NEW ROCHELLE, NY (May 14, 2026) — Council Member Matt Stern (District 6), who organized and MC’d the city’s Jewish American Heritage Month Recognition Ceremony on May 11, is defending the decision to limit public promotion of the event while acknowledging that outreach could have been broader — and promising to do better next year.
Stern spoke with Talk of the Sound on Thursday, the first on-record response from any city official since Talk of the Sound reported Tuesday that the ceremony was held out of public view.
A Flyer Existed — But Circulation Was Limited
Talk of the Sound reported Tuesday that invitations were extended only to local synagogues by word of mouth. Stern has now provided Talk of the Sound with the city-produced event flyer — a formal, designed invitation bearing the City of New Rochelle seal, listing the date, time, location, and an RSVP link at newrochelleny.gov/jewishheritage. It is an updated version of the 2025 flyer.
The flyer’s existence is further documented in an April 15, 2026 email from Samantha Vargas, the city’s Communications and Marketing Manager, to a planning group that included Stern, Sara Kaye, Mark Klee, and Heidi Siesfeld, with Sammy Gomez copied.
“Attached is the updated flyer,” Vargas wrote. “RSVP link is also activated.” The email also included a food order from Seasons restaurant — middle eastern platters, vegetable crudités, seasonal fruit, and cookies — flagged for reorder from the prior year.
The flyer was produced by the city but was not distributed beyond the Jewish community.
“We did advertise it, just not as much as other events,” Stern said. “I hope we can do more next year.”
The Security Rationale
Stern said the decision to limit promotion stemmed from security concerns — specifically, the fear that a publicly announced event could attract people intent on causing trouble.
He traced that approach to 2024, when the same logic was applied for the first time following the October 7 Hamas terror attack.
“It was just a heightened time when people were nervous about potential attackers who have conflated Jewish people with the actions of the Israeli government,” he said.
He said the same reasoning carried into 2026. The planning group — which included Vargas and Sammy Gomez — made the decision to again forgo public promotion, as in 2024. Stern acknowledged there was no formal memo, written policy, or guidance from city administration or the police department.
“It wasn’t a big decision,” he said. “It took five seconds in the meeting.”
Stern said he is open to requesting additional police presence next year to allow for wider public promotion.
“We can ask for more police presence to mitigate that, which I think might be what we do next year,” he said.
Planning and Attendance
Stern, working with city staff, has organized the ceremony for three consecutive years. About 70 people RSVPed and he said no one was turned away. But the limited outreach had real consequences: some attendees barely made it because they only found out shortly before the event. Others missed it entirely.
Invitations went to temples, synagogues, and other Jewish institutions, but were not broadly advertised. Council Member Al Tarantino told Talk of the Sound he was not notified. Mark McLean, former president of the New Rochelle branch of the NAACP, learned of the event after Talk of the Sound’s original story; Stern said he subsequently spoke with McLean directly.
“I agree that we can do a better job next year of advertising it,” Stern said. “If we advertise widely, there will be some people who don’t attend because they will feel it’s unsafe.”
Video and Photos Not Yet Released
Stern said he wants the event video and photos released publicly and does not know why the city has not done so.
“I would like it to be posted,” he said. “I’ve had people ask me for the video at the event so they could share it, and I actually want the city to post it.”
Stern said he believes the event was recorded and that photos were taken. Source have told Talk of the Sound that Samantha Vargas, the city’s Communications and Marketing Manager, took photographs at the event; Stern said he could only confirm that photos were taken, not who took them.
“I would like to see them released,” he said.
Talk of the Sound has separately followed up with City Manager Wilfredo Melendez twice this week including after speaking with Stern asking why photos, video, and other materials from both the May 6 flag raising and May 11 ceremony have not been made public. A request was made to provide the material to Talk of the Sound if the City does not intend to publish them and we will. As of publication, Melendez has still not responded.
UPDATE: the event video was made available on the city website several hours after this story was published. Watch here (27 minutes).
A Debate Within the Community
Stern acknowledged a broader tension within the Jewish community about visibility versus caution — and said Talk of the Sound’s original story had prompted a useful conversation.
“We are having the same conversation in the Jewish community all the time about when it’s appropriate to be quiet versus be loud,” he said. “Your article certainly has forced a more robust conversation, and I appreciate that — now I’ve heard from people who maybe I wouldn’t have heard from.”
Stern cited statistics he said he referenced at the event — and which will be visible in the video if the city releases it: 50 percent of Jewish people have experienced an act of antisemitism in the past year; 48 percent are worried for their safety; and 18 percent have considered leaving the country. The figures come from a study published October 6, 2025 by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Anti-Defamation League.
“I take to heart the concerns that people raised,” Stern said. “I think next year I hope we can do more.”
This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
Have information about this story? Email robertcox@talkofthesound.com or contact via WhatsApp: +353 089 972 0669.
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