Peekskill Common Council Work Session and Regular Meeting – January 26, 2026
Peekskill Common Council Work Session and Regular Meeting – January 26, 2026
The Common Council held a Committee of the Whole (work session) followed by a regular council meeting on January 26, 2026. The work session focused on the proposed Immigration Enforcement Policy ("Peekskill for All"), with discussion of revisions and a timeline for a public hearing. The regular meeting included unanimous approval of 13 resolutions, department reports, and extensive public comment on the immigration policy, good cause eviction, and housing conditions at Park Place Towers.
Work Session: Immigration Enforcement Policy
- The city manager introduced the revised policy, adding Section 13 (procedure for reporting alleged violations), Section 12 (no conflicting policies without council consent), definitions from U.S. code, and a provision that the city will not use resources for apprehending individuals based solely on immigration status.
- Council members expressed support for the changes and agreed to move forward with a resolution to set a public hearing.
- Next steps: the policy will be attached to a resolution at the February 9, 2026 council meeting to approve a public hearing on February 23, 2026.
Consent Calendar (All Resolutions Approved Unanimously)
- J1: Update to 2026 consolidated fee schedule (water/sewer rates).
- J2: Tax anticipation note for $6 million.
- J3: Reappoint Janice Molloy to Board of Assessment Review.
- J4: Reappoint Janine Melillo to Conservation Advisory Council (CAC).
- J5: Reappoint Deborah Bliss to CAC.
- J6: Appoint Robert Supina to Parks Advisory Board.
- J7: Appoint Meredith Ross to Parks Advisory Board.
- J8: MOU with Cumbe Soccer for group soccer lessons in Depew Park.
- J9: MOU with McNamee Construction Corp for parking storage at Peekskill Stadium for Louisa Street Bridge Project (Feb 1 – Dec 1, 2026).
- J10: Bicycle Sundays in Depew Park (road closures).
- J11: Authorize formation of the Peekskill 250 Advisory Committee.
- J12: Set public hearing for Feb 9, 2026 on special permit for outdoor storage at 1050 Lower South Street.
- J13: SPCA of Westchester contract renewal for 2026 (retroactive to Jan 1).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Courtney Williams (92 Maguire Ave): Thanked DPW; urged council to pass an actual law (ordinance) for Peekskill for All, not just a resolution; also called for good cause eviction legislation.
- Dana Friedenfeld (350 Ringold St): Supported Peekskill for All, endorsed public notice procedures and a civilian complaint board; asked for translation into Spanish and other languages.
- Sabina (108 Brown St, Park Place Towers): Described five days without heat/hot water; building management unresponsive; requested city enforcement. Several other Park Place Towers residents echoed: temps as low as 52°F, temporary boiler inadequate, families forced to leave.
- Tina Bongar (426 Smith St): Thanked city manager and fire chief for responsiveness; raised elevator issues at 100 Ringold; suggested a rent board; supported Peekskill for All; questioned interaction with 287(g) agreements and timeline.
- Christina Kareem (1450 Riverview Ave): Advocated for good cause eviction protections, citing housing instability and household impacts.
- Cynthia Knox (Nelson Ave): Questioned whether a resolution could be enforced in court via mandamus; preferred an ordinance for stronger legal footing.
- Ramon Fernandez (Brown St): Expressed fear in Hispanic community; urged codification into an ordinance.
- Noah Gita (200 Schoolhouse Rd): Asked status of good cause eviction; noted Terrytown, Croton, White Plains passed it; urged council to act.
- Jen Zewaki (608 Nelson Ave): Thanked advocates; criticized snow removal and city's use of AI imagery for storm announcements.
- Maya Holcomb (5 Rolling Way): Urged passage as local law, not internal personnel policy; supported citizen review board.
- Rebecca Morris (612 Ridge St): Asked for specific disciplinary measures for policy violations; argued a resolution is weak.
- Gianni (no address): Asked for example of a similar resolution with enforcement; suggested if resolution acts like a law, make it a law.
- Evan Rosen (Dykman St): Pointed out Peekskill police excessive force policy failures; argued resolution insufficient; noted 2018 law outdated.
- Angel Flores (Fair St): Shared personal ICE experience; emphasized urgency to protect immigrant community; noted classmates have disappeared.
- Nathan Kushan (Dykman St): Expressed full support for a law, not resolution.
- Ian (Lake View Dr): Asked about missing sections (9 and 10 on custody) from Westchester County Act; requested comment deadline and translation before public hearing.
Discussion Items
- Liaison Reports: Councilman Rigor (Parks & Rec – 250th anniversary); Councilwoman Talbot (red light camera – state approved, city working on logistics); Councilman DeGuccio (Youth Bureau – MLK celebration Jan 28 at 6 p.m.); Councilman Fassett (thanked DPW, noted snow plow pushing snow onto cleared sidewalks); Deputy Mayor (library board meeting, active shooter drill, new library building meetings, charter school meeting Feb 12, code red issue, tribute to longtime resident Lenny Bensky who passed away).
- City Manager Reports (Quality of Life): 62 buckets of litter collected from parks; 8 shopping carts; 1/3 ton of garbage from parks; 27 catch basins cleared; 962 parking tickets issued during storm; 166 traffic summons; 3 DWI arrests; 3 drug arrests (cocaine, heroin, fentanyl); stabbing arrest with canine Bones; DPW continued snow removal. Hassim Jenkins sentenced to 23 years to life for murder of social worker.
- Snow Closure Decision: Mayor explained joint decision with superintendent to close schools Jan 27 to allow DPW rest and complete street cleaning; some residents disagreed.
Key Outcomes
- All 13 resolutions on the consent calendar passed unanimously.
- The Immigration Enforcement Policy (Peekskill for All) will proceed: a resolution to set a public hearing will be introduced February 9, 2026, with the public hearing on February 23, 2026. The public may submit comments by email (subject line: "ICE resolution comments") to city manager and clerk. City will work on Spanish translation.
- City will investigate adding missing custody sections (9 and 10) from Westchester County Act to the policy.
- City manager to follow up on red light camera resolution and code red outage.
- City staff will continue to monitor Park Place Towers heat/hot water issue; plumbing inspector was on site Saturday.
- Council expressed condolences for Lenny Bensky and encouraged attendance at Feb 12 charter school meeting at Peekskill Middle School.
- City manager acknowledged AI imagery mistake and committed to using real photos in future communications.
Meeting Transcript
Everyone and welcome to our committee of the whole meeting for today, January 26, 2026. We have a light agenda and then executive session for discussion of matters concerning the medical, financial credit or employment history of a particular person, persons, or corporation or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal, or removal of a particular person, persons or corporations. So at this time I will turn it over to our city manager, Mr. Alexander. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Good evening. Good evening. We only have one item on the agenda for the committee of the whole today, and that is to discuss the ICE immigration policy. And uh Eric has done some work on it. This would still put us in a place where we would follow the same uh schedule as before. We would bring a um a uh resolution on the uh ninth of February to have a public hearing for the 23rd of February. If uh you were in agreement, but this just we're just bringing this to the Cal so that there's more time and more um transparency about what's going on. Eric, do you want to um so the revise so there were some comments at the last meeting regarding some requested revisions um relating to um how citizens could report a alleged violation of the powerhouse your concern regarding actions by um city employees? So we added section 13, um, which provides a procedure for notifying the city manager or for other um other employees making um you know to make reports regarding potential issues regarding the policy. There's also um how what should be done if there is an alleged violation of the policy, um an investigation standard. Um there's also with respect to the uh Peaks Gill Police Department, they would conduct um a review with respect to any violations that occur relating to their standard operating procedure concerning this policy. Um I also think uh I also believe we um in section 12, we also added a provision that there won't will not be any other city policies adopted that contradict or um uh sort of or or in conflict with this policy without first obtaining the consent of the city council. So those are the major ones. We did make sure there was a provision in number five where the city won't use any facilities, funds, personnel, or other resources for um you know, for apprehending individuals based solely on citizenship or immigration status. And we also provided some definitions with respect to some of the or or some of the U.S. code sections that are referenced in this um in this document. Um so uh if the if any council members have any other questions or concerns, certainly willing to discuss them now. So council, any questions? I think the changes, it's Kathy. I I think the changes are good, and um I would be willing to go forward with that. I agree with that also. Thank you. I agree with that. Eric, I want to just thank you for all your quick quick turnaround on this and uh taking this as serious as you have. Uh, and I think we've gotten this in a really great place uh and ready for a public hearing. So thank you so much. I just want to chime in and say I think that you know what's happening nationally is creating a sense of urgency. So I'm really happy you guys turn this around that quickly, and that we're moving forward with a public hearing. And I agree. I think adding the clarifications around what the specific statutes are, and and I think that will help the public as well kind of understand better what the policy does. And I agree with been previously said. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Council, I want to thank you for um taking the time to actually look at this and coming back with questions and putting some more clarification to it. And Eric for going through this, and um, I think we're ready to move forward with the resolution for uh the public hearing. Okay. So the next step for us would be to bring this back to the cow. You would it would be in a memo version as it is now uh that everybody can read and um so uh and then we would just tell you that we were going to attach that to a resolution that would ask the council to approve a public hearing for um February 9th, but the public hearing would be approved for February 23rd, and the public hearing would happen on the 23rd. And um so uh and then we would just tell you that we were going to attach that to a resolution that would ask the council to approve a public hearing for um on February 9th, but the public hearing would be approved for February 23rd, and the public hearing would happen on the 23rd, and at that time the public would get a chance to speak and uh we would look to see if there was agreement on that day to put it into effect. Okay, everybody's clear on that? Good. Okay. Okay, and that is all that we have for this part of the agenda. I do need to ask the council to go into executive after um the council meeting tonight. Okay, so in the meantime, liaison reports starting with uh councilwoman Chang.
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