services, elected officials and individual businesses and residents to make any adjustments we can to reduce those impacts and to improve communication and traffic flow,” according to the CHPE spokesperson.
Rodriguez said that even after construction is completed, the damage will be longstanding because people who’ve stopped coming here will continue to believe the area is untenable.
Prior to construction, CHPE secured agreements with affected towns and villages to utilize the rights-of-way owned by municipalities. The Town of Haverstraw got $6.8 million for a Community Fund; the Village of Haverstraw, $3.5 million for a Community Fund, and $3.85 million for a Streetscape Fund; the Village of West Haverstraw got $2.5 million for a Community Fund and $2.23 million for a Streetscape Fund; and the Town Clarkstown scored $3.9 million for a Community Fund.
To date, Stony Point has spent roughly $400,000 on capital improvements including new bathrooms at town parks, HVAC upgrades in the courthouse, pool upgrades and more. There are plans to use CHPE funds to offset a major upgrade to the wastewater treatment plan.
CHPE also negotiated with several towns, villages, and school districts for PILOT (Payment in Lieu Of Taxes) Agreements to provide some certainty in its tax obligations going forward. Other parcel owners along the route negotiated easements with CHPE, with some receiving as little as $10,000, while most received more. For example, CHPE paid $250,000 for a temporary easement of 1.84 acres and a permanent easement of .25 acres at 146 South Liberty Drive to Barmart Development Corporation.
Town Supervisor Jim Monaghan says he’s heard from many distressed business owners.
“Businesses are losing their shirts,” said Monaghan. “But here’s my concern. As an example, the Patriot Square Shopping Center has been compensated but the stores have not gotten reduced rents. This is disastrous to our small business owners. They are struggling.”
Monaghan said he speaks weekly with CHPE executives to discuss the project. He’s been told construction will be completed in November but remains skeptical, adding, “I’ll believe it when I see it. There are always unforeseen complications.” On top of that, O&R’s project to replace gas lines has been exacerbating the disruption to the town.
“Stony Point will receive $18 million over 30 years in taxes,” said Monaghan, adding that it’s good for taxpayers but it doesn’t help small businesses right now. “It’s not like I can write them a check.”
The CHPE power line that will transmit hydroelectric power that originates in Quebec, runs beneath Lake Champlain, surfaces around the capital region, runs under the Hudson River below Greene County, and then resurfaces in Rockland County before re-entering the Hudson River en route to Queens. It will pass through 15 New York counties and cover 339 miles with plans to power the equivalent of more than one million households. In Rockland, it will run through parts of Stony Point, the Town of Haverstraw, the villages of Haverstraw and West Haverstraw and parts of the Town of Clarkstown before re-entering the Hudson River to its final destination, Astoria, Queens.
