On The Record: Rye Golf Club staffer arrested

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Rye Record
July 09, 2024

Good morning subscribers. ☕ This is your Tuesday, July 9, Rye Record newsletter, curating some of the latest headlines across the city of Rye.

Golf club employee investigated. Nicholas Aufiero, an employee with the Rye Golf Club, was arrested on July 2 after Rye police determined that he had forcibly touched a fellow co-worker in a sexually inappropriate manner. According to a city official, the 72-year-old was fired last week from the golf club, which is run by the city of Rye.

Mission accomplished. Let the Kids Play, the donor group which has pledged to pay for the installation of artificial turf at Nursery Field, raised the required $2.9 million in funding necessary for the city to move forward with project.

Nail-biter! In the first runoff election in Rye Neck Board of Education history, newcomer Halli Getanio defeated Martin O’Reilly by just 11 votes.

July 5 brought its own explosive display to Rye, as police chased down a Connecticut man operating an illegal moped. The suspect was apprehended but not after swerving into oncoming traffic and resisting arrest.

➡️ Follow The Record, @ryerecordnews, on our social media channels and at ryerecord.com for the latest news. 💻📱

IN OTHER NEWS

-The Rye Chamber of Commerce will be hosting its annual Sidewalk Sale along Purchase Street, July 18-20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This year the chamber is limiting participation to member businesses only.

-A heat advisory remains in effect until 8 p.m. Tuesday night, with heat index values expected to reach 101. A heat advisory is issued when heat and humidity is expected to make it feel like 95 to 99 degrees for two or more consecutive days, or 100 to 104 degrees for any length of time. 🌡

-Rye City Hall is hosting a blood drive with the New York Blood Center on July 15, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are allowed if space permits. You can sign up at ryeny.gov.

-Con Edison will be conducting utility work on Sanford Street and Van Wagenen Avenue, beginning July 8 and running through July 12, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

What we’re hearing: Port Chester’s Saltaire Oyster Bar and Fish House will be closing its doors on July 14 after a nine-year run. The restaurant — known for its raw bar, fresh seafood, and lively drinks — sits in an industrial space along Abendroth Avenue that was formerly home to the Willet House steakhouse.

Playland Lake is now offering kayaking, beginning July 13 and running every Saturday and Sunday through Labor Day, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Rent a single kayak, double kayak, or stand-up paddleboard. For more details, check out Playland’s Instagram page. 🚣‍♂️

-curated by Christian Falcone

WEATHER

Today’s Weather Channel local forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies in Rye with a high of 93 degrees and a UV Index of 7.⛅ Check out the forecast for the rest of the week here.

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POLICE

Rye Golf Club employee Nicholas Aufiero, a retired lieutenant with the FDNY, was arrested on July 2 after an investigation revealed that he allegedly sexually touched a co-worker.

Rye police arrested an employee of the city-owned Rye Golf Club on Tuesday for allegedly forcibly touching a fellow staff member in a sexual manner, an investigation revealed.

Nicholas Aufiero, of Rye Brook, was the subject of a police investigation that found the 72-year-old inappropriately touched a co-worker while working at the Boston Post Road golf club on Saturday, June 29. Aufiero, who is a retired lieutenant with the FDNY, was subsequently fired from his position with the golf club on July 1, a city official told The Record.

Under state penal law, forcible touching takes place without a person’s consent and includes squeezing, grabbing, pinching, rubbing, or other bodily contact involving some level of pressure to the victim’s sexual or intimate parts.

-by Christian Falcone

The plan to install artificial turf at Nursery Field passed a major hurdle this month after a donor group was able to raise $2.9 million to fund the project.

CITY

Members of a local donor group offering to pay for plans to install artificial turf at Nursery Field have hit their target, raising the necessary capital ahead of last Monday’s city-imposed deadline. 

Let the Kids Play, a nonprofit also operating under the name Rye Youth Athletic Foundation, agreed to raise $2.9 million for the city to move forward with the highly controversial artificial turf project following a May 15 deal brokered with the City Council. The plan was contingent on the group meeting a July 1 deadline to come up with the funds.  

The city will now ready construction documents to put the turf project out to bid, according to City Manager Greg Usry. He hopes to have the project out to prospective contractors by September, he told The Record.

-by Christian Falcone

SCHOOLS

Halli Gatenio was elected to the Rye Neck Board of Education following an unprecedented runoff election on July 1.

By an 11-vote margin, Halli Gatenio became the newest member of the Rye Neck Board of Education after an unprecedented runoff election on July 1. 

Gatenio was elected to a three-year term over Martin O’Reilly by a vote of 414 to 403; previously the regular election on May 21 between Nikki Barker, O’Reilly, and Gatenio resulted in 628 votes for Barker and 429 votes for both O’Reilly and Gatenio.

-by Chris Urban

Members of the high school band Narwhals recently played at Locals 10538 in Larchmont to help raise money for cancer support group, the Soul Ryeders.

ARTS

The Narwhals traces its roots to fourth grade in Rye Neck. 

Alex Hull and Thomas Briscoe, now Rye Neck High School juniors, were in a band together.  When they lost their keyboard player in fifth grade, they invited Ryan Truta to join. Jedd Amos was in a different band, but had been best friends with Hull and Quinn Byron since kindergarten.

When the opportunity to perform at their school’s Spring Fair came up, they formed Imagine Narwhals with Amos on drums. The name came from a television special on narwhals, and without much discussion that became the band’s name.

-by Alison Cupp Relyea

POLICE

Wilver Herald, 22, evaded Rye police on his illegal moped after refusing to comply with a traffic stop on July 5. He was arrested after a brief physical altercation with police.

Fireworks erupted on Theodore Fremd Avenue Friday, when a suspect riding an illegal moped took Rye police on a dangerous chase into oncoming traffic before being wrestled to the ground and arrested. 

Police attempted to pull over Wilver Hiraldo, 22, on Theodore Fremd Avenue after they determined he was riding an unregistered moped on July 5. Hiraldo, of Norwalk, Connecticut, refused to comply with police and took off on the moped accelerating around stopped traffic on the avenue and driving into oncoming traffic, police say. 

According to police, one officer was injured in the melee and treated for minor injuries at Greenwich Hospital. He was later released. 

-by Christian Falcone