New Rochelle Police Department Declares Open Season on Journalists; Refuses to Investigate Death Threat

Written By: Robert Cox

DeathThreat1When I initially made a complaint of a death threat against me to the New Rochelle Police Department the officer who took the complaint told me a detective would be assigned to the case and that I could call in a couple of days to find out what was going on. I called yesterday and an officer who picked up the phone suggested I call back on Tuesday as most people were out for the holiday. I called a few minutes ago and spoke with Lt. Christopher Hearle. Hearle denied that anyone told me that a detective would be assigned to the case and informed me that no detective had been or would be assigned to the case.

Hearle told me that no detective was assigned to the case because he did not consider the message on the boat to be a threat. He called the message “silliness”. He stated that he did not consider it a threat but merely graffiti. He repeatedly stated that the message was written on the “side of a boat” but would not or could not explain why that the message was written on a boat made the words more or less of a threat. He stated that he did not consider “sleeps with the fish” to be a threat. He several times stated that the boat was on private property and “clearly” not intended for me to see. He said that if the message had painted on a boat on my property that would be different. He said that the boat owner denied any knowledge of how the graffiti came to be on the boat.

In response, I pointed out to Lt. Hearle that I had been reporting about that property and that particular boat, that I had previously photographed that boat and, based on my prior reporting of these sorts of issues, district employees at the yard at 47 Cliff Street could have reasonably expected that I would return to the yard as part of a follow up story. There was certainly no basis for his claim that it was “clearly” the case that the message was not intended for me to see. I pointed out the boat and the message was visible from the street and that little if anything he was saying was accurate.

The dismissive attitude toward the threat by NRPD might be explained in large part by reporting on the department’s XXX-Rated Gambling Site. Some of those involved in the Gambling and Porn web site operated by members of the NRPD P.A.C.T. Unit including Vincent Mirabile and Kevin Perri are part of the department’s General Investigation Unit which Hearle runs.

ChainSawWomanWe first reported on the police department’s porn and gambling web site a year ago. Last month the department issued a new social media policy which appears to be a direct response to our reporting on the porn/gambling site.

Original Stories:

The first story was about the gambling and the hostile, crude, misogyny on display by the police…

New Rochelle Commissioner Turns Blind-Eye to “Gangster Mentality” in Police Department’s High-Stakes Fantasy Football

The second story was about the porn site hidden within the site…

City of New Rochelle Has “No Comment” on XXX-Rated P.F.F.L. Web Site Published by Current and Former NRPD Officers

[WARNING: The above article contains detailed descriptions of graphic pornography and is not suitable for readers under the age of 18. The article provides a link to a video containing explicit sexual images that readers may find disturbing.]

Link to a video tour of the hidden XXX-Rated portion of the NRPD PACT Unit web site.

New Rochelle Police Block Public Access to Controversial Fantasy Football Web Site

UPDATE: Thanks Glenn! Welcome Instapundit readers.

73 thoughts on “New Rochelle Police Department Declares Open Season on Journalists; Refuses to Investigate Death Threat”

  1. NRPD FFL
    any idea as to when and where the upcoming baseball fantasy draft he held?
    My I suggest Scores or Hustler Club

  2. TOTS, New Rochelle, Boat Graffiti and Whores in New Rochelle.
    Bob Cox –

    You have let yourself and TOTS become distracted by that foolish graffiti on the boat. The odds are it was written by some teens, as that is the source of most graffiti and of most other mischief.

    I will refrain from futher comment on the graffiti, but I doubt there was a real threat to you involved.

    Sometimes I think you set up TOTS to improve New Rochelle, but at other times, such as regarding the boat graffiti, I (and no doubt others), see TOTS as existing for your vanity.

    Of course, your motives are you own business, and your right to pursue, but if the purpose of your site is to improve New Rochelle, your site has lost track of that, over the last few weeks.

    But regarding the improvement of New Rochelle, can you explain why you and others here, are critical of Mayor Bramson for closing down a whorehouse? I tried getting some feedback from Ladyjustice on this matter, but she seemed unable or unwilling to explain why she or anyone else is critical of Noam Bramson for this. It would seem the only ones who would be critical would be the whores themselves or their customers.

    1. You are devolving into the absurd
      Brian,

      If you want me to take you seriously you are going to have to do better.

      1) I am unaware of my criticizing the Mayor for reporting suspected prostitution at the spa at Avalon One. Perhaps you can provide a citation?

      2) The notion that “teens” wrote a message about me on the site of a boat at 47 Cliff Street is nonsense.

      3) There is no single reason why I set up Talk of the Sound so you as well stop looking for one.

      There was an animating event in 2008 (the mistreatment of my son by the school district and the ongoing retaliation against me and my wife when I followed the legal process by filing for an impartial hearing…which I won).

      There have been benefits to me (increased visibility, my own radio show, some advertising revenue (hopefully!).

      There have been benefits to others beside myself (an open platform with tens of thousands of readers from which to promote and publicize news and information relating to New Rochelle, an online water cooler to discuss New Rochelle).

      There is a specific reason why I occasionally share information about myself or otherwise let readers know more about me and it has nothing to do with “vanity”. If you cannot figure that out that’s your problem.

      In the case of the death threat made against me by employees of the City School District of New Rochelle, I did not make the threat nor seek that sort of publicity but by any measure it is news about New Rochelle when it happens it is thus something I would report just as I would report the same thing if a similar message was posted about you.

      This response is really for the benefit of other readers because I am sure you already know that I have absolutely zero interest in basing how I run my own site on comments from you or anyone else. If there is someone who does like Talk of the Sound and thinks things should be done differently than by all means they should go start their own site and run things their away. If you do that, rest assured I will not have the slightest interest in telling you how to run your site or examine your motives; if it is interesting to me I will read it and if it is not then I won’t. I suggest you adopt the same approach with Talk of the Sound.

      I have run web sites for over 10 years. I have run them for myself, for businesses, for politicians, for news organizations. Whether I am managing a site as the owner/operator like Talk of the Sound or as a consultant like Newsweek’s The Ruckus or an AP blog feed covering the Scooter Libby Trial I run them the way I judge best. Having done this successfully for a decade, you can be sure I value your opinion of how I run my site at less than zero.

      No offense intended but you do not know the slightest thing about how to build a successful web site. If you did, you would have your own. The good news is that you don’t have to build your own site. Like everyone else, I invite you to write articles here. If you want to write an article about they Mayor shopping in downtown New Rochelle, go ahead. If you want to write about some improvement made to the City by our government, an event held at the high school, a performance at the library or anything else, go right ahead. In other words, stop trying to tell other people what they can and cannot do, stop worrying about other people’s motives and examine your own. Do you want to shine a light on good things going on in New Rochelle or try (vainly) to tear down this site?

    2. The Mayor gets no credit for his Elliott Spitzer moment…
      If you have been sent to do damage control, you have failed.

      Elliott Spitzer = Steamroller = High Priced Call Girls = Resigned from office in disgrace

      Our Mayor. =. Steamroller. = Arrest of two victims of Human Sex trafficking while the Johns and the traffickers get a pass = Should resign from office sooner than later

      As Railien said in an earlier post:

      “What was he doing there?
      “The real questions are:
      What the hell is the Mayor doing in a cathouse?
      How did he know about this place (first hand invitation)?
      Is the NRPD so short of funds the Mayor has to do an ‘investigation’ and file a complaint?”

      There are many reports of women being smuggled into the country from China living in Queens, After they arrive many are forced into illegal activities. The fact that only these two women were arrested and no one else speaks volumes.

      In following orders, threats against residents are dismissed, In the arrest of these women, their handlers and John’s go free. Crime and punishment is relative in New Rochelle and justice is dispensed as the mayor sees fit.

  3. Big Brother
    What I am saying is that the people doing the job, police and fire are not getting the support from their superiors. Example in my neighborhood, we are missing a fire hydrant. I know it is the water companies responsible, but I called the fire department and they said there was nothing they can do. I know if I happened to see a fire truck in my neighborhood and asked someone on the truck to look at it they would check the situation. What I am saying is the firemen/women and police are not even given the information, support or decent pay.

    1. want results? join seeclickfix
      Make New Rochelle a Better Place; Become a Talk of the Sound SeeClickFixer Today
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/make-new-rochelle-better-place-become-talk-sound-seeclickfixer-today

      SeeClickFix Changing How Citizens Interact with Local Governments
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/node/1744

      Talk of the Sound Partners with SeeClickFix to Deliver Real-Time, Non-Emergency Neighborhood Reporting to City Hall
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/node/2130

      WVOX Talk of the Sound Radio Friday 11 AM: Ben Berkowitz, CEO of SeeClickFix, Snow Removal, Continuing Saga of the Potty Wars
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/wvox-talk-sound-radio-friday-11-am-ben-berkowitz-ceo-seeclickfix-snow-removal-continuing-sag

      1. Click Fix
        I reported a fire hydrant knocked over by a snow plow and put the information on Click Fix and 16 days later I called the Mayor’s office
        and his answer was he would tell the City Manager. After a short period
        of time I called the water co. and said they were out of hydrants. Fixed
        this week

      2. Chuck needs to manager SeeClickFix
        I have asked Chuck to assign someone working for him to monitor SeeClickFix and see about adding it to the City web site. He has been resistant because he has a system he knows and prefers. I hope as more folks start to use it he will see the value in adding SeeClickFix to his system.

        There is no doubt this is a win-win for residents and the government — and it is free!

  4. When a child go’s missing
    When a child go’s missing they look a the parents first.

    So if the police are not going to have an investigation then there not going to ask “Did you Mr Cox do this to drum up a bigger story?”

    That’s a shame because will never know, but it will always be in the back of every readers mind.

    Cappelli’s LeCount Square Signage at 5 Anderson Street Gone with the Wind or ripped down by you Mr Cox to make a story, will never know, but it will always be in the back of every readers mind.

    Great timing to be there just as it happen

    1. finally!
      You have finally shown your true colors.

      You want to suggest that I would commit crimes to create stories to report on Talk of the Sound? You truly are an idiot.

      There is plenty of crime in New Rochelle without having to add to it in order to have a story to report. I would like to have a person going every day to the NRPD press conference to get just a fraction of the crime reported here that occurs EVERY DAY in New Rochelle. In fact, I would like to try, as an experiment, to take one week to report EVERY crime reported in New Rochelle. I would need a team of people to do that.

      If it is not obvious let me explain, I make it a point to carry my camera and video camera with me at all times. I live here in New Rochelle and drive around the city as a matter of daily routine. When I see something that I believe will interest my readers I shoot photos or video or both. I also try to encourage readers to do the same. Many folks these days have a phone that can shoot photos and videos so they are already carrying around a camera and video camera even if they do not think of it that way.

      That’s what makes modern technology so great — we do not need a newspaper or TV station to get news from our own community. We can, each of us, take a picture or shoot video and upload it to the web quickly and easily. Thus, WE are the media.

      I believe that this is the single most important contribution I have made to my fellow New Rochelle residents — providing a single place to gather and share information including articles, comments, photos and videos. Where else in New Rochelle can you take a picture or have an opinion and immediately share it with thousands and thousands of your fellow residents without any gatekeeper getting between you and your neighbors?

      Despite the one uninformed opinion to the contrary, it is extremely difficult to build an audience for a web site that is narrowly focused on a micro-topic, in this case news and information about New Rochelle for New Rochelle. My gift to New Rochelle is a soap box for any and all to use though which they can reach, by last count, 35,000 to 40,000 unique visitors a month. How they choose to use that soap box is up to them.

      It is for this reason that I do not take seriously commenters who use the platform I have provided them to argue that I should only write “positive” stories, that I should be covering more about topic A or B. In the same amount of time and with the same amount of energy they took to make their complaint they could have written a “positive” story themselves. If all those people who felt that way would worry more about what they contribute to the site rather than what other people contribute they would see precisely the increase in the kinds of stories they profess to want to see because they would be writing them.

      That they do not flood this site with “positive” stories like restaurant reviews or their favorite places to rollerblade or photos of sunsets over New Rochelle only goes to prove that their agenda is not to have more “positive” stories on the site but to hide from the public stories about corruption, crime, our failing schools or any other topics that they believe cast New Rochelle in a bad light. Their “solution” to problems is to sweep them under the rug and hope no one notices.

      I believe a better solution is to expose problems so they can be addressed in a forthright manner and thus solved. Readers can judge which is the more reliable motive.

      1. look no further then Mr Madeoff
        Idiot you say! then why would you reply

        look no further then Mr Madeoff who fooled so many. Just remember it’s in the back of everyone’s mind

      2. I think you stand alone in your thinking.
        I think you stand alone in your thinking. And from reading your posts, calling you an idiot may have been generous and remember, no one is above anyone in this world.

      3. yawn
        You are getting boring.

        As I recall you are the person who can barely string together coherent sentences so I am pretty sure that what is in the back of your mind (mostly empty space and some cobwebs from all appearances ) is not what is in anyone else’s mind and certainly not in everyone’s mind.

      4. limit of Cox’s perception
        To Cox’s mind, ethical responsibility is merely a trammel of earthbound mortals and should not be required of a demigod like him. So that means that the only way to expand one’s mind is with drugs—or maybe even chocolate—right? No, not right. The truth is that Cox says that we should be grateful for the precious freedom to be robbed and kicked in the face by such a noble creature as him. If that’s the limit of Cox’s perception, acumen, and intelligence, then God help him. The two things I just mentioned—the way that the grossly fallacious reasoning behind his animadversions can be confirmed by some simple fact-checking and the fact that his expostulations are a disgrace and an outrage—may sound like they’re completely unrelated, but they’re not. The common link is that I want you to know that he is fixated on Lysenkoism. Knowing, as they say, is half the battle. What remains is to change the minds of those who develop mind-control technology. In closing, I ask that you swear in the holy sanctuary of your soul that you will never stop annealing discourse with honesty, clear thinking, and a sense of moral good. That’s how I live my life, and that’s how you should consider living yours.

      5. Did you take writing lessons from the Unabomber?
        Did you take writing lessons from the Unabomber? Your post is just rambling nonsense.

        If you don’t have a point to say or make, why do you bother?

      6. psychologists
        Nope wrong! but i do have a psychologists that comes in to my store! so i do see one 5 days a week

  5. Naysayers…if you want happy news, report it!
    I agree with Mr. Cox.

    To all the naysayers who object to the insightful investigative reporting on Talk of the Sound, you can write your own stories, contribute to the dialog, create your own website or tune out. If you read the site you will find a lot of positive stories including historical articles, postcards from the past, neighborhood programs and events. I realize that for many of you, reading and comprehension may not be a strong suit. Instead of trying to trash the site, contribute or get out of the way because by the trash talk in your posts, we know how small you are.

    For those detractors who actually want to read, take a look at a brilliant example of civil public discourse in action read “The Bramson Manifesto…” by John D with rebuttal from Brian Sussman . Both eloquently state their positions and defend them.

    When our police department does not investigate threats against resident taxpayers, something is very wrong. Funny how no parking ticket goes unwritten downtown, but overt threats are dismissed. Our police force has been demoralized and reduced to revenue collectors with ticket quotas. I blame the current administration’s lack of vision, ability and leadership. It seems they could care less about providing city services, bringing retail to our city or resolving the issues that would make New Rochelle a truly great city. The current city leadership is more interested in handing over million dollar waterfront properties for free to developers who make campaign and political contributions than making New Rochelle a better place to live.

    We will NEVER see major retail in New Roc or anywhere else in New Rochelle because the current administration’s goal is to give away as much property as possible, to political donors, no matter what the cost to the taxpayers. The promise of big-box retail stores entering New Roc city was circumvented by the leasing of space in New Roc to Monroe College. All this while the Armory, a New Rochelle treasure – that once restored would generate tax revenue and provide space for the community – falls further into disrepair. Why? Because only those who make the political donations to the right political party have a voice, a seat at the table, are allowed to lead the agenda, spend public taxpayer dollars to fund private development and ignore the real issues facing New Rochelle and its residents.

    If your concern is in (lying) withholding information from people seeking to move here, you are by nature dishonest and no amount of reasoning will get through to you.

    Watch the rush from the Avalon’s when their leases are up. No parking, plenty of parking tickets, and a depressed downtown is nothing to hang around for. They were lied to and will leave as soon as they can. The people you duped will move somewhere else and tell their friends not to move here. Guess what, they also have access to the internet and have posted their experiences living or surviving in New Rochelle. There goes the fees paid to brokers for placing new residents in local housing.

    If you are benefiting from the system financially of course you are upset that the cat is out of the bag.

    There are more of us that support the public service provided by Mr. Cox than do not and fortunately the detractors are in the minority.

    Now how about a story on the best roller blade routes in the city or the stories on what is great in this city from your perspectives? We are all waiting to read them.

    Oh yeah, I just remembered, you don’t write or contribute, you all just complain.

    1. If I had time to sit around
      If I had time to sit around and listen to the police and fire scanner all day I would “Report” what i heard too But i don’t because I have a life much like some other people on this board… But when I do find time I will make my own blog and it sure as hell wont take 3 years to get 500k Views

      1. hahaha
        You are funny. Talking about an empty gesture. You are going to start a blog? Hilarious.

        Tell you what Einstein, when you create your blog let me and I will give you a link so people can have some hope of finding it. I am willing to wager once you launch that you will not have 500 readers in three years let alone 500,000. That you think it is that easy is telling.

        Oh, one last thing…the site got to 500,000 in 2.5 years not 3.

        Looking forward to reading your blog, dum dum.

      2. Wow 500k in 2.5 years? How
        Wow 500k in 2.5 years? How many time did you, EyeonNewRoc and FifthAveGuy click refresh to get there so fast? You make me laugh Mr. Cox, No one wants to go onto a site that is inconsistently updated like I said before if theres nothing to “Report on” you can fill in the 2-3 day long gaps where you don’t update the site with reviews for restaurants ect… Its sad you think 500k views in 2.5 years is good, exactly why I would never need your help starting blog because you clearly cant succeed with this one…

      3. You sound like Yogi Berra now
        Yogi: On why he no longer went to Ruggeri’s, a St. Louis restaurant: “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.

        You: “No one wants to read Talk of the Sound, it only has a half-million visitors.”

        Again, you are hilarious!

        Not only is 500,000 in 2.5 years good but Talk of the Sound is the largest hyper-local news website in Westchester County…by far. The site is also the most widely read news and information source in New Rochelle.

        As for artificially inflating the traffic, you cannot just pull up the site over and over again to inflate the traffic data. We use Sitemeter and publish our traffic data publicly.

        What is Site Meter tracking exactly?

        Site Meter tracks page views and visits. You may also have heard the term “hits”. When someone comes to your site, they generate a “hit” for every piece of content that is sent to their computer. Viewing a single web site page would generate one hit for the page and one hit for every individual graphics file that was on the page. A single page could easily generate a dozen or more hits. When you are browsing a site, every time you follow a link, it is treated as a single “page view”. Site Meter defines a “visit” as a series of page views by one person with no more than 30 minutes in between page views.

        In any case, none of this has anything to do with the New Rochelle police refusing to investigate the threat made against me.

      4. should just run for mayor
        Oh Your right again mr. cox Like I said in my original post fighting with you is pointless because you are always right,Your right im wrong you happy? lol, The idea of this site is great but what you turned it into is a joke (lets make a site for people to realize the corruption in new rochelle) cause new rochelle is the only place in the world with corruption right? your the only loser in the country doing something like this, for you to think people with power will listen to this stuff is amusing, 500,000 views is a joke that is nothing in 2.5 years… you keep fighting me saying its great an all but its not, I laugh so hard each time you say that… that is a joke if you ask me I could have made a better “Blog” on some free site that will be a better site than this garbage, there are so many articles where you talk out of your ass … 1 and every 3 articles has a comment probably from a credible source that says “Get your facts strait” do you just assume things and then write about them????, you have your 4 or 5 buddies on this site that you have report for you and get you all hyped up making you think talk of the sound is a great place and actually make you think you are a “reporter” your just some loser that chases around the fire, Police and EMT’s if you ask me

      5. oh and what it has to do with
        oh and what it has to do with this “investigation” is that there probably is no investigation because like someone else said its not a crime, your just looking for attention and just looking for something to fill this site just like your sons elbow story… whoo cares about your personal life like a said before start a twitter under the name bob cox and complain about how soft you are on there..

        Im done with this site, Im sure your happy but i’m not fighting with some old loser over the internet..

      6. What are you best in
        Oh i know saving little Noam’s butt? Or maybe Chuck’s. I hope you start a site are you going to copy off this site? Oh i know your going to follow Noam on his site and tell us that we are doing great.Get some real ideas my friend go to Noam’s state of the city address listen to his bull#%&@ and then go get a happy ending at the spa at Avalon.

      7. you read it everyday
        funny to see you commenting again.Got a job yet or are you riding the system yet again??

      8. id rather bowl at new roc
        id rather bowl at new roc then read some of these ridiculous articles

    2. i agree with you lady
      i agree with you lady justice, on almost everything, this city does need good retail good restaurants, etc, we have all these schools but no barns and nobles, a cheesecake factory, lord and taylors or pf changs would of been perfect at new roc. like i said before there corrupt politicians in every government and theres really nothing you can do about it. look at spitzer who was especially hard on corruptness especially on wall street, a great politician who goes down for sleeping with a prostitute. look at how ikea didnt make it to new rochelle, i would like to see an article on that mr cox. but for mr cox to single out certain people in an entire city is not right. its not 1 person, these r elected officials voted bythe people, if anyone is to blame its us for letting this happen all these yearsa and now want a dramatic change

    3. but we def. can not blame
      but we def. can not blame dpw, police and fire department. because they are without a doubt doing there job with what they have. and if you want my opinion they are doing a fine job

      1. it is the honest govt employees who suffer
        The people most directly affected by the corruption in New Rochelle are the HONEST people who work for the city and school district.

        Most people working for the schools and for the city are good, hard-working people. If you REALLY care about them then you should want the DA or the DOJ looking under every rock and throwing the cretins out or in jail or wherever but not here.

        Is there anyone who will disagree that the culture in New Rochelle is that if you step forward to point our a problem person YOU will be the one who is singled out for retribution not the bad guy (or gal)? You want to change New Rochelle you need to change the retaliatory culture and that comes from the top not the bottom up.

  6. The FISH Debate
    The bottom line is that this is not a crime. A privately owned boat on private property (Yes, this school district property is private property) with graffiti on it. The owner of the boat has decided not to pursue charges so the graffiti crime is out the window. The only possible “crime” I see is a possible trespass charge against whomever entered the property in the first place to write this message IF it isn’t a district employee and IF the district would even consider pressing charges, which I doubt they would for Bob Cox.
    Anyway, this could of been written as a threat, a joke or for sheer attention. This is something that couldn’t be proved anyway as a threat against TOTS’s Bob Cox. Why, well maybe there is another Bob Cox out there who the accused could claim the message was for. Now, a reasonable person wouldn’t believe that, but it is a defense if someone was caught and if, in fact, this was a harassment towards TOTS own Bob Cox. Also, Hearle made alot of sense stating it might be different if it was done to your boat, on your property. I could see that senario as a crime.
    I personally have no doubt that the “artist” who wrote this message was refering to you Bob, but you really have no standing in this particular complaint (although, I wish you did). It was a good idea that you reported it anyway in case of similar graffiti on your property, threatening calls, e-mails or even posts on here.
    As much as I have disagreed with many of your “opinions”, I think whoever did this is a moron. I do also believe that nobody, including you (and especially your family) should be subjected to such “silliness”.
    Oh, I also doubt that the fantasy football nonsense has anything to do with anything. That is grasping for straws.

    1. not a threat?
      The entire premise offered by Hearle for not pursuing an investigation is that the message was not a threat therefore it does not matter who did it since it was not a threat. His explanation went to his evaluation of the state of mind of the individual who wrote the message on the boat – what they meant, whether the person intended for me to see the message, etc.

      It would seem to me the only way to know the state of mind of the person who did it would be to identity them, question them and evaluate them and their responses.

      There are a limited number of people who work in that yard or who have reason to come and go from the yard. It strikes me as highly unlikely that none of them know anything. The idea that any worker would scrawl graffiti on a boat owned by their boss in full view of other employees strikes me as extremely unlikely, even less so that the owner/boss would not make it his business to find out and force that person to clean off the boat.

      None of this happened. The workers went home that day with the message scrawled on the side of the boat. All of which suggests that Bonanno did it himself or knows who did and encouraged it or acquiesced to it.

      In my view I have a reasonable concern about the message with my name on it making a reference to murdering me. My reporting it was entirely correct and, again, in my view, the police have an affirmative obligation to treat a matter like this as a serious matter and not simply dismiss it out of hand without conducting an investigation. If they determined the identity of the culprit and then concluded that the person did not intend the message as a threat that MIGHT be different but that they did not try suggests that this is just another example where the police protect their friends and punish their enemies — their own little goon squad.

      Beyond that, this occurred on school property. My wife works for the district and I have children in the public schools. I believe it is reasonable for me to be concerned that the people involved in making a death threat against me — whether they intended for me to see it or not (and I believe it is rather obvious they intended for me to see the message) — have direct access to my wife and children during the course of a school day. As a result I have informed the district of my concern and will not have my children return to school until I have some assurances regarding their safety. I have asked my wife to discuss the matter with her union representative as well. Of course, the people who run security for the school district are Bruce Daniele, part of the same PACT crowd running the gambling and porn web site and Rolf Koehler, the guy who was has been illegally double-dipping to get his full NYPD police pension while getting a school district salary and massive amounts of overtime. They, in turn, work for Schools Superintendent Richard Organisciak, Daniele’s golf buddy. Organisciak has been engaged in an ongoing attempt to suppress my efforts to hold people accountable with regards to my son’s Chemistry Regents exam so it seems highly unlikely that they will make any genuine effort to hold those involved in the school yard accountable.

      All that said, if the Board of Education, the New Rochelle Police Department or anyone else thinks that their failure to treat the death threat made against me seriously is going to deter me from continuing to report on the corruption in our twin governments they have not been paying attention

      1. the only way too think that
        the only way too think that is even a threat is if you seen the godfather. but with all do respect how can you say its open season on journalist, thats just not right. you mock the police department, you mock the politicians and fire department. but the truth is, show me a government where politicians are not corrupt. the bottom line is this is a safe city, i feel safe walking in any neighborhood at night and i always have. yes my taxes are high, and yes some of the schools suck, but the bottom line is this is a large city and we have a lot to cover with not so much money. all in all i think the city is safe. (especially for a city this size)

      2. I invite you
        Come downtown on any given weekend night on main from division to Harrison street and north ave from main to the transit center. Tell me you feel safe with GANGS of kids running around and the police do nothing!! Calls are made to them all the time and nothing gets done you want video of it stay tuned because what I’m going to show will blow your mind.

      3. and u have the nerve to mock
        and u have the nerve to mock bruce daniele? i have kids and nephews in nrhs and let me tell you that he has changed that school a lot and is doing a fine job at it. just ask the kids who try and commit crimes in that school and find out where they are now.

  7. Honesty at all times should prevail
    This threat is a problem to all of the residents of New Rochelle. Turning your back on it or minimizing its importance only sows the seeds for this type of abusiveness to return on another day. Bob Cox deserves the same protections as any other resident of the city. Failure to address this threat only leaves the door open for others in the community to be threatened in the future.

    1. I agree with Tara. Protect and serve all citizens or quit!
      If our police force will not investigate, they should all hand in their resignations.

  8. Crime
    The graffiti painted onto the boat does not rise to the level of a Crime.
    If the boat owner complained it would, otherwise no.
    That’s it. I understand why a reporter like yourself would be upset and if addresed towards me, I too would be annoyed.
    Reach out to a criminal lawyer to fact check this if you like.
    Isn’t that what reporters do?
    I inquired with a random New Rochelle police person and fact checked your statement about Mr. Perri and Mr. Mirabile
    It appears that one of them hasn’t worked in the detective unit for years.
    Perhaps prior to making disparaging statements or allusions you could spend a few minutes fact checking. Hint just wait at the gas station by North and Mayflower for a few minutes; an officer is bound to show up.

    1. fact check this
      I called the number provided on the blue card given to me by the officer who took my complaint for the General Investigations Unit. The number is 914-654-2270.

      If you call that number, the voice mail prompts offer a series of names of detectives including Mirabile and Perri.

      Next!

      1. Wow
        That’s funny.
        This aspiring beat reporter asked instead of calling. Very interesting and I stand humbled and contrite by your reasonable steps taken in fact checking.
        I have since confirmed with two impeccable sources that rmy above statement is correct. Please confirm on your own and correct the record.
        Perhaps the real scandal is that the phone message system has not been updated in years also?
        Btw- did you fact check the criminal lawyer angle yet? In your quickneess to put me in my rightful place, you did not respond yet. No rush. We all have other jobs etc.

  9. Wah, wah!
    Cox, deep down you

    Wah, wah!

    Cox, deep down you think you are doing New Rochelle a service. Plain and simple: you. are. not.

    This is nothing more than a trash mag.

    1. you are entitled to your opinion
      I think this web site does a service by providing residents, including you, a public forum to share and discuss news, information and issues in New Rochelle. It should be clear by now that Talk of the Sound is not going away so ranting and raving about how no view but your own deserves to be heard has not and will not work.

      If you sincerely wish to see stories that you believe are better or more important than write them. You often write about rollerblading. Perhaps you can write an article on the best places to rollerblade in New Rochelle. That might be fun and present the sort of “positive” image you claim to wish to see on this site. Take a few photos and add them to the article.

    2. hit the road then
      If you think it’s trash then hit the road go join Noam and his buddies on his site and talk goody goody all day and night.This site serves the people who care about this city and don’t listen to all city hall’s bull all day and kiss there a–. Matter of fact go Rollerblade down pine brook but don’t hit a pothole.

  10. Reality not BS
    Bob,
    The Journal new is firmly in tow as far as the City Manger and Officials are concerned. Pretty much they get a cleansed view of what New Rochelle wants them to know. “Pay no attention to that bleeding body its Halloween not a dead body.” We all know we have no crime in New Rochelle its Bramson Land we have Cappelli land or maybe not but the Trump Tower is still half empty so the City is not interested in dirty laundry. I certainly am. Although I do sometimes take your articles with a grain of salt I do think you call it as you see it and in my opinion reality is the best way to fix reality not by pretending everything is grand.
    Until your web site nobody got a view into things going on here and like any blog or internet related site its up to the reader to dig deeper and find out about it. New Rochelle is the 7th largest City I think in New York State making it subject to all the muck and sludge that comes with being a City of over 70,000 people. If it smells bad you can be we will get a whiff of it at Talk of the Sound. Let the Mayor and City Manager along with the School Superintendant just sniff it all just like the rest of us.

    1. sunlight
      The best thing we can have in this City is open government and transparency. The Mayor and his cronies believe that because the City Council meetings are on TV that is the same as “open government”. That is NOT what open government means especially when the Mayor discourages Council Members from openly discussing issues and airing disagreements. The BoE is worse.

      The single most important “good government” laws in New York State are FOIL and the Open Meeting Law. Without them you get Bell, California where city officials voted themselves massive salaries and benefits.

      We need an active FOIL capability to make sure all residents have ready access to public records and open meetings to make sure we can see our government in action. Since Talk of the Sound was launched, raising this issue constantly, things have changed.

      1. Zoning Appeals Board is now on TV and archived on the web.
      2. Planning Board is now on TV and archived on the web.
      3. NR IDA is now on TV and archived on the web.
      5. BoE is now uploading all meetings to the web; they are also getting all the meetings on TV via tape.
      4. BoE is livebroadcasting some budget meetings.

      There are VERY important steps but there is more to do.

      Next up is getting the Municipal Civil Service Commission meetings properly noticed and holding the meetings in public and on TV.

      The next Civil Service meeting is Friday at 3 PM on the first floor. They are planning to again hold the meeting in a private office off the main hallway. If you want to make a difference in New Rochelle just show up at 3 PM. If enough of us show up they will be forced to move the meeting to a larger room. If we keep showing up and demanding it they will move the meeting to 90 Beaufort where there are already TV cameras set up. They can then broadcast those meetings for $200 a meeting. Even in a tight budget, that is money VERY well spent.

      See you all Friday, City Hall 3 PM, 1st Floor.

    2. 7th largest city means
      7th largest city means nothing, honestly. it is by far not the 7th largest populace in NYS. There are dozens of towns across NYS that are larger than New Rochelle, both in size and population. They just are not incorporated as city governments.

      1. Towns Larger Than City of New Rochelle
        Robert Cox wanted to know what towns are much larger than New Rochelle.

        I often refer to New Rochelle as the second largest city in Westchester and the seventh largest city in NY State.

        I also often point out that there are towns in NY State, larger than its cities. In particular, I like to point out that the Town of Hempstead, in Nassau County, would be the second largest city in NY State if Hempstead were a city. The town of Hempstead had 755,924 people in the 2000 census (not to be confused with the village of Hempstead). In comparison, NY State’s second largest city, Buffalo, only had an estimated 270,919 people in 2009. So, NY State’s largest town has almost three times the population of NY State’s second largest city.

        Within Westchester, the Town of Greenburgh with an estimated 90,276 people in 2009, would be the second largest city in Westchester if it were a city.

        Of course, all of this is rather unimportant except for one thing. Westchester’s towns should pool their redundant resources by having the Westchester County government expand its resources and budget to provide a Fire Department and Public Works Department to service the towns. The towns should pay the county for these services, from the money saved by the towns ceasing providing inferior and redundant services. At the same time, Westchester’s cities should continue providing their own services, and not be contributing towards those expenses the County provides the towns. As a result, the towns would be able to lower taxes, without the county raising taxes, and the towns would get better Fire Department and Public Works services. Of course the Police Departments should remain local to the towns, villages and cities of Westchester.

      2. Greenburgh?
        I do not know much about Hempstead but I grew up in Irvington and Tarrytown. I can tell you that no one I knew ever considered themselves as living in the “Town of Greenburgh”.

        I also never knew anyone in New Rochelle who considered themselves living in any place other than New Rochelle. I am aware that some people who living in New Rochelle in the North End actually think they live in Scarsdale but I am not talking about delusional people just sane people.

        Regardless, I was hoping to get a list of all these “towns” and other forms of of government just out of curiosity. In any case, none of this changes the fact that New Rochelle is the 7th largest CITY, right? So to say that is not inaccurate at all, right? So, it is sort of an angles dancing on the head of a pin argument and has absolutely nothing to do with the subject of the above article, right?

        Try to stay focused!

  11. What a joke
    Cox, you are doing nothing to help the image of new Rochelle, your blog only focuses on all that is wrong and further keeps would be professional and income earning potential residents away. What do you think people find when they do an Internet search of new Rochelle? This damn negative blog. It’s enough to keep any law abiding income earning person away.

    1. A Better New Rochelle
      The only way New Rochelle can be better is to recognize the problems and have the the citizens correct them. Our city government likes to sweep things under the rug, but it is very clear that the people of New Rochelle would like these problems solved. I think that is why we have a mayor and a council person for each district.

      It is time all elected officials, police and fire department start doing their jobs. If the police and fire people are told to ignore the negative things happening in New Rochelle, it is time we tell their superiors to leave the city and let the police on the street do their job.

      1. Knitter, since when did the
        Knitter, since when did the Fire Department “stop” doing their jobs? I really don’t know what information you are going on. But maybe you should do a little homework before you spout accusations. Im just saying.

    2. Nice work
      Your commentary is purely opinion & 100% irrelevant to the post it is attached to.

      Your minimization of the crime & corruption in this city speaks volumes of your character and the resounding negativity of your comment is wholly hypocritical.

    3. helping the image of New Rochelle
      You would have to explain why would you think that anyone has an affirmative responsibility to “help the image of New Rochelle”? Only a member of the “New Rochelle Pom Pom Club” would think that it is a valid criticism to accuse someone of not being sufficiently “positive” about the image of New Rochelle. I am a reporter. I report the news.

      Second, Talk of the Sound has published articles that REFLECT the image of New Rochelle. We do not CREATE the image. We do have murderers, robberies, assaults, corruption and so forth. Your agitation is borne out of years of silence by our local media and the government; the stories reported here that you do not like are the same ones that would have been covered up by the City or School District and now are seeing the light of day. This stuff has been going on for many years, the only difference is that it now gets reported and, just as importantly, archived by Google.

      As for this site keeping people away, your statement presupposes that if this information was hidden from public view that people would want to come here. In other words, you want to encourage people to move to New Rochelle without knowing the true nature of the City — corruption and crime as well as a waterfront, parkland, colleges, active community and civic groups. In other words, you want to sell a lie and hope people do not find out. Some plan.

      I have a better plan. Confront the rot and corruption in this City and drive the bad people involved out of the City. As Justice Brandeis famously said “sunlight is the best disinfectant”.

      One last point, you are also welcome to register and write stories here about puppies and daffodils if you like just make sure the stories are about New Rochelle and you are welcome to publish them here. In other words, stop complaining about what stories I or others write and start writing these “positive” stories you claim to want so badly.

    4. I agree with Roberta
      I have to agree with Roberta, I like coming on to this site to see whats new In New Rochelle, However I can’t see any reason why any new visitors to your site would want to come back when you are writing stories about a police departments fantasy football league (do I have to be the first to say who cares about that), you write a story about someone writing some “threat” on a boat and Then you are writing stories about your sons broken elbow (although I hope he’s feeling better)… Make a twitter account for stuff like this, no one wants to see this when they are trying to decide whether or not they want start a family in new rochelle… Ill be waiting for your response that you always write back to people on here that go against you but you can just save your time because I will probably just laugh if you write me back some novel about how you think your doing New Rochelle good.

      G’Day Mate

      1. we have a twitter account too
        If you prefer Twitter then by all means subscribe to our Twitter account instead: http://www.twitter.com/talkofthesound

        If you don’t like reading the site then why do you read it? Perhaps because it’s not that you don’t like reading the site its that you do not want people in New Rochelle to know about certain things you would prefer remain hidden.

        If you disagree with something on this site you can comment or post your own articles as you have done without any interference from me or anyone else. What you cannot do is prevent other people from doing so.

      2. Like I said I like to visit
        Like I said I like to visit this site to see whats new in New Rochelle, I liked when you started this site, it was nice to check in and see what happened over the weekend but its also nice to see some positive things to… how about some restaurant reviews or maybe how much New Roc City has changed and how you can go to the movies with a family or your wife now (like I have for the past couple of weeks) and actually have a good time because its not infested with kids or crime anymore.. just some suggestions to even out the recent constant negativeness on this site.

      3. Audit the site
        Pick a good sample size, maybe 20 most recent articles, then evaluate them.

        It will become apparent that the vast majority of stories do not fit your description at all.

        You are confusing a few “negative” stories with what you appear to believe should be only positive stories.

        I have been asking readers to write restaurant reviews so by all means do so.

      4. You’re free to start a thread
        You’re free to start a thread on any topic that you want. They like the topics to be related to New Rochelle. If you’re interested in resturant reviews, why don’t you start something?

        I’m sure others would be interested, but don’t start bitching about negativity because there’s a big black cloud hanging over NR and it doesn’t seem to ever go away. Ignoring the cloud by wearing a spring shirt, isn’t going to make it sunny. Just like ignoring vandelism isn’t going to make the crime go away. Just like ignoring the corruption at city hall won’t ever lower your taxes. These things take time to correct and at least the topics are coming to light now. Before this site was around, there was no information and city hall did as they pleased without regard to the consequences because there weren’t any.

        You could also try to throw a positive spin on a topic such as this 1 by saying, Bob look at the bright side, at least it wasn’t your boat, but to just ignore the bad seems a little 1 sided and frightens me a little.

      5. THIS is funny
        “Ignoring the cloud by wearing a spring shirt, isn’t going to make it sunny.”

      6. I try to lighten the mood whenever possible!
        I try to lighten the mood whenever possible! Glad to see that you’re able to read all of the postings. My head is spinning trying to keep up on the direction of this story though.

    5. The image is whatever the
      The image is whatever the image is and NO one including professionals or “income generating potential residents” are going to be fooled by what’s going on.

      As far as I can tell, very few professionals (unless they grew up here or have some family connection) are moving here, you’d have to be on some serious meds. to move to NR when other better options exist for more or less the same money. The 1 benefit that New Rochelle enjoys from all the corruption, mismanagement and the high taxes that go with it, are attractive (meaning low) property values that make New Rochelle look tempting.

      1. New Rochelle image and Talk of the Sound
        Wanted to weigh in here very briefly. I don’t think Talk of the Sound hurts NR’s image.

        I’d consider myself a young professional. Did not grow up in the area but moved to NR in 2007 because I had family living here. Learned about Talk of the Sound maybe two years into living here.

        Talk of the Sound did not discourage me from staying in NR when we were considering moving to other towns in Southern Westchester. In fact, I felt more comfortable staying here because I felt that I knew what we were getting, warts and all. Information is power. Most discerning readers should be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. Bob clearly has a ken for certain stories. Sometimes I find what he posts right up my alley, sometimes not. I don’t read the stories that I’m not interested in. Sometimes I agree with him, sometimes not. But debate is always good, and hopefully we move the ball forward and the end result is a vibrate community.

    1. some reading material for you
      Meat-Cleaver Attack: Is Mafia Making A Comeback in New Rochelle? — UPDATED
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/node/715

      Another New Rochelle Buildings and Ground Employee Arrested — Rasool Hassan Williams Fatally Shot Ohio Man Five Times
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/node/1983

      What do we know about Anthony Piliero? FBI Says He Tried to Hire A Mob Hitman
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/node/588

      New Rochelle “Murder for Hire” Case Grinds On in U.S. Court in White Plains, Grand Jury Indicts Piliero and Barone
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/node/1804

      Murder in Broad Daylight at 270 North Avenue Claims Life of 23 Year Old Man in Downtown New Rochelle
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/murder-broad-daylight-270-north-avenue-claims-life-23-year-old-man-downtown-new-rochelle

      Pair Involved in New Rochelle Machete Murder Took Twisted Path to 309 North Avenue
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/pair-involved-new-rochelle-machete-murder-took-twisted-path-309-north-avenue

      Tension Runs High at Funeral for Two-Year Old Murdered in New Rochelle; “Who cared for Khalil?”
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/tension-runs-high-funeral-two-year-old-murdered-new-rochelle-who-cared-khalil

      New Rochelle Police Department Arrests Father of 2 Year Old Child Killed at 345 Main Street
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/new-rochelle-police-department-arrests-father-2-year-old-child-killed-345-main-street

      Mount Vernon Man Who Murdered Former New Rochelle Student Gets 40 Years to Life in Double Homicide
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/mount-vernon-man-who-murdered-former-new-rochelle-student-gets-40-years-life-double-homicide

      More Shots Fired at Hartley House in New Rochelle
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/more-shots-fired-hartley-house-new-rochelle

      New Rochelle Police Officer Arrested for DWI, Fleeing the Scene of an Accident
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/node/1597

      New Rochelle Commissioner Turns Blind-Eye to “Gangster Mentality” in Police Department’s High-Stakes Fantasy Football
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/node/1536

      Man Executes Wife at New Rochelle Senior Housing Facility
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/node/1120

      Car Bomb Detonates on Union Avenue in New Rochelle – UPDATED, MORE PHOTOS/VIDEOS
      http://www.newrochelletalk.com/node/1836

      NRPD Rodriguez Rape Case
      http://www.lawyer1.com/news-rodriguez-rape-case.html

      Shall I continue or is this enough?

  12. not for nothing mr cox and i
    not for nothing mr cox and i dont mean to be disrespectful bc this is your page and i guess you like the publicity but can we focus on real news in new rochelle? is there any way we can focus on how to make new rochelle better for our family and community instead of reading an article about graffiti?

    1. you are welcome to register and post articles
      As long as the topic is about New Rochelle you are more than welcome to register for an account and write articles about “how to make new rochelle better for our family and community” or any other topic just like everyone else.

      I happen to believe that one way to make New Rochelle better is to rid it of municipal corruption, put criminals in jail and otherwise hold our twin governments accountable. Maybe you prefer swapping recipes for hot cocoa?

      If you like to write restaurant reviews, cover the local high school sports teams or count daffodils you may, so long as the restaurants, teams and daffodils are in New Rochelle.

      What you cannot do is tell me what I can write about, especially on my own site. As for your idea that I “like” the publicity of receiving death threats let me point out a small flaw in your logic. I took the photo. Someone else made the threat. Maybe you ought to complain to them about the “publicity” I am getting from their threat against me.

      1. PD fantasy football
        any idea when the upcoming baseball season fantasy draft is? and where?????
        Scores? Hustler Club??????

  13. Boat owner vandalized
    Has the boat owner ever filed a report with the police that his property has been vandalized?

    1. According to Lt. Hearle…
      No.

      He said that the boat owner declined to file a complaint about the graffiti.

  14. Threats and theft’s ignored again by N.R P.D and the D.A office
    So let’s see .
    corprate employes steal documents out of the hands of there customers when they challeng wrong billing and no crime is commited .

    Now threats are being made against a New Rochelle news reporter and there is no invetigation?

    What would happen if that threat was put to say a city offical ,or politician or even worse a police officer ???

    Now we all hope that the New rochelle police dept is a hundred percent correct in it’s quick assumption that further investigation is not needed.

    Because god forbide they are wrong.

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