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- On The Record: They're Back!
On The Record: They're Back!
Anonymous group continues to pressure city
Good morning subscribers. ☕ This is your Thursday, Jan. 8, Rye Record newsletter, curating some of the latest headlines across the city of Rye.
Today’s Weather Channel local forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and a high of 48 degrees 🌤 Check out the forecast for the rest of the week here.
They’re back! After taking the summer off, Rye's mysterious anonymous development group has been back at it — taking aim at the city's outdated comprehensive plan, criticizing Rye officials, and trying to influence the recent City Council elections.
Only this time, city officials are firing back – calling the unusual provocateurs misleading and cowardly. Meanwhile, Rye’s political leaders continue to ignore the group, saying they won’t engage until the secretive developers reveal themselves.
The so-called Rye Community Planning Collaborative (CPC) announced in September that its members had begun drafting their own comprehensive plan. The city hasn’t updated Rye’s real comprehensive plan since it was first created in 1985.
The group is on version nine of its draft plan, the latest released just this past Monday, claiming they have received "a significant amount of feedback from the community."
The group still hasn’t revealed its members, only communicating anonymously through encrypted email.
To read Camille Botello’s full report, click here.
A rendering of the Rye Subaru lot transformed into a massive mixed-use facility.
-Today’s newsletter is curated by Camille Botello
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IN OTHER NEWS
ROTTEN APPLE. A former Rye Neck teacher is facing accusations of child grooming and sexual abuse of one of his former middle school students, a recently filed lawsuit claims. Joseph Perlman allegedly victimized a 13-year-old boy beginning at the start of the 2018-19 academic year. -Camille Botello
GUILTY. The U.S. Army specialist who fatally stabbed Rye Neck High School graduate Andrew Smith at a Southern California military base last fall will spend the next 50 years in military prison. -Rosie Newmark
STAYING PUT. After a lengthy search, Interim City Manager Brian Shea was appointed to the permanent position on Wednesday night, with Mayor Josh Nathan telling On The Record that Shea “is the guy” for the job. -Miranda Ferrante
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FROM OUR PARTNERS
BUSINESS & ORGS
The Snackery is closing after a 4-year run on Purchase Street.
Four years after it started serving high-end takes on iconic mass market desserts like Yodels and Twinkies, The Snackery shuttered its location at 64 Purchase St. at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, a new men’s clothing store called Baxter in Rye plans to open, and a dog grooming and accessories store is going independent.
The closing of The Snackery marked the end of a nearly 18-year culinary odyssey for owner Sara Leand, who sold her original creations wholesale for a decade before operating retail locations first in Larchmont and then in Rye.
-by David Hessekiel
Monty Gerrish, owner of Milton Point Provisions. Photo/Alison Rodilosso
NEWS
Monty and Hadley Gerrish thought they kept a close eye on their finances while running Milton Point Provisions.
That’s before they started noticing more than $4,000 in bizarre October purchases through the company’s own Amazon account — everything from Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and gift cards to women’s clothing and cleaning products, according to police.
The owners soon learned that a former employee, Susan Marie Siciliano, was allegedly ordering the transactions and having them delivered to her home in Mamaroneck.
-Kate Circelli
NEWS
U.S. Army Soldier Sentenced to 50 Years for Murder of Rye Neck High Graduate at California Army Base
The casket of Andrew Smith is boarded onto a plane by police personnel. Photo courtesy Honoring Our Fallen
The U.S. Army specialist who fatally stabbed Rye Neck High School graduate Andrew Smith at a Southern California military base last fall will spend the next 50 years in military prison.
Army Spc. George Cornejo, 27, pleaded guilty to the unpremeditated murder of Smith during a court-martial at Fort Irwin National Training Center in May, according to the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel.
A military judge sentenced Cornejo to 50 years of confinement, reduction in rank to E-1, and a dishonorable discharge.
-by Rosie Newmark
Josh Nathan takes the oath of office inside Rye City Hall. Photo/Alison Rodilosso
CITY
Four years ago, Josh Nathan met a young family new to Rye who had lost nearly everything during Hurricane Ida. As they spoke, unsure of what’s to come, Nathan shared a personal story of his own — that in his second year in the city, his family’s home was destroyed by a fire. What stayed with him, he said, was the gratitude he felt from friends and neighbors, and a community that rallied around them.
In the final hours of his mayoral campaign, one door Nathan knocked on opened to reveal a familiar face.
“I’m so glad we stayed,” the woman from four years prior eagerly told him. “We love it here.”
-by Miranda Ferrante