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On The Record: The Wizards of Oz
Mystery group looks to sway city development
Good morning subscribers. ☕This is your Wednesday, Feb. 19, 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 30 degrees. 🌥 Check out the forecast for the rest of the week here.
Behind the curtain. At least four massive redevelopment proposals from the same unusual group of developers have circulated through Rye over the last year, each more expansive than the last.
The latest calls for an overhaul of the Rye Subaru dealership on Boston Post Road, converting the property into hundreds of new apartment units, multiple commercial businesses, and a park. Other proposals envision new athletic fields at the Rye Golf Club and 21-23 Nursery Lane.
And now the group says it also wants to help shape Rye’s long-outdated comprehensive plan.
The catch? Nobody knows who they are — or their motives.
The mysterious group disseminates its proposals from an encrypted email account and doesn’t sign off with a name or offer additional contact information.
The Record requested an interview with members of the group many times for this article, but the group declined.
“We appreciate the interest, but we believe our proposals stand on their own merit (as imperfect as they may be),” they told The Record from their [email protected] email account.
To read associate editor Camille Botello’s enterprise report, visit ryerecord.com on Thursday
Rye’s overdue comprehensive plan is the latest target of the so-called “Rye Community Planning Collaborative.”
-Today’s newsletter is curated by Christian Falcone
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IN OTHER NEWS
Survive and advance. Following strong showings in the 2024-25 regular season, Rye’s boys and girls both earned high seeds in the postseason, which kicks off on Saturday. Check out the schedule here. -Chris Marshall
Cheers! Mamaroneck restaurant Augustine’s Salumeria e Pasta Joint on Halstead Avenue won the USA Today award for best restaurant, selected among 44 eateries across the U.S. -Jeanne Muchnick
Jump around. At Sunday’s Section 1 Class B Championships at The Armory in NYC, Erin Ball quietly inserted herself into the conversation for consideration for the Rye High School Hall of Fame. -Steven Kearney
AROUND TOWN
-The city has launched Engage Rye, a new online platform accessible through the city website. The platform provides a centralized hub for information and the opportunity for public comment on select city projects.
-A Rye Brook man was arrested after reports that he was driving drunk on Midland Avenue. Police took the 61-year-old into custody after he failed a sobriety test — his Jaguar also had sustained front end damage.
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FROM OUR PARTNERS
CITY
Downtown parking around Purchase Street will now cost $1.25 an hour.
The Rye City Council voted to increase the hourly parking fee in its Central Business District by 25 cents to $1.25, marking the first rate hike since 2012.
Officials estimate the increase, which goes into effect on March 15, will result in an additional $100,000 in city revenue.
The vote passed 5-2 at the council’s Wednesday meeting, with Democratic Councilwoman Julie Souza and Mayor Josh Cohn, who is politically unaffiliated, voting against the measure.
-by Rosie Newmark
Schools Superintendent Eric Byrne proposed a $113 million budget that came in under the state-mandated tax cap.
SCHOOLS
Schools Superintendent Eric Byrne presented his recommended $113.2 million tax-cap compliant budget for the 2025-2026 school year, proposing a less than 2.5 percent increase over the current budget.
The plan, which Byrne unveiled last week, proposes to maintain all current programs and services districtwide, and includes a tax levy increase of 3.66 percent over this year’s budget. In all, $102.3 million would need to be collected through property taxes to cover the proposal.
The proposed budget calls for a 2.45 percent spending increase over the current $110.5 million budget.
-by Rosie Newmark
SPORTS
The Rye boys basketball squad heads into the playoffs this weekend coming off a big win against No. 1 Tappan Zee.
Rye senior guard Rocklan Boisseau didn’t have time to be tired after an exciting 54-49 win over Harrison on Feb. 14. A mere 20 hours later, he and his fellow Garnets were playing No. 1-ranked Tappan Zee.
“Energy,” said Boisseau after Rye’s 47-38 victory Feb. 15 over the Flying Dutchmen. “That’s all I talked about with my teammates this morning before the game. We knew these guys were good, but we really needed this one.”
Against a Tappan Zee team (18-2) whose only loss of the season was back on Jan. 17 at Byram Hills, the Garnets (14-6) sent a direct message to all of Class AA in Section 1: they can beat anybody.
-by Steven Kearney
Council members agreed that further study was necessary to assess how Rye could best protect the character of the Central Business District.
CITY
An effort to quickly institute a moratorium on downtown expansion was unanimously dropped – at least temporarily – by the Rye City Council Wednesday night.
The vote to table the moratorium followed fierce opposition from developers and the head of the city Planning Commission, Nick Everett, during a Jan. 21 City Council hearing. The draft moratorium, first unveiled publicly at the council’s Jan. 8. meeting, was motivated by a desire to “move faster” to control potentially damaging downtown development, according to Republican Councilman Bill Henderson.
-by David Hessekiel