Recommended Reading, April 27, 2025

Robert Cox

27 Apr 2025 — 4 min read

A red fox chased by magpies along a river in Dublin

DUBLIN, IRELAND (April 27, 2025) — I finally received a call from William Wagstaff, the lawyer for the Garris family. It’s unfortunate the call came after I ran the article on Monday. I do not want to discuss the call itself only to say it went for well over an hour and we agreed to meet up next time I am in the USA. What I can say is neither Garris nor City Manager Will Melendez have yet to explain why there is a dispute over the amount of the settlement of the civil case.

Yesterday, I took Zeke for a walk up to the Aviva Stadium. On the way back, we saw a red fox along the river, chased off by a couple of magpies.

Magpies are notoriously territorial. They were having none of this fox on their turf in the River Dodder in Ballsbridge pic.twitter.com/uNTXBK6FMl
— DublinYanks (@DublinYanks) April 26, 2025

We got a number for layoffs from the CSDNR — 76 in total — but readers have told me this figure is well below the actual number as many people were pressured to resign. I am hoping to get some paperwork to support this but the actual number may be over 100 people.

The biggest social media reax was over out story that Mayor Ramos is now supporting a Guaranteed Income — monthly cash payout — for New Rochelle residents.

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Wagstaff Won’t Dignify “Swipes” at His Ethics and Reputation

Simplified Summary: In an article dated April 21, 2025, journalist Robert Cox reports on a heated email exchange with attorney William Wagstaff following Cox’s coverage of a $250,000 settlement between New Rochelle and the family of Jarrel Garris, killed by police in 2023. Wagstaff, representing the Garris family, allegedly attacked Cox’s journalistic ethics and reputation in unsolicited emails but refused to answer basic questions about the case. The article serves as Cox’s response to Wagstaff’s accusations.

New Rochelle’s Ethnic Galas Turn into Proxy War: Arabs v. Jews

Simplified Summary: In an article dated April 22, 2025, journalist Robert Cox criticizes New Rochelle’s City Council for scheduling Arab-American Heritage Month and Jewish-American Heritage Month events just nine days apart, on April 22 and May 1, respectively. Cox argues that in a city of 80,828, with Arab-Americans at less than 0.1% and Jewish-Americans at 5-7% of the population, this close timing turns cultural celebrations into a political “proxy war,” undermining civic pride and highlighting tensions rather than fostering diversity.