NEW ROCHELLE, NY (May 24, 2025) — Vivian Spady, a New Rochelle resident and self-proclaimed (fake) organizer of the 2024 Unity in the Community event, actually operated and paid for by Hope Community Services, is alleged to have used funds provided to her without financial controls by Development Commissioner Adam Salgado to purchased a car for herself and a motorcycle for her fiancé. It took months to track all this down.
A 2013 Rogue Nissan which Spady confirmed was hers was found parked on May Street near Burling Lane by New Rochelle police on Nov. 12, 2024 with temporary Georgia plates that had expired on Oct. 29, 2024. The vehicle was removed to a Safeway yard after the tow was authorized, with the plate, a sticker, left intact.
Spady had been asked by this reporter about the car 10 days earlier:
I am told you recently obtained a vehicle, a Nissan Rogue? Did you use funds from the CLD sponsorship towards the cost of the vehicle. Why does it have Georgia temporary tags (paper) S2037079? Is the vehicle registered in New York State? Is the vehicle insured?
Spady replied,
…my fiancée bought the car for me on 7/14 2024 look at the invoice I got the money for my Unity day 8/8 and and I had my event and I have all my paperwork with back up and pictures I am not a thief. I built my nonprofit organization up this far by myself with no money and the first time I applied and received it u try to tarnish my organization for I don’t understand why you worried abt my car the plates and if it’s insured or not.
Spady did not provide any evidence that the Nissan Rogue was purchased on July 14 or purchased by her fiancé, she merely asserted this without foundation.
This reporter explained, “I am asking because I am told this is your car. If it is your car, it is not street legal. As far as the money, can you please send me all of your bank records for 2024?”
Days later, Spady posted on Facebook on Dec. 1, 2024, complaining about the theft of her fiancé’s motorcycle from a parking lot near her home early that morning — the same fiancé who purportedly purchased the 2013 Nissan Rogue for her.
Spady threatened the thief: “Fair warning whoever stole my fiancé’s motorcycle, warning, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” The stolen motorcycle was allegedly purchased with funds pocketed from the infamous Unity in the Community event, which Spady has denied.
In The New Rochelle Thimblerig — Part III, Cox revealed that New Rochelle Development Commissioner Adam Salgado authorized nearly $200,000 for three summer 2024 events, including Unity in the Community, without City Council approval, budget amendments, or competitive procurement. Spady received tens of thousands of dollars in advance payments, a violation of the City Charter, Cox noted. In The New Rochelle Thimblerig — Part IV, he added that the funds were disbursed secretly, bypassing procurement policies and contract terms, prompting “serious questions as to what happened to the money once Salgado disbursed it to… Vivian Spady.” As previously reported, Spady’s non-profit, Big Viv, Inc. was used to funnel additional CLD funds from Adam Salgado to LaChonne Williams.
This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.
RELATED:
The New Rochelle Thimblerig — Part III
The New Rochelle Thimblerig — Part IV
Recommended Reading, December 1, 2024