Program areas at White Plains Downtown District Management Association
See schedule o for the description on the special events programspecial eventsin fiscal year 24/25 the bid presented the following special events:rock the block - a partnership with the city of White Plains, rock the block closed mamaroneck avenue between e. post road and maple avenue to vehicle traffic, converting it instead to an extension of the restaurants lining the block four times over the course of the summer. The public was able to dine al fresco, listen to live music broadcast from a stage and enjoy arts and crafts and games (ping pong, cornhole, etc.) In this free-to-the-public event. Approximately 3000-4000 attend each concert.jazzfest - jazzfest programing returned consisted of 5 days. Jazzfest is a partnership between the bid, artswestchester and the city of White Plains. The bid hosted a jazz stroll, dinner & a show (100-plus attendees) and sundays culminating event, similar to years past. Nearly 4,000 attended the events culminating event. Oktoberfest brought nearly 10,000 locals Downtown to delight in german beers sold by 10 local hospitality businesses. Several businesses provided seasonal oktoberfest dining options. An authentic oompah band played german classics and a plethora of competitions, games and family-friendly activities (including a sausage toss) took place on the 10/13 event. White Plains holiday market and the winter village - the White Plains bid, the city of White Plains and 914popups once again partnered to host the annual holiday market, a two-week shopping experience in the heart of Downtown White Plains. The fy25 holiday market featured 20 vendors, in wooden sheds to help drive business in our Downtown. This year the event included a winter village, making the market a multifaceted holiday destination with a life sized "selfie sleigh", a nine-hole mini golf course surrounded by a field of six-foot candy canes and "chill-ville-seven furnished warming igloos where residents could play board games, rent and enjoy s'mores kits or order in food from local restaurants. Restaurant month - the White Plains bid's restaurant month, a month dedicated to our Downtown restaurants featuring diverse menu options for lunch and/or dinner) returned from 1/3-1/31 in fy24. Feedback was very positive from the 21 restaurants participating and many elected to offer their specials partway through the month of february as well.wing walk on april 26, wing walk returned allowing those having purchased an affordable tasting bracelet ($25) to stroll the Downtown sampling over 32 chicken wing flavors at 16 participating restaurants and vote for their favorite wings. This year the bid introduced a new vip ticketing experience, which allowed participants to participate in the wing walk for the full event span, as opposed to a 2.5 hour window ($40). The bid handled all marketing, payment processing as well as event day check ins. Thousands of wings were consumed. Entertainment included live acoustic music curbside and a roving chicken mascot that delighted festival goers with fun selfies. Both the chef's choice and people's choice award categories remained. Smaller events: on 6/10 the bid presented "lunchtime live" a free outdoor concert at renaissance plaza park, featuring live music by the plus ones acoustic group and the opportunity to sit at moveable tables and chairs, in an effort to create a Downtown placemaking experience.
See schedule o for the description on bid placemaking/arts programmingbeautification & horticulturewpddma once again contracted with a nursery (tony caseli, Inc.) to plant and maintain multiple large street planters. Each Downtown planter managed by the bid was filled with a dazzling array of flowers including canna pretoria, nicotiana saratoga, coleus, angelonia, impomoea and scaevola. These plantings coupled with many more done by the city of White Plains brought significant beauty to our Downtown corridors. The bid also again sponsored a planting refresh of the urban garden at renaissance plaza.
See schedule o for the description on the clean sweep programclean sweep programthe White Plains Downtown District Management Association's (wpddma) clean sweep and gum removal program is designed to improve the cleanliness and attractiveness of the Downtown. Without this program Downtown, litter baskets would quickly be overwhelmed by the volume of pedestrians on the streets during lunch and evening hours. The wpddma's clean team, clad in highly recognizable and logo'd hats, and coats works 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year to ensure that loose trash on the street is removed. In fiscal year 2024/2025 the clean team helped to remove over 2,000 trash bags per month from the business improvement District's sidewalks and its 99 trash receptacles. The wpddma's clean team also removes gum spots for the bid's sidewalks. During fy24/25 the wpddma's clean team spent an approximate 100 hours removing gum Downtown. Fy25 was the entire first year the bid operated under a new contract with streetplus llc and in that fiscal year the company nearly doubled its presence on the avenue in terms of hours, and provided painting of all chipped street furniture ( bench legs and tree grates) along the mamaroneck avenue zone in the bid boundaries.
Local business supportin addition to the three large programs above, the bid spent significant time welcoming new businesses to the neighborhood (coordinating ribbon cuttings, answering questions, distributing pertinent parts of city code, etc. ), marketing our local businesses on social media and in our e-newsletter, and serving as a liaison, most frequently between city government and local businesses with questions.