Recommended Reading, November 2, 2025

Robert Cox

02 Nov 2025 — 7 min read

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 on the Flowers Park RFP has now passed. I am writing to request copies of all bid documents received. I submitted a FOIL request yesterday. However, given the strong emphasis you, the Mayor, and Council members placed last week on transparency, public engagement, and the significant public interest in this project, I ask that you either provide the bid documents to me immediately or direct staff to post them on the city website without delay. This would allow equal and simultaneous access for all interested parties.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Kind regards
Robert Cox
Talk of the Sound

He replied,

Please note that the requested bid proposals are not available for release at this time under POL. Since the City has not yet made an award, sharing the bid materials at this stage could affect the fairness of the ongoing process and the City’s ability to get the best value for the public. Once the selection process is complete, extensive public outreach of the proposal selected to be advanced, will be made. Once the procurement process is complete, we’ll be happy to revisit your request and provide the records as appropriate.
Sincerely,
Wilfredo Melendez, P.E.
City Manager

Yadira & Co. should have done public engagement before an RFP like this to see if it's wanted. And after,?to discuss the responses. But I believe this a rigged bid. The tell is that the RFP included a section on eminent domain. On what planet is THAT in an RFP?

Now we wait to see what Al Tarantino alluded to — that a developer came to the city and pitched a plan and then plan was built into the RFP. Now we wait to see if there was just one bidder, if that bidder has a plan that involves taking property over by East Place and Ashland Street, and if that one bidder is Bob Young.

Just so readers understand, a rigged bid is a criminal act.

Under New York State purchasing laws, a municipality generally cannot write a Request for Proposal that is tailored to benefit a specific plan proposed by a particular developer, as this would undermine the core principles of competitive procurement, fairness, and avoidance of favoritism.

GML § 103 and § 104-b require competitive, fair procurement to prevent favoritism. RFPs must be broadly drafted to encourage open competition; tailoring to one proposal violates anti-corruption and fairness principles.

Courts and the State Comptroller can invalidate biased solicitations.

Municipalities must define public needs independently and award based on merit (lowest responsible bidder or best value).

To legally pursue a developer-inspired idea, a municipality should first define public needs independently (e.g., via a needs assessment or public input), then issue a broad RFP inviting multiple proposals.

There was no needs assessment or public input.

New York municipal officials can be criminally charged for rigging a bid. Key statutes include Penal Law § 496 (corrupting government, Class B/C felony), § 195 (official misconduct), and § 200 (bribery). GML § 103-e prohibits bid-rigging conspiracies. Violations lead to felony prosecution, prison, fines, and disqualification from office.

I did a tremendous amount of work to learn about drainage analysis. I hope readers will take the time to read every word — but at least summaries:

Yadira & Co. Gaslighting on New Rochelle’s Flowers Park (an 8-Part Series)

Here an ironic tidbit. The engineering firm hired in 2022-23 to do the drainage analyses for the area of the city that includes Flowers Park recommended work at City Park Grate 226 which is near the baseball field in the north end of the park:

The drainage grate at the interface of the stream and the closed drainage system was observed to be clogged on multiple field visits… routine maintenance should be
performed on the inlet grate after rain events to remove any debris that may be clogging the grate.

Baseball field near Flowers Park Drain Grate 226 after Tropical Storm Ophelia in 2023

It appears DPW routinely failed to clear the drain. It appears it was not cleared before Ophelia hit in September 2023. This flooding was used by Will Melendez to justify giving Flowers Park to a private developer. Who was the DPW Commissioner at the time? Guess.

BTW… Rob Rubicco, Major Rye Democratic Donor, Has Federal Fraud Conviction, Long Trail of Lawsuits