Reporting and Commentary by Robert Cox

Jeanne Claudet Forbes: The Woman Who Preserved New Rochelle’s Earliest History

DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 25, 2026) — More than a century ago, a New Rochelle woman undertook the painstaking task of deciphering, transcribing and translating the town’s oldest surviving municipal records, preserving documents that tell the story of the community’s earliest years. Her name was Jeanne Claudet Forbes, and in

A Family Reunion, a Newspaper Dynasty and an Unexpected Discovery in New Rochelle’s Past

DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 25, 2026) — In August, I received an email from James C. “Jim” Forbes Jr. of Atlanta, Georgia, telling me that eight members of his family had gathered in New Rochelle in July for a reunion. He included a photograph of the family members and a brief account

New Rochelle School Board Calls Vision 2030 Community Input “Early” More Than a Year After Initiative Began

DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 25, 2026) — The New Rochelle Board of Education has released a new flyer promoting community participation in Vision 2030, its initiative to rethink how the City School District of New Rochelle organizes its schools and delivers educational services. The flyer promises transparency, emphasizes that no decisions have

New Rochelle School Board Invites Public Input on Vision 2030 —Then Refuses to Answer Questions

DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 24, 2026) — The New Rochelle Board of Education says it wants community participation in Vision 2030, an initiative that could reshape the City School District of New Rochelle. But when I submitted 14 groups of questions about the Board’s promises, its selection of proposals and the

I Asked an Appeals Court to End New Rochelle’s Shrub Oak Secrecy Delay

DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 23, 2026) — After a full day preparing my response to the district’s appeal, the next decision belongs to the Appellate Division. I spent most of today, preparing and submitting an 18-page court filing in my continuing legal battle with the City School District of New

Why Is New Rochelle Holding Its State of the City Address So Far From Most of Its Residents?

85.6% of New Rochelle Residents Live Within Two Miles of City Hall, Compared With Just 10% Within Two Miles of Mayor Ramos-Herbert’s Chosen Venue at the JCC; 39,927 v 4,219 live within a 20 minute walk. DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 17, 2026) — I was on the

New Rochelle’s Ethics Board: What the Law Says, What City Hall Does, and What the Public Can Find Out

DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 17, 2026) — Following my examination of the city’s Board of Ethics, I am pursuing three additional lines of inquiry: how the board applies its own rules, how it handles and disposes of complaints, and whether it maintains the records that would allow the public to evaluate

Who Watches New Rochelle’s Ethics Watchdog?

DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 16, 2026) — An inquiry about an ethics complaint against a City Council member led me to examine why the municipal body responsible for enforcing ethical standards operates with so little transparency, and what the city should do about it. In June, Michael Cammer, a recently appointed member

The Public’s Right to Know: New Rochelle’s FOIL Stonewall — Part VI

See You in Court DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 15, 2026) — This is Part VI in a multi-part series. Over the first five installments of this series, I have examined what happened when I sought public records from the City of New Rochelle. The requests involved different subjects, different City departments

Two Years Later, Yadira Ramos-Herbert’s Ethics Defense Does Not Hold Up

New Rochelle’s $20 Million School Budget Hole: What Would Parkinson Think?

As student enrollment declines and administrative costs rise, a 70-year-old theory of bureaucratic expansion raises questions about New Rochelle's financial crisis. We're launching a long-term investigation and inviting experienced researchers, financial analysts and readers to help. DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 9, 2026) — Readers responding

The Public’s Right to Know: New Rochelle’s FOIL Stonewall Part V

DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 3, 2026) — This is Part V in a multi-part series. In the previous installments of this series, I have examined different ways a public-records request can go off the rails. There was Generations Church, where the City said an electronic search had identified more than