DUBLIN, IRELAND (December 14, 2025) — I decided to rename the newsletter. I was going to hold off until the New Year but what the heck. I got a bit backed up with the Article 78 so did not work on the newsletter on Sunday per usual so forgive the delay
NEW ROCHELLE, NY (December 11, 2025) — The city of New Rochelle has posted a bid for on-call balloon decoration services, specification number 5832, with bids due by 3 p.m. on January 7, 2026. Seriously — on-call balloons!
DUBLIN, IRELAND (December 8, 2025) — City Manager Will Melendez has become a laughingstock across New York State and he could not care less as long as his checks clear. Melendez is being paid a $190,000 base salary in 2025, plus $114,000 in benefits (health, pension, etc.), for a
This “last chance” email was sent to New Rochelle Deputy Counsel Jeffrey Briem with copies to City Manager Will Melendez, City Clerk Kim Jones, Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert and all six council members.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (December 5, 2025) — A November 20, 2025 letter from the attorney representing the sole bidder on New Rochelle’s withdrawn Flowers Park redevelopment project directly contradicts City Manager Will Melendez’s latest claim that the city never surrendered the original proposal. The letter, obtained through a
Dear City Manager Melendez This letter constitutes my administrative appeal, pursuant to Public Officers Law (POL) § 89(4)(a), of the City of New Rochelle’s denial of my Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request dated October 30, 2025, and subsequent renewed and expanded requests dated November 13, 2025, and
NEW ROCHELLE, NY (December 1, 2025) — Despite bleating on endlessly about transparency and public engagement, Yadira & Co. are by far the least transparent group to run City Hall in anyone’s memory. What has just happened with the Flowers Park RFP Response is a despicable, deceitful act by City
NEW ROCHELLE, NY (November 30, 2025) — I received a rather odd, unsolicited email last week from a person I do not know: Ryan J. Kurtz, a Democratic candidate for Pelham Manor trustee who is currently trailing by two votes in a race headed for a recount Tuesday, complaining about my
DUBLIN, IRELAND (November 23, 2025) — We had a very nice, quick trip to Paris: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Sainte-Chapelle, Pont Neuf Bridge (come alone!), Musée Louvre, Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, Jardin des Tuileries, Musée D'Orsay, Hôtel des Invalides (Napoleon’s Tomb), Tour Eiffel and Palais Garnier to
PARIS, FRANCE (November 16, 2025) — It has been quite a hot streak for me: Westchester Power… Dead. Flowers Park RFP… Dead. Flavio La Rocca Land Grab… Dead. Phil Colasuonno $2.7 mm Tax Scam… Dead. Other shoes to drop: Sustainable Westchester fires Noam Bramson? Westchester County District Attorney drops indictments
DUBLIN, IRELAND (November 14, 2025) — Michael Balter of The Croton Chronicle interviewed Noam Bramson on Monday. He published the results here: Why did Sustainable Westchester pull the plug on its Community Choice Aggregation program? It is definitely a must read for Noam Bramson and Sustainable Westchester fans. One paragraph, in
DUBLIN, IRELAND (November 12, 2025) — As the New Rochelle City Council prepares to be put on full-blast at tonight’s Citizens to be Heard, I wanted to throw together a few disparate tidbits to round out my gaslighting series, content I gathered later or new issues and questions that have
DUBLIN, IRELAND (November 9, 2025) — In a welcome, long-sought result (by me and many of my readers anyway!), Westchester Power is ceasing operations this month and all customers will be returned to Con Edison or NYSEG, signaling the death rattle of Sustainable Westchester and it’s Green Tyranny. This is
DUBLIN, IRELAND (November 7, 2025) — Sustainable Westchester has announced it will end its Westchester Power community energy program on Nov. 30, returning tens of thousands of customers across 26 municipalities to default Con Edison or NYSEG service. The nonprofit cited new state regulations that made continuing the program unfeasible. In
DUBLIN, IRELAND (November 6, 2025) — In my Words in Edgewise “gaslighting” series last week I tucked a section entitled “Shane Osinloye Rant” into Yadira & Co. Gaslighting on New Rochelle’s Flowers Park - Part II. Of course, you should read that article in full - and the entire series!
DUBLIN, IRELAND (November 4, 2025) — Part VIII of this series accuses New Rochelle City Manager Will Melendez of misusing a New York Times headline to alarm the city council into approving an unnecessary, costly public-private partnership for Flowers Park. Melendez misled the city council by displaying a misleading headline from
DUBLIN, IRELAND (November 2, 2025) — The deadline for the Flowers Park RFP, October 29, has come and gone. I immediately made a FOIL request to the Clerk for all the bid documents. I also asked Bob Young, and I asked Will Melendez. Dear City Manager, The deadline for submitting bids
NEW ROCHELLE, NY (October 31, 2025) — I haven’t poked around the Westchester media landscape in a while, so I figured it was time to fire some questions at Grok AI and see what bubbled up. I’m especially curious about social media numbers after my own Talk of the
DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 29, 2025) — Part VII of this series of this series documents how New Rochelle City Manager Will Melendez misled the city council claiming he has plans to put in place costly 50- to 100-year flood protections for Flowers Park when no such plan exists (or is needed)
DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 29, 2025) — Part VI of this series scrutinizes a presentation slide used by New Rochelle City Manager Will Melendez to justify expensive 50- to 100-year flood protection for Flowers Park. The slide features four flooding videos, of which only one actually depicts the park—near Gate 226,
DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 28, 2025) — Part V of this series dismantles New Rochelle City Manager Will Melendez’ slide on storm-related costs at Flowers Park. Melendez highlights three storms—2007 Nor’easter, 2021 Hurricane Ida remnants, and 2023 Tropical Storm Ophelia—to argue for 50- to 100-year flood protection for Flowers
DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 28, 2025) — Part IV of this series addressed Melendez’ slide on weather-related damages to Flowers Park in New Rochelle, citing three events over 18 years— a 2007 Nor’easter, Hurricane Ida in 2021, and Tropical Storm Ophelia in 2023—that collectively caused about 170 days of field
DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 28, 2025) — Part III of this series targets City Manager Will Melendez’ claims Flowers Park is chronically flooded (it’s not). To demonstrate this he points to three storms—the 2007 Nor’easter that caused $1.6 million in damage, Ida in 2021 with over $700,000,