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On The Record: An Air of Uncertainty
Nonprofits struggle to withstand federal cuts
Good morning subscribers. ☕This is your Wednesday, July 2, Rye Record newsletter, curating some of the latest headlines across the city of Rye.
Today’s Weather Channel local forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies and a high of 86 degrees with 🌥Check out the forecast for the rest of the week here.
Left in the dark. At the start of the new year, Christine Siller, executive director of the Friends of Rye Nature Center, found herself doing something no nonprofit leader wants to do — pausing a long-planned project midstream.
A sudden freeze on disbursements from the federal government brought everything to a halt for a nearly $285,000 grant for design and permitting work.
“There wasn’t much communication at first,” Siller said of the budget for the environmental restoration project. “We were just left wondering, are we going to be reimbursed at all?”
Eventually, funding resumed but new hurdles emerged.
Future federal grants now require a 50 percent local match — double what was required before. For a planned $900,000 construction phase, “that changes everything, especially for the construction phase,” Siller said. “We’re talking about a $900,000 build. It’s a heavy lift, but we’re committed to seeing it through.”
Siller’s experience isn’t isolated. Across Rye, nonprofit leaders are weighing how the federal government’s slashing of grants and support for nonprofits might affect their budgets, programs, and long-term planning.
To read Jessica Maricevic’s full article, click here
Rye Town Park has found success in fundraising for rehab work to its administrative budding.
-Today’s newsletter is curated by Christian Falcone
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IN OTHER NEWS
A fresh cut. A new upscale men’s hair salon has opened on Purchase Street, a stone’s throw away from two traditional barber shops that have been cutting hair for decades. -David Hessekiel
What a blast. Playland Park's Fourth of July fireworks display above Long Island Sound will return on Friday, July 4, and continue every Friday night through Aug. 29, Westcehster County Park officials announced. -Journal News
Road rage. Rye police arrested a Yonkers man for flashing what looked like a hand gun during an incident on Boston Post Road. Police charged John Chin, 63, of Yonkers, with menacing after the incident. -Camille Botello
AROUND TOWN
-Winfield Street Coffee, the new coffee shop located at the Rye Metro-North station, has closed and will remain shuttered until at least July 13, On The Record has learned.The closure comes just days after the long-awaited cafe finally opened its doors and followed inspections by the MTA.
-The city is hosting a blood drive with the New York Blood Center next Wednesday in City Hall. The July 9 event is scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Blood supplies remain low in the area, and donations are needed.
Off the Record: Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in Mamaroneck on Friday, looking for someone with an outstanding warrant for a misdemeanor conviction. ICE agents made at least one arrest of a male with a prior criminal conviction, according to reports.
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CITY
The Playland Parkway bridge will cost $10 million to rebuild, with funding for the project coming from the state.
Two flood-prone bridges in Rye are slated to be rebuilt as part of a $21 million investment by New York state aimed at improving flooding woes along the Blind Brook.
The undersized Oakland Beach Avenue and Playland Parkway bridges, both of which are owned by Westchester County, will be replaced and resized with funding from New York’s $4.2 billion Clean Air, Clean Water and Green Jobs Environmental Act of 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced at a recent press conference.
-by Rosie Newmark
Rye boys lacrosse coach Steve Lennon at the athlete of the year banquet.
SPORTS
Rye boys lacrosse coach Steve Lennon has stepped down after nine years at the helm of one of the most successful high school lacrosse programs in Westchester County. Lennon led the Garnets to the Section 1 championship game seven times in his nine years, including five straight titles from 2019-24.
When asked if any of those section title games stood out, Lennon replied, “Our first section championship game I coached in, we lost in overtime to Pelham. I
“t was brutal. But that game really was the defining moment in my coaching career.”
-by Steven Kearney
CITY
Rye town leaders on the trolley in an undated photo.
From the 1890s into the early 20th century, trolley cars carried passengers throughout Rye, along Stuyvesant, Dearborn, Forest, and Rye Beach avenues.
Now the Rye Historical Society is planning to give people the chance to relive that history with a trolley tour scheduled for July 20.
The event, to showcase Rye’s history from the Gilded Age to the Roaring ’20s, will highlight not only historic sites in Rye, but also the iconic trolley ride itself, which shaped this seaside town.
-by Alison Cupp Relyea
Purchase Street will turn into an outdoor art gallery in September, with the first-ever open air art initiative.
BUSINESS & ORGS
Calling all artists!
The Rye Arts Center is looking to transform Purchase Street into an open-air gallery this fall.
The project, called Art for Purchase, is seeking creators and urging local businesses to help showcase artwork by “emerging talents” and “seasoned” pros, according to the Rye Arts Center website.
The, initiative, in its infancy, is set to take place from Sept. 13 to Oct. 11
-by Camille Botello