New Roc City

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New Roc City in New Rochelle, NY

New Roc City is an entertainment complex in New Rochelle, New York. It opened in the summer of 1999 as the centerpiece of the efforts to revitalize the downtown area of New Rochelle. The 1.2 million square-foot project cost $190 million and featured a 19-screen movie theater, Westchester County's first IMAX theater (preceding White Plains City Center's Cinema de Lux), mini-golf, go karts, a skating rink, an arcade, a health club and laser tag. There is a small police sub-precinct at the center of New Street. New Roc began a major conversion into a retail based complex beginning in May of 2008.^[1]

The core and shell architecture for New Roc City was designed by the White Plains, New York-based architecture firm Peg Park LLC. PEG Park was also the architect of record for this project. The Design for the exterior facades and the interiors of the Sports Plus center was done by Haverson Architecture & Design PC from Greenwich, Connecticut. At the request of the developer Louis Capelli, the facades were designed to resemble classic New York City buildings. The interiors of the Sports Plus center were designed based on a New York City theme as well. Originally, what is now the Speedway, was a second ice skating rink themed to look like Central Park. When viewed from this rink, the second and third floors were given faux detailing to mimic the riveted steel construction seen at Grand Central Station. The third floor arcades were themed to look like NYC rooftops. Murals depicting the surrounding NYC skyline surround the whole third floor. Faux brick and stone parapet walls along with dramatic lighting enhance the rooftop effect.

Atop New Roc City, in the center of the New Roc Fun House Arcade sits an amusement ride called the Space Shot.^[2] It is a 185-ft tall 8'x 8' wide tower with 12 seats on a roller assembly attached to the outside of the tower. The ride is powered by hydraulic pistons and shoots riders to the top of the tower in less than 3 seconds, offering a stomach churning thrill, as well as brief yet fantastic views of the Long Island Sound and the surrounding areas.

New Roc City also contains a bowling alley (New Roc'n Bowl), 25 table billiards hall (New Roc Rack & Cue), electric go-kart track (New Roc Speedway), an ice skating rink (New Roc Ice Skating Center), a glow in the dark miniature golf course (Putting Edge), a Marriott Residence Inn, a Bally Total Fitness, EastWest Karate Jujitsu, an ice cream cafe, a Modell's store, and an EB Games in the complex ^[3]. For three seasons starting in the fall of 2000, New Roc's Ice Rink was the home of the men's Division I hockey team for nearby Iona College, hosting games with schools including West Point Military Academy, Colgate, UConn, and Quinnipiac. Iona terminated its hockey program after the 2002-2003 season.

Nearly 200 police officers in riot gear dispersed a rowdy crowd of approximately 1,000 teenagers from New York City who converged on New Roc City on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007. Two were injured and six were arrested in the incident. ^[4] Following the incident, local officials announced plans to improve security and discourage loitering at New Roc City. ^[5] It was also reported that the complex was undergoing transition to "a primarily retail facility."^[5] After the event, New Roc City imposed restrictions on customers under age 18.^[6]

[edit] Anchors

Regal Cinemas, Inc. (120,000 sq. ft.)
Fun Fuzion @ New Roc City (formerly Sports Plus) (140,000 sq. ft.)
Stop & Shop Supermarket (70,000 sq. ft.)
New Rochelle Residence Inn by Marriott (all-suite hotel)
Ice Rink - Starting in the fall of 2000, New Roc's Ice Rink became the home of the Men's Division I (MAAC, now known as Atlantic Hockey) Hockey Team for nearby Iona College. For three seasons, the program played its home games at the Roc. There, Iona played host to a number of notable collegiate hockey programs including; West Point Military Academy, Colgate, UCONN, Quinnipiac, among others. The Iona Hockey program was scrapped following the 2002-2003 season.