Home Articles About Contact

My Articles

The Rye Record •

New Rye Schools Chief, Patricia Murray, Loves Data — and Taylor Swift

Patricia Murray laughs when people refer to her as the “The Data Queen” — but she doesn’t shy away from the label. 


“It’s obviously a joke, but in all seriousness, I think data is helpful,” Murray told The Record in a recent interview as she prepares for her new role leading the Rye City School District. “I consider myself a math person, a numbers person,”. 


For Murray, who officially steps into the schools superintendent position on July 1, data is not about spreadsheets or test scores al...
The Rye Record •

Historic Heat Wave Prompts State of Emergency in Westchester

Scorching heat in the Rye forecast this week has prompted early school dismissals and beach openings, as officials urge residents to take precautions amid rising health concerns.


Temperatures are forecast to climb between 95 degrees and a record-breaking 107 degrees through mid-week, with highs reaching 105 on Monday and Tuesday, before dipping down to a heat index of 99 Wednesday.


Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency in Westchester County on Sunday, along with 31 other counties...
The Rye Record •

Health Department Closes Rye’s Coveleigh Club Beach on Wednesday After Excessive Rainfall

The Westchester County Health Department on Wednesday closed Rye’s Coveleigh Club Beach because of excessive rainfall.


The department determined that because there has been 0.59 inches of rainfall over the last 24 hours, heavy rains and discharges from stormwater drains could directly affect the water at the beach – potentially causing high levels of harmful bacteria that may cause illness, according to the department website.


Coveleigh Club, located on Stuyvesant Avenue in Milton Point, i...
The Rye Record •

Three Rye City Hall Employees Collected Over $200K in 2024: Records

The three highest-earning Rye employees topped out at just over $200,000 in 2024, city records show.


Ex-City Manager Greg Usry earned the highest salary among Rye employees last year, commanding a $215,000 income. Usry stepped down from his position this March, after a 5-year run overseeing the day-to-day operations of the city. His salary rose from $195,000 when he was first appointed to an interim position in 2019.


Longtime City Engineer Ryan Coyne finished a close second, earning $212,0...
The Rye Record •

Rye Board of Education Selects New Assistant Superintendent From Carmel School District

The city Board of Education has hired Lauren Santabarbara to be the school district’s new assistant superintendent, replacing Patricia Murray who is set to become its chief administrator.


Outgoing Superintendent Eric Byrne announced Santabarbara’s 3-year appointment in an email to the school community on Wednesday morning. Her hiring was approved at a Board of Education meeting Tuesday night. 


Santabarbara will join the district as its head of curriculum, instruction, and assessment in Sep...
American Libraries Magazine •

Slide into the Library

At Hewitt (Tex.) Public Library (HPL), teens enthusiastically shared slideshows on the history of roads and the comparative merits of doors and wheels. None of this was schoolwork.
PowerPoint is finding new life among young people as a tool to share humorous, creative, and niche slideshows with friends on TikTok and other social media platforms. Now libraries across the country are hosting their own PowerPoint Parties, using the events to engage a younger crowd.
Eighth graders at Vestavia Hills...
The Rye Record •

Mayor Cohn Recommends Board of Ethics Review, Resurfacing Tree-Cutting Controversy

Mayor Josh Cohn is recommending the City Council hire an outside lawyer to review the Board of Ethics, reigniting a two-year-old controversy that ultimately led Cohn and three of his colleagues to launch a stunning lawsuit against the city.  


Renewing his claims that the ethics board politicized itself by launching an unlawful investigation into a 2023 emergency meeting he had called for, Cohn tried to bolster his argument at the May 7 council meeting by referring to an opinion released by th...
The Rye Record •

Mayor Cohn Recommends Board of Ethics Review, Resurfacing Tree-Cutting Controversy

Mayor Josh Cohn is recommending the City Council hire an outside lawyer to review the Board of Ethics, reigniting a two-year-old controversy that ultimately led Cohn and three of his colleagues to launch a stunning lawsuit against the city.  


Renewing his claims that the ethics board politicized itself by launching an unlawful investigation into a 2023 emergency meeting he had called for, Cohn tried to bolster his argument at the May 7 council meeting by referring to an opinion released by th...
The Rye Record •

Newburgh Man Arrested After Exposing Himself on I-684

A Newburgh man was caught pleasuring himself on Interstate-684 near Harrison last Tuesday.


Jose Reyes-Marquez, of Newburgh, allegedly exposed and touched his genitals on multiple occasions while operating his vehicle on Interstate 684 on May 20. And the 55-year-old’s actions were visible to passing motorists, according to a New York State Police press release.


State troopers were alerted to be on the lookout for his 2015 Honda Odyssey as it was connected to an ongoing state public lewdness...
The Rye Record •

Multi-Car Crash on I-95 Near Rye Leaves 16 Hospitalized, Following Wild Memorial Day Chase

A chain-reaction car crash along Interstate 95 in Rye injured 16 people on Memorial Day, allegedly spurred by teen who led police on a wild chase at well over 120 mph.


The 15-year-old male reportedly fled from the NYPD’s 45th Precinct in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx by heading north on I-95 shortly after 2 a.m. Monday morning. New York State Police troopers were notified by Westchester County police to be on the lookout for a 2002 Lexus GS300 vehicle traveling north on Interstate 95,...
The Rye Record •

Council Sets Public Hearing to Consider Scrapping Rye Public Safety Commissioner Position

The City Council has scheduled a public hearing for June to consider eliminating the public safety commissioner position in favor of a reorganization of police and fire structure.


The public hearing is set for June 11 with the hopes of voting on the issue at the council’s July 16 meeting. 


If the council moves forward with eliminating the position, it would require a public referendum. The Westchester C County Board of Elections has an Aug. 4 deadline in order for the proposition to appear...
Rye Record •

Council to Debate Separating Police and Fire Departments, Eliminating Public Safety Commissioner Role

The Rye City Council is scheduled to consider a significant reorganization of its public safety structure on Wednesday evening, including the potential separation of the police and fire departments and the elimination of the public safety commissioner position.


If the council moves forward with eliminating the public safety commissioner position, it would require a public referendum. The Board of Elections has an Aug. 4 deadline to get this on the November ballot.


The police and fire depar...
The Rye Record •

Rye School Community Backs $113M Budget by Huge Margin

Voters of the Rye City School District overwhelmingly approved the $113.2 million school budget Tuesday night.


The final unofficial tallies saw the school budget pass by a more than 4-to-1 margin. In total, 765 voters approved it, while just 158 voted it down as backers cheered the results inside the Rye Middle School gymnasium.


Marking a 2.45 percent increase over the current budget, the 2025–2026 school plan will maintain all existing district programs and services. It introduces four ne...
The Rye Record •

Henderson Proposes Shortening Leaf Blower Season, Banning Gas Blowers on Sundays

After altering the leaf blower law in 2023, the Rye City Council is now considering even further restrictions to the season.


Republican Councilman Bill Henderson raised the proposal during the City Council’s May 7 meeting, suggesting shortening the fall clean-up season by a month and the spring clean-up season by 15 days, with new start dates of Nov. 1 and March 15, respectively.


Henderson also proposed banning the use of gas-powered leaf blowers on Sundays.


The city has been moving in...
The Rye Record •

Crime Trends: Rye Police OT Leads to Jump in Leaf Blower Summons Again in April, Data Shows

Leaf blower summonses were doled by Rye police out at a much higher clip in April, continuing a trend that began in March, year-over-year department data shows.


The recent uptick stems from the department assigning overtime to officers to further enforce city code complaints, according to Rye police Lt. Michael Anfuso.


In total, 37 leaf blower summonses were issued last month compared to zero in April 2024, according to the latest police data. That follows March year-over-year numbers, wh...
The Rye Record •

Alleged Rye, NYC Drug Boss Hit with 6 New Charges, Including State’s Stiffest Penalty For Narcotics

Jose Garcia, the Rye resident charged in March with running a New York City-based fentanyl and heroin trafficking ring, is now facing new charges that he operated as a major trafficker — the most serious drug charge under state law. 


Garcia, 51, pleaded not guilty to all charges in Manhattan Supreme Court on April 29 and currently is being held on Rikers Island. He could face up to a life sentence, with a minimum sentence of 15 years, according Kati Cornell, the New York City special narcotic...
The Rye Record •

Playland to Open Memorial Day Weekend, Availability of Rides Remains Unclear

-David Hessekiel contributed to this report


Playland will open its doors to patrons on Memorial Day Weekend, Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins announced on Wednesday.


But whether its rides will be operational then is another story.   


Jenkins, a Democrat, admitted on Wednesday that he didn’t know. The county, he said, is working with the state Department of Labor to determine the status of each ride, while addressing the “damage left behind” by former park operator Standard Amuse...
The Rye Record •

Council Begins Shortlisting Up to 30 Applicants for City Manager Role

The Rye City Council has received interest from up to 30 applicants for its open city manager position.  


The permanent managerial role overseeing the day-to-day operations of city government was posted on various job boards and websites for about a month, with between 26 and 30 candidates applying for the position, Democratic Councilman Josh Nathan told The Record.  


There is no timeline for the selection process, according to Nathan, who could not confirm whether Interim City Manager Bri...
American Libraries Magazine •

Brewing Connections

While creating one of their in-house brews, employees at Johnson City (Tenn.) Brewing Company brought in some unexpected assistants to pour barley into the batch: library staffers.
The pre-Prohibition-style lager they crafted together was called 1895, a nod to the founding year of Johnson City Public Library (JCPL), located just a few blocks from the brewery’s downtown taproom. Inspired by beers of the late 19th century, it features three flavors: coffee (for its connection to books), black curr...
The Rye Record •

City Seeks Consulting Firm to Lead Long Overdue Comprehensive Plan Update

The city of Rye has issued a Request for Proposal seeking a consulting firm to help update its comprehensive plan –a guiding document that hasn’t been redrafted in 40 years.


The RFP, which was sent out earlier this month, asks for a consulting firm with a plan that “should concisely identify community current conditions and anticipate future needs and demands based on local and regional trends.” The city is looking to create a comprehensive plan with actionable goals for housing, transportati...
The Rye Record •

City Opts Into Westchester Power Energy Plan over Con Edison

The Rye City Council voted on Wednesday to renew Rye’s agreement with Westchester Power, a county-wide renewable energy program, rather than switch to Con Edison.  


Westchester Power aims to address climate change in a region that is 93 percent dependent on fossil fuels like gas and oil. The ambitious plan aims to reduce statewide carbon production and transition to renewable energy sources by providing residents and small businesses a locally chosen alternative to the state-mandated utility,...
The Rye Record •

Crime Trends: Leaf Blower Summons Spike 300% in March, Rye Police Data Shows

While most police activity remained consistent, tickets for leaf blower complaints saw a significant jump in March, year-over-year police department data shows.


The amount of complaints that Rye police received for leaf blowers around town nearly doubled from the 15 calls police logged in March 2024 to 29 in March, an increase of 93 percent.


As a result, 20 summons were issued last month, compared to just five over the same period last year, according to police data, marking a 300 percent...
American Libraries Magazine •

Return to Normalcy

On January 7, as local officials issued fire warnings for the area, Altadena (Calif.) Library District (ALD) closed early to let staff evacuate. About an hour later, at 6:18 p.m., the Eaton Fire erupted in the nearby Los Angeles County foothills.
It would be 24 days before the Eaton Fire was fully contained. In that time, the fire destroyed more than 9,000 Altadena homes and businesses and killed 18 people, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
While many of the...
The Rye Record •

Three Bridges in Rye Rated Poor in State Bridge Report. Find Out What That Means.

Three bridges that provide access to Rye’s downtown have been rated poor by New York state, according to the latest bridge data report.


The overpass located at the Boston Post Road and Interstate 287 junction, the Locust Avenue bridge that crosses over the Blind Brook near the Rye firehouse, and the bridge on Central Avenue that traverses the Metro-North Railroad line were all tagged in poor condition by the state Department of Transportation (DOT).


The DOT issued its report on March 31....
Load More