Recommended Reading, October 19, 2025

Robert Cox

19 Oct 2025 — 6 min read

DUBLIN, IRELAND (October 19, 2025) — New Rochelle City Manager Will Melendez issued a statement late Friday on October 17. He described the Flowers Park RFP as an “early step to explore ideas for improving the park’s facilities,” emphasizing upgrades to athletic fields, playgrounds, restrooms, and concessions while addressing flooding and sustainability. He assured residents that “no decisions have been made” and invited public input.

Although Melendez puts his name on the statement, it is obviously an attempt at damage control by Yadira & Co., Melendez is nothing more than a sock puppet, as usual. None of them seem to think the public can read an RFP for themselves.

The RFP document (Specification No. 5820) reveals a far more ambitious vision than Melendez lets on, calling for private firms to “reimagine approximately 20 acres… into a world-class Community Sports Center of Excellence” with “iconic architecture” and a “premier sports and entertainment destination.”

Residents at the CTBH on Wednesday voiced fears of privatization, reflecting concerns about losing a public space to commercial interests. The RFP encourages partnerships with professional sports teams to “drive economic vitality” and includes “integrated retail and/or concession spaces” and “revenue-generating uses”. These commercial elements, absent from Melendez’s statement, have fueled perceptions of a profit-driven agenda.

Further stoking controversy is the RFP’s provision for eminent domain, allowing the city to acquire adjacent parcels through a “Condemnation Agreement” with the selected redeveloper. This clause was omitted from the city manager’s statement.

As part of the CYA, the statement portrays flood mitigation as a central part of the RFP. A plain reading of the RFP shows this to be untrue. Further, except for Hurricane Ida, there is no significant history of flooding at City Park. Regardless, there are already TWO flood mitigation RFPs for that area:

5816 - Drainage Improvements at Ashland St and East Pl (Pending)

5719 - Drainage Improvements at City Park ($350,000)

The RFP process has drawn scrutiny for its lack of transparency. The city’s approach has been evasive. Proposals are due by October 29, 2025, followed by an internal review, shortlisting, and exclusive 90-day negotiations with a preferred developer, potentially extendable. Public input, promised in Melendez’s statement, is entirely absent and is deferred under the RFP until the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process begins, likely after a Redevelopment Agreement is signed. Based on standard SEQRA timelines, public participation—such as hearings—may not occur until mid-to-late 2026, potentially six to nine months from now.

City officials including Council Member Matt Stern and Development Commissioner Adam Salgado have asserted that the issue is not the RFP but the way Bob Cox (little old me) “framed” the issue. This is demonstrably false. What I did was to shine a light on an RFP created behind closed doors that Yadira & Co. hoped to sneak through so the RFP could quietly lead to an awardee bid allowing them to negotiate an MOU and sign it before the public knew what they had done.

You can read my initial article here: New Rochelle Looks to Put Flowers Park Under Control of a Master Developer.

As readers can see, the article starts by disclosing the fact of the RFP and pointing out, rightly, that “There have been no hearings, no public input, no surveys — no engagement of any kind.” I added that Yadira & Co. did not “engage the community by holding public forums, involving sports leagues, area property owners, Parkside residents, Larchmont officials, Board of Education officials, the Westchester Flames, Iona University, or Monroe College; exploring optional housing; conducting traffic studies; auditing past grants; studying the implications of converting parkland; resolving the ongoing LaRocca case involving East Street; and addressing the legacy of Joe Fosina.”

All of this true but if there was some doubt about the accuracy of that then watch the video I compiled from the CTBH and/or read my article the day after: New Rochelle Has Spoken: Hands Off Flowers Park. You will see many of the same points I raised last month raised by CTBH speakers.