Issue #028 · LatestSunday, October 11, 2026 · 90 percent rain today, clearing to 70 Monday · Little Haunters comes to Wildcliff · youth jobs deadline Wednesday
Is the New Rochelle haunted house too scary for kids? Little Haunters runs Oct 18 and Oct 31, a soaker of a Sunday ends in thunderstorms, and youth job applications close Wednesday
Issue #029 · LatestMonday, October 12, 2026 · sunny and 72 today · showers likely on ArtsFest Friday · the Lynx is in port for the 250th
When can you board the tall ship Lynx? Tavern Night opens a 250th week on Wednesday, the ArtsFest washout slides to Friday, and the holiday bumps leaf day too
Free local email · Monday + Friday mornings · written by Sabrina · 4-minute read
The tall ship Lynx is the reason to walk to the water this week. It is a replica of a historic privateer, it is in port for New Rochelle's 250th, and the city built a small festival around it. Start Wednesday. Toast 250 Tavern Night runs 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Kenny's on the Water, 2 Pelham Road, with living history reenactors and a first welcome for the ship.
The main event is Saturday. Public tours run 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Municipal Marina, and they are free. Parking is free at Hudson Park. That is also where the city hands out tour tickets, so earlier is safer. While you wait, the park turns into a mini festival of history: reenactors of General William Howe and Marbleheader John Glover, live music, colonial games from Philips Manor Hall and local history booths.
"Stepping aboard the tall ship Lynx is like stepping back into the past," said Barbara Davis, New Rochelle's city historian and executive director of the Westchester County Historical Society, in the city's announcement.
Search answers
The questions New Rochelle searches this week, answer first, source after.
Does Columbus Day change leaf and yard waste pickup?
It moves one day, not the whole schedule. The city's rule: if a holiday lands on your pickup day, Friday becomes your day. North end streets run Monday and Tuesday, so this week they slide to Friday, and bags go to the curb by 7:00 AM. Yard waste keeps its own pickup through October 24. By the way, the notice on the city site is the 2025 posting, so if your block saw different days last fall, call DPW before you drag bags out. One clock the holiday does not touch: youth job applications are still due Wednesday at 4:00 PM.
Friday took the washout. Sunday's issue put the shower risk on Saturday, and the forecast has moved. Thursday's opening day stays dry and sunny at 66. Friday now carries showers likely at 70 percent, right on the MOTH Story SLAM and the makers markets. Saturday flips to mostly sunny, 53 and breezy, which helps the Lynx tours and the dog parade. The good news is you have days to reshuffle. Put your outdoor stops on Saturday, keep Friday for studios and galleries, and re-check Thursday morning, because four days out these numbers still move.
Wednesday, October 14 at 4:00 PM, and the city means it: emailed applications will not be accepted. The Year-Round Youth Employment Program pays 17 dollars an hour for up to 18 hours a week, runs 8-week sessions, and takes ages 14 to 20. Thirty applicants get in per session, and the city's income eligibility guidelines apply. File at newrochelleny.gov/youthjobs before Wednesday afternoon.
The leaves are coming down, so here is the rule set in one place. Leaves go in biodegradable paper bags or open containers up to 75 pounds, set out separately from trash. Plastic bags and loose piles do not get picked up, and the city says they can bring fines for the property owner.
Collection runs through the end of December. North end pickup is Monday and Tuesday, south end Wednesday and Thursday, everything at the curb by 7:00 AM, and no collection Thanksgiving week. Yard waste is separate and ends October 24.
One window people miss: since October 1, gas leaf blowers are allowed weekdays 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and weekends 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The notice on the city site is the 2025 posting, so confirm details for your block with DPW if last year looked different.
The council's committee of the whole meets Tuesday, October 13 at 3:45 PM in the first floor conference room at City Hall, 515 North Avenue. Public hearings and Community to Be Heard share the agenda. That last one is the public comment segment, where residents get the mic. If a city decision has been on your mind, this is the cheapest way to say it on the record. The next regular legislative meeting follows Tuesday, October 20 at 6:15 PM.
AI Corner: one plain-English AI thing, every issue
This week: read a council agenda in five minutes.
Tuesday's meeting comes with an agenda, and agendas are written for lawyers. New Rochelle posts them online before each meeting. Copy the agenda, paste it into an AI chat, and try this: "Here is the New Rochelle city council agenda: [paste it]. List every item that could affect homeowners on a residential street, explain each one in a sentence a newcomer would understand, and flag which items include a public hearing."
Then do the human check. Search any item the AI named against the city's own agenda page before you repeat it, because models misread civic numbering more than you would think. Bring the list Tuesday if you want to speak, or walk in already knowing what is coming.
Reply with questions; they become future AI Corner topics.
Columbus Day: north end leaf and yard waste pickup slides to Friday, bags at the curb by 7:00 AM; New Rochelle Public Library is closed Sundays and Mondays; ArtsFest opens in three days; sunny and 72
Citywide · DPW notice, NRPL hours and NWS
City Council committee of the whole, public hearings and Community to Be Heard, 3:45 PM, first floor conference room, City Hall; Creative Cards for a Cause, 4:30 PM at the Main Library; mostly sunny at 72
City Hall, 515 North Avenue and 1 Library Plaza · city calendar, NRPL and NWS
Deadline: Year-Round Youth Employment Program applications close at 4:00 PM at newrochelleny.gov/youthjobs; Toast 250! Tavern Night with the tall ship Lynx, 6:00 to 9:00 PM at Kenny's on the Water, 2 Pelham Road; HLRB meeting, 6:00 PM
Online, Kenny's on the Water and City Hall · city calendar and Youth Bureau
ArtsFest 2026 opens, running through Sunday, October 18 across downtown and surrounding neighborhoods; sunny at 66, the dry day of the weekend
Downtown · NRCA, city calendar and NWS
The MOTH Story SLAM, 6:30 PM at Trinity Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 311 Huguenot St; showers likely, 70 percent chance, the wet day of ArtsFest
311 Huguenot St · city calendar and NWS
Free public tours of the tall ship Lynx, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Municipal Marina, free tickets and parking at Hudson Park with a history festival in the park; Howl'oween dog parade, 11:00 AM at Ward Acres; Colonial Tavern Experience, 4:30 PM at 18th Ward Brewing, 40 Division St; mostly sunny, 53, breezy
Hudson Park, Ward Acres and downtown · city calendar and NWS
Little Haunters at Wildcliff Mansion, 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, 44 Wildcliff Rd, no jump scares; ArtsFest closing day; New Rochelle Art Association 110th juried show reception, 2:00 to 3:30 PM, Lumen Winter Gallery at the library
Wildcliff Mansion, downtown and 1 Library Plaza · city calendar, NRCA and NRPL
City Council Regular Legislative Meeting, 6:15 PM
City Hall, 515 North Avenue · city calendar
Halfway to Earth Day Fall Festival, 4:00 to 6:00 PM at Ward Acres; United Nations flag raising, 5:00 PM at City Hall
Ward Acres and City Hall · city calendar
FALL-O-WEEN for Pre-K through 5th grade, 5:00 to 8:00 PM at Five Islands Park, LeFevre Lane; costumes encouraged
Five Islands Park · city calendar
HAUNTFEST at Wildcliff Mansion, 7:00 PM, 44 Wildcliff Rd, music, food truck and vendors; last day of yard waste collection
Wildcliff Mansion · city calendar and DPW
State of the City 2026, doors 6:00 PM, address 6:30 PM at the JCC Mid-Westchester, 999 Wilmot Rd; RSVP at newrochelleny.gov/SOTCRSVP
