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On The Record: Sex offender seen at library
Police warns residents after encounter with teens
Rye Record
November 20, 2024
Good morning subscribers. ☕This is your Wednesday, November 20, Rye Record newsletter, curating some of the latest headlines across the city of Rye.
Stranger danger. The Rye Police Department issued a warning to residents last Thursday of a registered sex offender “frequenting the area” after receiving a suspicious report earlier in the week.
Two teens reported an encounter with 29-year-old Wale Gai at the Rye Public Library on Nov. 13. Police said the encounter was “non-criminal.”
When Rye detectives interviewed Gai, he indicated that he is homeless and goes to the library often. Lt. Detective Michael Anfuso said the man claims to be mute, so he was communicating with the teens by showing them something on his phone. Anfuso said “he had typed on the screen asking if they [the teens] wanted to be friends,” and then “both declined and walked away.”
Upon further investigation, detectives determined Gai is a registered Level 2 sex offender who was convicted of rape on June 11, 2019. In New York, there are three classifications of sex offenders: Level 1 being low risk to repeat offense; Level 2 being moderate risk; and Level 3 being high risk.
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Two teens reported an encounter with a 29-year-old man who police determined is a registered sex offender.
-Today’s newsletter is curated by Christian Falcone
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-What would you rename Playland?
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IN OTHER NEWS
Get ready. Rye is hosting a NY Citizen Preparedness Training Program on Monday, Nov. 25 at City Hall. The training course will provide an introduction to responding to a natural or man-made disaster.
Santa’s Swifties. Westchester’s Winter Wonderland holiday drive-thru opens for the season on Saturday, Nov. 23, including a Taylor Swift night on Nov. 27.
Safety net? Instagram has made teen accounts private as part of a measure to better ensure the social media application is safer for kids. -AP
AROUND TOWN
-An eighth grader and a high school sophomore took top honors at the seventh Annual Spelling Bee at the Rye Free Reading Room.
-Thirty members of The Ceres Garden Club planted daffodils, hyacinths, and snowdrop bulbs at the Rye Rec Amphitheatre on Nov. 12. The group had previously distributed 40 live plants/cut flower tray favors to Meals on Wheels recipients.
Off the record: The City Council is expected to meet in executive session Wednesday to discuss the ongoing Playland tax dispute with Westchester County.
WEATHER
Today’s Weather Channel local forecast calls for a high of 58 degrees and mostly cloudy skies. 🌥 Check out the forecast for the rest of the week here.
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SCHOOLS
Twenty-two Rye High School senior student-athletes, pictured, accepted offers to play college sports.
Rye High School held the first of three National Letter of Intent (NLI) signings for its Class of 2025 on Thursday night in the Rye Middle School Multipurpose Room. Twenty-two student-athletes accepted offers to play college sports.
“It was special to see them surrounded and celebrated by the family, friends, and coaches who have supported them along the way,” RHS Principal Andrew Hara posted on Instagram.
-by Record staff
The proposed budget’s tax rate increase of 6.12 percent is higher because Playland is returning to its long-held tax-exempt status as public parkland.
CITY
The city has unveiled a 2025 proposed budget that would increase the tax rate by 6.12 percent and also exceed the state-mandated property tax cap for the second time in three years.
The 2025 operating budget, which was presented by City Manager Greg Usry on Nov. 6, would be $49.3 million. The increase would result in an additional $312 per household in property taxes based on the average estimated home value of $1.98 million. Since the budget is not tax cap-compliant, it would require an override by the City Council.
-by Rosie Newmark
COMMUNITY
The first annual Junior Board event on college is set for Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Rye High School Performing Arts Center.
Heard in Rye, which has been hosting parent education events in town for the last 25 years, is adding something new this year: teen perspective.
Later this month, the newly formed Heard in Rye Junior Board will be hosting its first event, on the topic of “College: What Your Teen Wants you to Hear.”
Kelly Mulderry, a parent representative on Heard in Rye since 2013, came up with the idea for the Junior Board and shared it with the committee in 2023.
-by Alison Cupp Relyea
Andrew Wilmarth scampers into the endzone, but the score wasn’t enough to overcome a fourth quarter that saw Somers score 21 points.
SPORTS
Rye’s 420-day undefeated streak came to a crashing halt as Somers dealt the Garnets a 35-21 loss in the first-ever Section 1 championship that featured two defending state champs.
With the game knotted at 14-14 with 10 minutes left in regulation, the game was decided when the Garnets turned the ball over twice — including a pick-six — on key possessions in a disastrous fourth quarter.
-by Ian Colalucci