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- On The Record: Shaping Rock Radio for Decades
On The Record: Shaping Rock Radio for Decades
Greenhaven's Dennis Elsas and his legendary career
Good morning subscribers. ☕This is your Wednesday, Dec. 10, Rye Record newsletter, curating some of the latest headlines across the city of Rye.
Today’s Weather Channel local forecast calls for showers in the afternoon and a high of 44 degrees 🌧 Check out the forecast for the rest of the week here.
King of rock. Sitting alone behind a microphone every weekday afternoon at Fordham University’s WFUV, legendary radio host Dennis Elsas has a method for connecting with his radio audience.
“It’s like a grid in my mind,” said Elsas, who’s been sharing music there for 25 years, following a celebrated 25-year run at 102.7 WNEW-FM. “Subconsciously, I see you driving, working at your desk, preparing a meal, picking up your kids, exercising — all these different people are listening. And hopefully, what I say strikes some of them in a particular way.”
“What I love most is the one-to-one connection,” he added. “Radio is still intimate. You’re talking to one person, wherever they are. You’re sharing a moment.”
Elsas, who has lived in Greenhaven for about 30 years, shares many moments with listeners all over the country. In addition to his daily gig on WFUV, he hosts a weekly call-in show on Sirius XM’s The Beatles Channel and another on Classic Vinyl.
He’s widely considered the voice of rock history, whose interviews with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Jerry Garcia, Pete Townsend, and a host of other rock legends distinguish him from other radio DJs who simply play top hits.
To read Laura Schiller’s full article, click here.
Dennis Elsas with Mick Jagger. (Photo courtesy Dennis Elsas Archives)
-Today’s newsletter is curated by Christian Falcone
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IN OTHER NEWS
PLAN B. Mayor Josh Cohn and Deputy Mayor Julie Souza won’t get their much-desired formal ethics code review before they exit the City Council later this month, after a plan to retain a high-powered lawyer was overwhelmingly shot down by fellow council members. -Miranda Ferrante
PENNY PINCHING. Ask Purchase Street retailers about U.S. tariff policy and you are bound to get an earful. Rye merchants say they have needed to raise prices and they are reconsidering their strategies because of the increased costs and confusion caused by tariffs. -David Hessekiel
ON THE RISE. Work to demolish the old Town Dock restaurant and two other former businesses at 11–15 Purdy Ave. has begun. MM Real Estate has received approval for a three-story, mixed-use development on the site with space for street retail tenants and eight apartments. -David Hessekiel
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FROM OUR PARTNERS
CITY
City officials have proposed hiring one new firefighter in 2026.
The Rye Fire Department is “grossly understaffed” given the demands and dangers of modern firefighting, the union president recently told The Record, despite the city’s initial refusal to hire additional manpower for next year.
The city currently employs 22 career firefighters across its two firehouses on Milton Point and Locust Avenue, but Ricky Colasacco, the Rye Professional Firefighters Local 2029 president, said the situation at times is so dire that only one firefighter is on duty at the Milton Point station.
“With all the duties that come with the job, it’s made it very, very difficult and challenging to be short staffed,” he said.
-by Miranda Ferrante & Rosie Newmark
Participants in Row America Rye’s Master’s program love both the workout and communing with nature. (Photo Andi Hessekiel)
COMMUNITY
On a chilly Friday morning in mid-November, before the sun had even peeked over the horizon, a dozen or so people straggled into Row America Rye on Milton Harbor for their last open water row of the season.
The following week, winter would force them inside for workouts and fine tuning of skills until early spring.
Despite the brisk temperatures, they were clearly pumped.
-by Beth Levine
SPORTS
Rye celebrated its fifth state football championship Friday. (Photo Gregory Kaplowitz)
SYRACUSE – Heading north on I-81, several miles south of the city is when you first see it: The Dome.
With a max capacity of 49,057 spectators, you can’t not see it.
The famous home arena of former Syracuse University greats like Pearl Washington, Donovan McNabb, and Carmelo Anthony, the JMA Wireless Dome has also hosted the New York state high school football championships for the past 32 years.
-by Steven Kearney
Rye's girls basketball team celebrated a section title in Westchester County Center. (Photo Gregory Kaplowitz)
SPORTS
The Rye girls basketball team didn’t just win the section title last year. They did it with one of the area’s youngest starting lineups.
Four starters return from a Garnet squad that went 21-4 and won the Section 1 tournament in Westchester County Center before falling in the regional final to Baldwin, the eventual Class AA state champions. Despite losing three seniors, the Garnets are in a solid position to make another deep postseason run.
-by Ariana Ottrando