DUBLIN, IRELAND (March 16, 2025) — In case you’ve been wondering, I have been working on a brand new project which took up all my time over the past week as I readied for a St. Patrick’s Day launch of DublinYanks so a bit behind on New York articles.
DUBLIN, IRELAND (March 9, 2025) — There is a common idea in the United States that St. Patrick’s Day represents Ireland — and everyone wears green and is Irish. Living here for going on two years, I do not think so. I attended the parade in Dublin last year and found
DUBLIN, IRELAND (March 9, 2025) — Writing in the Pelham Examiner, Pelham Memorial High School student JJ Hetzer, a member of the PMHS digital device committee, argues against a mobile phone ban in schools as proposed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in her 2025-2026 budget. Governor Hochul’s legislative proposal to create
DUBLIN, IRELAND (March 8, 2025) — If you have to ask, the answer is no. Let me break it down for those who wonder why not. My mother’s parents emigrated from County Meath (her father) and County Limerick (her mother) one hundred years ago. Decades later, when my maternal grandparents
NEW ROCHELLE, NY (March 7, 2025) — As readers know, I’ve spent months trying to obtain various sets of public records from the City of New Rochelle, and the response has been such an ordeal that I believe it raises serious questions about compliance with New York’s Freedom of
DUBLIN, IRELAND (March 5, 2025) — I’m considering writing an article timed to the budget hearings to highlight concerns about how the New Rochelle Board of Education has mismanaged taxpayer funds and the schools under its care. Before I begin, I’d like to hear premium subscribers’ thoughts on the
DUBLIN, IRELAND (March 4, 2025) —My previous article provided information from witness statements about encounters with Jarrel Garris in the hour leading up to the officer-involved shooting that resulted in Garris' death. This article focuses on Garris leaving the New Rochelle Farms grocery store and his subsequent struggle with
DUBLIN, IRELAND (March 2, 2025) — Before I tell you all the ways Tish James was a conniving fool in the Jarrel Garris case, let me brag on my wife a bit. Yesterday was the opening of Feltmakers Ireland "Symbols of Ireland" Exhibit at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre
DUBLIN, IRELAND (February 28, 2025) — On July 3, 2023, Jerrell Garris, a 37-year-old New Rochelle resident with a documented history of mental health struggles and criminal behavior, was fatally shot by police following a violent confrontation. The shooting incident, which unfolded in front of the Catherine AME Zion Church on
There are several serious deficiencies in the New York Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation (“OSI”) Report on the Investigation into the Death of Jarrel Garris that raise questions about the integrity not of the investigation by local and state police, but the report prepared and published under
CHICAGO, IL (February 23, 2025) — I am on the way back to Dublin after attending my mom’s funeral at Notre Dame after not much sleep and a 48-hour turnaround. I did make good use of my time in Chicago by stopping at Wendy’s (which are coming but have
DUBLIN, IRELAND (February 20, 2025) — If you want to fully appreciate the ability of New Rochelle’s new leadership to go from a whisper to a scream, look no further than the now year-long struggle of the New Rochelle City Council to sort out a simple flag policy. Under the
DUBLIN, IRELAND (February 20, 2025) — Before getting into the weeping and gnashing of teeth over the Israeli flag at last week’s New Rochelle City Council meeting, I want to provide the full context, a review of the dumbest council ever struggling for a year to sort out a a
NEW ROCHELLE, NY (February 19, 2025) — If the New Rochelle City Council flag subcommittee wanted to be comprehensive last year, they should have included every City-owned flagpole in their proposed flag policy to avoid additional disputes. To get started on sorting this, I asked readers to help me draft a
DUBLIN, IRELAND (February 19, 2025) — In the United States, heritage months are designated periods to celebrate and recognize the contributions, history, and culture of various racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. These observances are typically established by presidential proclamation, congressional resolution, or federal law. Some (e.g., German-American, Polish-American) are more
DUBLIN, IRELAND (February 18, 2025) — Before I dive into the divisive path that the New Rochelle City Council has set the City upon following the controversy a year ago over the Israeli flag, I wanted to understand if there is any logic to the various flag raising, heritage months and
DUBLIN, IRELAND (February 17, 2025) — On April 14, 2017, the City of New Rochelle announced a $3.5 million grant for upgrades to Quaker Ridge Road to increase roadway safety and access for cyclists and pedestrians. It is going on 8 years and the roadway has gotten worse not better.
DUBLIN, IRELAND (February 16, 2025) — I went shopping this week not far from Temple Bar and came across Isolde’s Tower. I had been looking for it for a while without success but happened upon it. Isolde was an Irish princess. Isolde's Tower, a 13th-century defensive structure in
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND (February 9, 2025) — The big deal in sports in Ireland every February/March is Six Nations Rugby. The six nations are England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. The Aviva Stadium, home to Irish Rugby, is a short walk from my apartment. Naturally, I am in Edinburgh to
DUBLIN, IRELAND (February 8, 2025) — The New Rochelle City Council has done a complete reversal on foreign flags at City Hall. Sure to raise eyebrows are plans to display the Palestinian flag as part of two separate Heritage Month celebrations. Also, Russia but not Ukraine, Taiwan and China, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan,
DUBLIN, IRELAND (February 7, 2025) — I have taken to calling Corporation Counsel Dawn Warren “dum dum”. For those who profess to be offended, I submit for your approval the following ethics complaint filed earlier today with the New Rochelle Board of Ethics.
DUBLIN, IRELAND (February 4, 2025) — There was a time when I listened to people telling me that Will Melendez was a good guy in a difficult position having to deal with Yadira Ramos-Herbert. I no longer think that, and here is why.
DUBLIN, IRELAND (February 2, 2025) — It is a bank holiday weekend here in Ireland. St. Brigid’s Day is February 1 but Monday is the day off. This is a new bank holiday, first held in 2023. It is basically meant to be an offset to St. Patrick’s Day.
DUBLIN, IRELAND (January 31, 2025) — I am still waiting for records under my FOIL requests and FOIL appeals to the City of New Rochelle, but I heard a story I just had to share with premium subscribers. New Rochelle Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert addressed a recent meeting of the New Rochelle