New Rochelle Mayor Delivers State of the City 17 Months After Last Address, Plenty of Optimism Little About City Finances
Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert celebrated development, housing and public improvements in her unusually late annual address, but left unanswered questions about the city’s finances, housing claims and unfinished projects.
DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 28, 2026) — For as long as I can remember, I have received an embargoed copy of New Rochelle’s State of the City address before the mayor delivers it. I follow along with the prepared text, note any significant departures from the written remarks and publish the speech on Talk of the Sound.
This year was different. I received no advance copy of Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert’s October 27 address and none afterward, despite requesting one. I have since sent two emails to City Communications Director John Jones seeking the speech, PowerPoint presentation, introductory video and other materials.
FACEBOOK VIDEO: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CJThwZyRs/
A recording is available on Facebook but, as of Wednesday, was not on the city’s website. Transcribing a 45-minute speech manually is tedious work that typically takes me about three to four hours. With no prepared text available, I am proceeding with my notes, screenshots, observations from attendees and the mayor’s previous two addresses.
UPDATE 10/28/2026 (the full speech posted to city website about noon)
New Rochelle Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert 2026 State of the City Address
A review of the prepared remarks confirms the principal findings of my original reporting and provides several additional details and clarifications:
- City finances: The mayor did not substantively discuss the upcoming city budget, late-year budget adjustments or the ongoing state comptroller audit. She thanked Finance Commissioner Alistair Featherstone and concluded by declaring the state of the city strong.
- Black Box Theater: The facility will become the Vanguard Center for the Arts in 2027, with a community advisory board helping shape its programming.
- Housing: The mayor reported slightly more than 4,500 completed housing units, another 6,500 in the pipeline and 2,800 additional units authorized through zoning changes. She also said Rose on Main is expected to open in March 2027 with 126 affordable condominiums.
- Employment: Since 2023, New Rochelle Forward has trained 162 residents, placed 83 in jobs and has another 12 placements pending. The mayor also reported summer employment funding for more than 650 young people.
- Stormwater: The prepared text confirms that the mayor combined $30 million in investments with more than $12 million in grants to describe more than $42 million being put to work. Whether the grants reimburse expenditures already included in the $30 million remains unresolved.
- Iona University: The proposed small-business hub at 500 Main Street is a partnership with Iona’s Hynes Institute, rather than a relocation of the university’s business school.
The prepared remarks also confirm the mayor’s characterization of the Wall Street Journal article as a study and a fact-check, as well as her statements about the LINC project.
The article continues as originally written:
This account is necessarily less complete than I would prefer. If the city provides the prepared speech, I will publish it on Talk of the Sound, with a link to the recording, and update this article if the additional material warrants it.
The absence of the prepared remarks is particularly frustrating because this was an unusual State of the City address, delivered nearly 10 months into the year and more than 17 months after the previous one. The mayor offered an upbeat assessment of New Rochelle’s progress, highlighting housing, economic development, infrastructure and parks, but apparently made no substantive assessment of the city’s financial condition just as the next budget is approaching.
Ramos-Herbert delivered her first State of the City on April 11, 2024, and her second on May 8, 2025. Her third, on October 27, 2026, came 17 months and 19 days later, the latest date for such an address in New Rochelle’s history.
The delay followed months of unanswered questions and an August 27 ethics complaint I filed concerning the mayor’s obligation under the City Charter to deliver an annual message. The Board of Ethics rejected the complaint on jurisdictional and ripeness grounds, noting that the Charter establishes no specific deadline within the calendar year. Its October 12 determination nevertheless acknowledged that the mayor announced the date after the complaint was received.
The mayor did not explain why she waited until almost Halloween.
