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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

New Rochelle City Council Regular Legislative Meeting - January 20, 2026

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, January 20, 2026

BodyNew Rochelle, New York

SessionMeeting Portal

DateTuesday, January 20, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 7:33

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:27

Good evening and welcome to the January 2026 regular legislative meeting.

0:31

Madam City Clerk, please call the roll.

0:33

Mayor Raymond Herbert?

0:35

Here.

0:35

Councilmember Lopez.

0:36

Yeah.

0:37

Councilmember Tarantino.

0:38

Here.

0:38

Councilmember Peters.

0:40

Here.

0:40

Councilmember Austin Layay.

0:42

Here.

0:42

Councilmember K here.

0:43

And Councilmember Stern.

0:44

Here.

0:45

Thank you so very much.

0:46

And again, good evening on this frigid day.

0:49

Big thanks to our DPW team for all of the hard work they put in over the weekend to keep us all safe and keep the roads clear.

0:56

Before we start the agenda, I'm going to turn it over to our city manager who would like to make an introduction.

1:10

He'll be leading our finance department.

1:21

And I just wanted to quickly just introduce him so that you see him, you can say hello, and he's our new finance commissioner.

1:27

I also want to thank Edward Ritter for his service and for agreeing to staying on to help us with the transition with Alice there.

1:36

So I just want to take this opportunity to introduce Alice there.

1:39

Thank you.

1:40

Good evening, everyone.

1:42

As uh Will mentioned, my name is Alistair Featherstone.

1:45

I have approximately 20 years of a municipal finance experience, primarily as an investment banker, assisting issuers raise capital through bonds and uh bond anticipation notes and assisting issuers uh with structuring their capital program and implementing their capital program or working with them in terms of uh working with the rating agencies.

2:07

So I'm uh very much looking forward to this opportunity and thank you guys very much.

2:12

And yeah, I'm just ready to uh hit the ground running and help you implement your uh basic goals.

2:18

So thank you.

2:19

Amazing.

2:19

Welcome aboard.

2:21

Yes, thank you.

2:22

Thank you.

2:23

Save yourself the next time won't be so nice.

2:27

Now that'll be happening.

2:30

Enjoy this now.

2:31

Yeah, I was gonna say hope and process.

2:39

Excellent.

2:39

Thank you so much, City Manager Manager for putting a face to the name.

2:42

Uh all right, the first item on our agenda is the approval of minutes that were submitted for the regular legislative meeting of Tuesday, November 18th, 2025, and the committee of the whole session for Tuesday, December 2nd of 2025.

2:54

May I have a motion and a second adopting the minutes as listed, please.

2:58

Stern and Kay, all in favor say aye.

3:01

Any opposed.

3:02

And I'd like to note the submission of minutes for the regular legislative meeting, which took place on Tuesday, December 9th, 2025, and the committee of the whole session, which took place on Tuesday, January 13th, 2026.

3:15

Moving on to our consent agenda, we're going to deviate a little bit um from the process.

3:20

Um 9, 10, and 11 will take separately.

3:24

So may I have a motion to end a second adopting items one through eight on the consent agenda, please.

3:29

Peters and Oshan Loye.

3:31

All in favor say aye.

3:32

Aye, any opposed.

3:34

Moving on to item number nine, which is a proposed resolution declaring leave agency and issuing a positive declaration relative to amendments to Article 22, Chapter 33175 of the downtown overlay zones of the city of New Rochelle.

3:47

Councilman Tarantino was asked for a moment.

3:49

Yes, I I just wanted to make sorry about that.

3:52

Okay.

3:57

What I would like to say for the record, that I voted on DOZ and downtown issues for my entire 10 entire tenure on City Council.

4:05

Um I've been on city council uh for this is my fifth term, uh, 18 years on council, and at no time uh was I ever asked to recuse myself or I'm not vote on something.

4:20

Uh during that time, and each prior corporation council, including um Dawn Warren, allowed me to vote in several specifically open that I not have to accuse myself.

4:31

I voted on the creation of DOZ in 2050 2015, 2015, and several amendments since then, including the creations of DOZ 7 and 8.

4:41

And if I'm not mistaken, Corporation Council Warren, uh you were involved in the DO8 when it was created.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████66%

Zoning And Land Use███████████████████████34%

Summary of Proceedings

New Rochelle City Council Regular Legislative Meeting - January 20, 2026

The New Rochelle City Council held its regular legislative meeting on January 20, 2026, at 11:15 AM. Mayor Raymond Herbert presided, with all councilmembers present. The meeting began with the introduction of the new Finance Commissioner, Alistair Featherstone, who has approximately 20 years of municipal finance experience. The council approved minutes from previous meetings, adopted a consent agenda (items 1–8), and voted separately on several resolutions, including zoning amendments and two eminent domain actions.

Consent Calendar

Minutes from the regular legislative meeting of November 18, 2025, and the committee of the whole session of December 2, 2025, were approved by a motion from Councilmember Stern and second from Councilmember Kay, with all in favor.
The submission of minutes for the regular legislative meeting of December 9, 2025, and the committee of the whole session of January 13, 2026, was noted.
Items 1 through 8 on the consent agenda were adopted unanimously by a motion from Councilmember Peters and second from Councilmember Austin Layay.

Discussion Items

Item 9: Proposed resolution regarding amendments to Article 22, Chapter 33175 of the Downtown Overlay Zones (DOZ) – Councilmember Tarantino stated that he had voted on DOZ issues throughout his 18-year tenure and had never been asked to recuse himself. He noted that he owns property in downtown New Rochelle purchased in the 1970s–1980s. To avoid any conflict, he recused himself from the vote and stepped away from the table. The resolution was then adopted by a motion from Councilmember Austin Layay and second from Councilmember Kay, with all remaining members voting in favor.
Item 10: Proposed legislation regarding 662 Main Street – eminent domain (EDPL) of the former Carnegie Library (Hagadoran property) – The resolution was adopted unanimously by a motion from Councilmember Lopez and second from Councilmember Kay.
Item 11: Proposed legislation regarding 625 North Avenue – eminent domain (EDPL) of the former CBS property – The resolution was adopted unanimously by a motion from Councilmember Peters and second from Councilmember Kay.
Item 12: Pin 8758.99 – Pel Road traffic signal supplemental agreement – This resolution authorized the implementation and funding of the traffic signal agreement. It was adopted unanimously by a motion from Councilmember Tarantino and second from Councilmember Austin Layay.

Key Outcomes

Alistair Featherstone was introduced as the new Finance Commissioner, succeeding Edward Ritter.
Minutes and consent agenda items were approved without dissent.
Councilmember Tarantino recused himself from voting on the Downtown Overlay Zone amendments (Item 9) due to property ownership in the district, but the resolution passed unanimously among remaining members.
Both eminent domain resolutions (Items 10 and 11) were adopted unanimously.
The Pel Road traffic signal supplemental agreement (Item 12) was adopted unanimously.
No executive session was held, and the meeting was adjourned by a motion from Councilmember Lopez and second from Councilmember Peters.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening and welcome to the January 2026 regular legislative meeting. Madam City Clerk, please call the roll. Mayor Raymond Herbert? Here. Councilmember Lopez. Yeah. Councilmember Tarantino. Here. Councilmember Peters. Here. Councilmember Austin Layay. Here. Councilmember K here. And Councilmember Stern. Here. Thank you so very much. And again, good evening on this frigid day. Big thanks to our DPW team for all of the hard work they put in over the weekend to keep us all safe and keep the roads clear. Before we start the agenda, I'm going to turn it over to our city manager who would like to make an introduction. He'll be leading our finance department. And I just wanted to quickly just introduce him so that you see him, you can say hello, and he's our new finance commissioner. I also want to thank Edward Ritter for his service and for agreeing to staying on to help us with the transition with Alice there. So I just want to take this opportunity to introduce Alice there. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. As uh Will mentioned, my name is Alistair Featherstone. I have approximately 20 years of a municipal finance experience, primarily as an investment banker, assisting issuers raise capital through bonds and uh bond anticipation notes and assisting issuers uh with structuring their capital program and implementing their capital program or working with them in terms of uh working with the rating agencies. So I'm uh very much looking forward to this opportunity and thank you guys very much. And yeah, I'm just ready to uh hit the ground running and help you implement your uh basic goals. So thank you. Amazing. Welcome aboard. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Save yourself the next time won't be so nice. Now that'll be happening. Enjoy this now. Yeah, I was gonna say hope and process. Excellent. Thank you so much, City Manager Manager for putting a face to the name. Uh all right, the first item on our agenda is the approval of minutes that were submitted for the regular legislative meeting of Tuesday, November 18th, 2025, and the committee of the whole session for Tuesday, December 2nd of 2025. May I have a motion and a second adopting the minutes as listed, please. Stern and Kay, all in favor say aye. Any opposed. And I'd like to note the submission of minutes for the regular legislative meeting, which took place on Tuesday, December 9th, 2025, and the committee of the whole session, which took place on Tuesday, January 13th, 2026. Moving on to our consent agenda, we're going to deviate a little bit um from the process. Um 9, 10, and 11 will take separately. So may I have a motion to end a second adopting items one through eight on the consent agenda, please. Peters and Oshan Loye. All in favor say aye.

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