Sunday Briefing: Nuclear Option, Merlin’s Cave, and Connecticut’s Rubicco Mess
This briefing draws from reporting at Talk of the Sound, analysis and commentary published in Words in Edgewise, and selected regional coverage for the week ending May 24, 2026
A Note from the Publisher
A simple question — where are the New Rochelle CCRB meeting agendas and minutes on the city website — has led to answers that raise massive questions about the integrity of the entire system of justice in Westchester County over the past six years.
If that sounds overly dramatic, read the 25 articles I published last week — and keep reading. You will see I may be understating the significance of the Sean Kane case.
I have been investigating these matters since 2020 when the police commissioner and mayor lied about the night Kamal Flowers died. I am now publishing key elements of that reporting for the first time — that former DA Mimi Rocah campaigned on releasing what she called a “bad cop list”, the implications of her lawsuit (ongoing) against a sitting (now retired) New Rochelle judge, that the judge who decided in favor of Rocah to allow suppression of “bad cop” info in criminal trials, was then-judge, now-DA Susan Cacace.
The implications are staggering: it appears that material that was required to be turned over to criminal defense attorneys was not thus denying the defendants a fair trial. This issue is at the heart of the Sean Kane case, and may explain the CCRB’s failure to launch.
It is a ton of material but please have at it; articles on the New Rochelle Civilian Complaint Review Board and its predecessor, the Community Police Partnership Board.
New Rochelle CCRB Investigation: What Records Show, What’s Missing, What’s Next
No Stipends Paid to New Rochelle CCRB Members; Chairperson Declined Compensation
City Manager Admitted Board Could Meet Before Training Was Complete. It Never Did
New Rochelle Violated Its Own Code on CCRB Trainer Selection — for Every Training Component
Inside the Records: How the New Rochelle CCRB Got Trapped in a Doom Loop of Its Own Making
New Rochelle CCRB Chair. Term Expires June 30 — Board Has Never Met
Cases That Created New Rochelle CCRB Are Largely Beyond Its Reach – Save One
Full CCRB Report — Table of Contents
New Rochelle Civilian Complaint Review Board: Full Investigation
3. Four Incidents, No Civilian Oversight
4. Five Years of Performative Reform
6. Natasha Fapohunda — Chairperson
8. Training Requirements and Status
9. The Civilian Complaints Data
10. The Case the CCRB Should Have Reviewed — Sean Kane
11. Structural and Legal Issues
Below is this week’s structured briefing.
If You Read Nothing Else This Week
The Nuclear Option: What Happens If Westchester’s Bad Cop List Was Never Maintained
New York Man Rescued from Merlin’s Cave After 6-Hour Ordeal
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Public Safety & First Responders
New Rochelle Police Seek 11-Year-Old Missing Since March Custodial Proceeding
Yonkers Man Nabbed in New Rochelle Gets 40 Years for Attempted Murder of Maryland County Sheriff
Coyote Sightings Alert Issued in Pelham Manor
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Courts & Accountability
Ex-NYPD Officer Pleads Guilty to Rye Brook Bank Fraud Scheme
New Rochelle Voters Approve School and Library Budgets, Bond Propositions
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Schools & Government
Playland Park in Rye Opens for 2026 Season With Dragon Coaster Return
New Rochelle Schools Deny Viral Claim About Quran Comment at NRHS Muslim Heritage Display
Rye City Council to Convene at Locust Avenue Firehouse
Larchmont Takes Action on Downtown Rodent Activity
Paulin Introduces Legislation for Medical Psilocybin Access
Pelham Manor Updates Hazard Mitigation Plan; Public Input Sought
New Rochelle Expands Down Payment Assistance Program
Mamaroneck’s Mariner Waterfront Kitchen & Bar Set to Open in July
Mamaroneck School District Sees April Real Estate Dip
Westchester County Beaches Open Memorial Day Weekend, Pools to Follow
New Rochelle Expands Down Payment Assistance Program
Rye Residents Invited to Shape Future of Gagliardo Park Through Survey
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Sound Shore Community & Culture
Long Island Sound Beaches Get Mixed Grades in 2025 Save the Sound Report
New Rochelle BGCNR Celebrates Graduates of Firefighter Career Pathway Program
Pelham Manor Volunteers Complete I-95N Sound Barrier Plantings
Will New Rochelle’s Pratt Landing Transform Echo Bay Waterfront?
New Rochelle Boys & Girls Club Revives Remington Flyers Youth Team
Mamaroneck Historic Church Celebrates 1772 Roots While Raising Funds for Critical Repairs
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Words in Edgewise
This week’s commentary and analysis.
Full archive available at Words in Edgewise.
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Ongoing Investigations & Major Series
These long-running investigations continue to inform coverage across the region:
New Rochelle Police Accountability: CPPB to CCRB
Flowers Park RFP & FOIL Litigation
New Rochelle Thimblerig Series
Sustainable Westchester Series
Alec McKenna – Kamal Flowers Archive
New Rochelle Board of Education Investigation
Nightmare on Stephenson Boulevard / NRPD PACT Unit PFFL Porn & Gambling Website
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In Memoriam
Pelham Memorial Graduate ‘25 Timothy Magambo Dies in Apparent Drowning off Shelter Island
Br. Leonard Quinn CFC Obituary
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Closing
Words in Edgewise is the weekly civic briefing produced by the publisher of Talk of the Sound.
Talk of the Sound exists to provide consistent, fact-based reporting on the institutions that shape daily life in the Sound Shore.
If you have information relevant to public accountability in New Rochelle or neighboring communities, you know how to reach me.
Thank you for reading — and for being part of a community that values informed civic life.
— Robert Cox
Publisher, Talk of the Sound
