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New Rochelle City Manager 
Wilfredo Melendez 

Dear Neighbors,

The sun is setting earlier and the temperatures are starting to drop. With only 3 months left in 2026 it’d be easy to fall into a lull, but our team here at City Hall are focused on continuing the work of making New Rochelle a great place to live.

One of our major focuses here at City Hall is to be responsive to the feedback we’re receiving from our residents. We’ve received some complaints around some quality-of-life concerns around pet waste, rodent issues and refuse in parts of our City.    DuringCity. During our September 8th Committee of the Whole City Council meeting, my office proposed a number of code changes to address sanitation and property maintenance issues. Our City isn’t unique in facing the problems presented by rodents, pet waste and improperly stored refuse but our team is committed to a multi-pronged approach incorporating education, enforcement and collaboration with residents to help alleviate the issues. We’ll be holding a public hearing on this matter on October 13th and invite you to come share your thoughts.

With the school year fully underway, keeping New Rochelle’s students safe a priority. This Summer, Governor Hochul signed a bill establishing a school speed zone camera demonstration program into law. As part of the program, our city will be authorized to set up and operate speed cameras in three school zones on Webster Avenue, Weyman Avenue and Quaker Ridge Road. This is just one step in keeping school zones and surrounding communities safe, as our traffic team will also be collecting data on other school zones to be included into the speed camera program. A public hearing on the school speed zone camera program will also be held on October 13th at 7 PM and we welcome your feedback.

September brought a lot of rain to New Rochelle, with extreme flooding happening in some of our neighboring Westchester communities.  Knowing that some of these extreme weather events are happening with increasing frequency, our Department of Public Works team has been hard at work on Stormwater Mitigation projects. One of those projects, the Sheldrake Culvert Replacement Project, is aimed at addressing potential flooding north of Quaker Ridge Road.  By replacing existing infrastructure at the southernmost point of the Sheldrake River, the goal is to increase water conveyance of the river to prevent cresting and flooding for surrounding neighborhoods.  Our teams have a number of ‘mini-drainage’ projects targeting localized trouble spots for flooding. While these projects may be smaller in scope, they’re important in continuing our goals of replacing aging infrastructure and mitigating flooding issues facing residents and homeowners. 

Budget season is in full swing here at City Hall. All of our departments have met with the Finance Department and submitted operating budget requests. The Proposed Budget will be submitted to the City Council by the end of this month, with Proposed 2027 Budget presentations going before City Council at the November 10th Committee of the Whole meeting and  the November 17th Regular Legislative Meeting.  The proposed budget will be the subject of a public hearing on December 1st before the City Council votes to adopt the 2027 Budget on December 8th.   

September 11th marked 25 years since the day that changed our nation. This year, the front lawn of City Hall played host to Remembrance Ceremony to honor those we lost on that fateful Tuesday morning, as well as the people who have passed in the following years due to 9/11-related illnesses.  The program was kicked off by a Presentation of Colors by the New Rochelle Fire Department and New Rochelle Police Department, the singing of the National Anthem by students from New Rochelle High School’s PAVE program, followed by a reading of the names of firefighters, law enforcement, military service members, as well as New Rochelle residents and alumni.  I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who joined us for the solemn day of reflection.

 October is shaping up to be a busy month in New Rochelle, with plenty of opportunities to get out and enjoy the fall. Parks & Recreation has a full slate of events plannedwill host Views & Brews at Hudson Park on October 3rd, while the “Taste of “series continues throughout the month. We’ll also celebrate Halfway to Earth Day on October 22nd, welcome the replica Revolutionary schooner The Lynx to Hudson Park as part of America 250 on October 17th, and enjoy an ArtsFest 4-day activation from the New Rochelle Council on the Arts from October 15th through October 18th. We’ll also look forward to the Mayor’s State of the City address at JCC Westchester on October 27.th. For a full list of upcoming events, visit www.NewRochelleNY.gov/events

This column is just one of many ways our City Hall team works to stay connected with you. Our NewRo Alert system at http://www.newrochelleny.gov/newroalert lets you receive calls, texts and/or email updates from our Public Information office. We continue to monitor non-emergency concerns and requests through our MobileNR app, available on the Apple App Store Google Play Store and our City social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and X are great resources to find out what’s happening and share your thoughts. And be on the lookout for my monthly City Manager Update, available at NewRochelleNY.gov/citymanager, to keep up with City’s initiatives, projects, and programs. 

As we keep working for you and our City, we welcome any feedback and all feedback. I encourage all residents to reach out to my office with any questions, comments or suggestions. Thanks for your continued support and partnership and I look forward to connecting with you.