Issue #041 · LatestSunday, October 25, 2026 · Sunny, high near 65 · early voting 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the City Hall Annex and United Methodist Church sites · Board of Education public input on Vision 2030 continues · Plaza Night at Anderson: Halloween Bash Thursday 6:00 PM · Teen Room Halloween Fest Saturday 2:00 PM
School board opens Vision 2030 to public input, early voting continues, and Halloween gets two big days
Free local email · Monday + Friday mornings · Written by Sabrina · 4-minute read
The school district wants to hear from you on Vision 2030, its long-range plan, and it says now is the time. The district and the Board of Education have asked residents to bring questions and comments to upcoming board meetings and Vision 2030 community engagement sessions. The plan has drawn second-guessing anyway: Talk of the Sound reports the Board declined to answer 14 groups of questions about what happened to the promised Idea Catalog, how 31 ideas turned into four areas for consideration, and why the Lincoln attendance zone proposal dropped out of the latest materials. The next regular board meeting lands Wednesday, November 18.
While the schools talk, the county votes. Early voting runs 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM today at both New Rochelle sites, the City Hall Annex at 90 Beaufort Place and the United Methodist Church at 1200 North Avenue, day two of the nine-day window. Any county site works; you are not locked to your neighborhood poll until November 3.
Halloween week does the heavy lifting from here. Thursday brings Plaza Night at Anderson: Halloween Bash, 6:00 to 9:00 PM, and Saturday the Teen Room runs its Halloween Fest at the Main Library, 2:00 to 5:00 PM. The week stays mild for all of it: sunny today with a high near 65, clear tonight around 45, and Monday sunny near 69.
The questions New Rochelle searches this week, answer first, source after.
What is Vision 2030 in New Rochelle?
The school district long-range plan. Vision 2030 is the Board of Education initiative mapping what New Rochelle schools should look like by 2030. More than a year in, it generated 31 community ideas, narrowed them to four areas for consideration, and now the district says community input sessions and board meetings are the place to weigh in. Critics, including Talk of the Sound, want the missing pieces explained: what happened to the promised Idea Catalog, why the Lincoln attendance zone proposal disappeared from the latest materials, and why 14 groups of submitted questions went unanswered. If you want your questions on the record, the next regular board meeting is Wednesday, November 18.
No. The city calendar lists no Haunt date tonight, Sunday, October 25. The haunted house runs again Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31, 7:00 to 10:30 PM, with Little Haunters, the family-friendly no-scare version, Saturday 4:00 to 7:30 PM. Check the calendar entry before you drive out; dates have shifted this month.
When is Trick or Treating at the Shops at New Rochelle?
Nothing verified made it into this issue. The Shops at New Rochelle posts Halloween events through its own channels, and the mall's calendar did not surface a dated listing I could confirm this morning. If you are planning around it, call the mall at 914-632-7878 and ask, or check its event calendar before you go. What is on the verified calendar instead: Plaza Night at Anderson Plaza, the Halloween Bash, Thursday 6:00 to 9:00 PM.
City Hall stacks two meeting nights this week. The Planning Board meets Monday at 7:00 PM at City Hall, 515 North Avenue. The IDA follows Wednesday at 7:30 PM, also at City Hall. Neither agenda carries a public hearing this round, so both are watch-and-note sessions for most residents.
One clock is worth setting anyway: the MTA rock chipping at the New Rochelle Yard, near the ShopRite parking lot on Palmer Avenue, runs weekdays 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM into early November for the new retaining wall. The MTA moved the noisy work out of overnight hours after complaints from a Homestead Place homeowner. Other Penn Station Access construction continues overnight, so the daytime move covers the chipping only. Project updates are on the MTA site, and the email notification list lets you pick your area.
Okay. If you go to one thing, the Planning Board Monday at 7:00 is the one with the floor open.
AI Corner: one plain-English AI thing, every issue
This week: have an AI draft your Vision 2030 question, then bring it to a real meeting.
Public input windows reward people who show up with a specific question. The hard part is getting from I have a feeling to what is my actual question. An AI chat is good at that first step. Tell it what you know: Vision 2030 is the district long-range plan, 31 ideas went in, four areas came out, and residents are invited to comment at board meetings and community sessions. Ask it to turn your concern into three short questions a board member could answer out loud.
Then do the part the AI cannot. Check every date and claim it hands you against the district's own materials before you stand up with it, because a chatbot can be a cycle behind on local facts. The questions are yours; the AI only shaped them. The next regular board meeting is Wednesday, November 18, and comments land differently when they are specific.
Reply with questions; they become future AI Corner topics.
Early voting, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM at the City Hall Annex, 90 Beaufort Place, and the United Methodist Church, 1200 North Avenue, or any of the county sites, day two of nine through November 1; sunny, high near 65, clear tonight around 45
City Hall Annex & United Methodist Church · county Board of Elections
Early voting, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM; Planning Board Meeting, 7:00 PM at City Hall, 515 North Ave; sunny, high near 69
City Hall · county Board of Elections and city calendar
Early voting, 12:00 to 8:00 PM, the late window; sunny, high near 60
Early voting sites · county Board of Elections
Early voting, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM; New Rochelle IDA Meeting, 7:30 PM at City Hall; mostly sunny, high near 59
City Hall · county Board of Elections and city calendar
Early voting, 12:00 to 8:00 PM; Plaza Night at Anderson: Halloween Bash, 6:00 to 9:00 PM; mostly sunny, high near 67
Early voting sites & Anderson Plaza · county Board of Elections and city calendar
Early voting, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, second-to-last day; Teen Room: Halloween Fest, 2:00 to 5:00 PM at the Main Library, 1 Library Plaza; Little Haunters at Wildcliff Mansion, 4:00 to 7:30 PM, family-friendly no-scare with timed entry; The Haunt, 7:00 to 10:30 PM
Early voting sites, Main Library & Wildcliff Mansion · county Board of Elections, library calendar and city calendar
