NEW ROCHELLE, NY (May 20, 2026) — It started with a routine inquiry.
On May 14, 2026, Talk of the Sound sent an email to the City of New Rochelle asking why there were no meeting notices, agendas, or minutes posted online for the Civilian Complaint Review Board. The reply was brief and bureaucratic: “The committee has not met as of yet as they are still going through the required training per the legislation. Once the meeting takes place the agenda and minutes will be online.”
That one sentence — “they are still going through the required training per the legislation” — opened a can of worms.
The CCRB had been seated since July 2025. Nearly a year had passed. There were no public records of any kind because there had been no public process of any kind — no meetings, no agendas, no minutes, no semi-annual reports as required by the city code. This coverage and the research report it is based on represent the only public accounting that exists anywhere of what the CCRB has been doing, what the city has been doing on its behalf, and what the police department has or has not been doing. That absence is not Talk of the Sound’s failure to find the information. It is the city’s failure to make it public — and the CCRB Chairperson’s failure to convene the board that would have generated it.
What prompted the inquiry in the first place had nothing to do with the CCRB. Talk of the Sound was looking into an entirely unrelated matter — a reference by Council Member Stern to a Jewish heritage committee — and went to the city website to review the full list of city committees and the city code. The CCRB entry caught the eye. Whatever happened to that? A simple question. You never know what you’re going to get back.
What came back was a rabbit hole that led, within three days, to a comprehensive 14-section research report, 25 Freedom of Information Law requests submitted to four agencies, and 71 questions directed to eight officials and organizations. That is what curiosity looks like when it meets a story that has been hiding in plain sight.
What We Submitted
On May 17, Talk of the Sound submitted 25 FOIL requests to: the City of New Rochelle, the New Rochelle Police Department, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, and the New York State Office of the State Comptroller. Media inquiries containing 71 questions were sent to: Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert, City Manager Wilfredo Melendez, Police Commissioner Neil Reynolds, Deputy City Manager Todd Castaldo, CCRB Chairperson Natasha Fapohunda, Rev. David Holder, Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace, and NACOLE.
Credit Where It Is Due
Under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, agencies have five business days merely to acknowledge a request. The City of New Rochelle acknowledged every request the same day it was submitted — because that is how its new NextRequest system works — and began producing records within two business days. Talk of the Sound has spent years documenting the city’s history of FOIL stonewalling. This was not that. The city produced hundreds of pages of records with speed and professionalism that deserves acknowledgment. Other agencies take note: responsiveness earns credit. Stonewalling gets you on our radar.
What the City Produced
The City of New Rochelle has closed four of its 25 requests, producing records in response to FOIL requests covering: stipend payments to CCRB members (26-852); all communications between Todd Castaldo and CCRB members (26-853); all city communications with NACOLE regarding CCRB training (26-854); and any communications regarding correction of Resolution 2025-102 (26-857). Eleven requests remain open and assigned to city departments.
Those four closed requests produced more than 500 pages of records — and substantially changed the picture the original report presented.
What the Records Revealed
The board was not simply doing nothing. Deputy City Manager Todd Castaldo, the city’s designated CCRB liaison, was actively coordinating onboarding, background checks, oath administration, and training logistics throughout the period the board has been seated. Council Member Shane Osinloye wrote in July 2025 — within weeks of members being appointed — “We need this board activated asap.” Council Member David Peters wrote in April 2026 that “the year long delay regardless of the reasons does not warrant this action” and called for an abbreviated Citizens Police Academy training program. These communications were internal. None of it was public. None of it was reported. The FOIL production made it visible for the first time.
Training was further along than reported — but the city never told anyone. Two of three required training components had been completed before the original report was published, one partially. A fourth training program from Monroe University, was not mandated by the city code but added to address some of what one of the mandated programs left out.
A FOIL/Open Meetings Law training session was conducted January 23, 2026. Monroe University provided training on racial history and community policing on April 7, 2026. NACOLE conducted three virtual training sessions on March 16, March 25, and April 8, 2026. None of this was publicly disclosed. There were no press releases, no public meeting notices, no semi-annual reports as required by the city code. The public had no way to know any of it had happened because the CCRB was not holding meetings, was not publishing agendas or minutes, and was not filing the reports the code requires. This is a major gap in the city’s public accountability.
The one remaining component — the Citizens Police Academy, accounting for 25 of approximately 37 required training hours — is now confirmed. On May 12, 2026, City Manager Melendez wrote: “We are all set to begin the training on May 20!! It will be every Wednesday night from 6:30pm to 9:00pm.” That is today, five days after our original report was published.
The City Manager acknowledged the board could meet before training was complete. In an April 13, 2026 email, Melendez wrote: “Members do need to finish the training before they can review cases, but the Board can still meet, hold public sessions, and take care of other responsibilities in the meantime.” The board did not meet after that email. It has never met.
The city violated its own code on trainer selection — for every training component. The city code requires that NACOLE trainers be selected by the members of the CCRB. The records show the city engaged NACOLE in January 2025 — six months before members were appointed — using a generic template scope of work not yet customized for New Rochelle. Monroe University was similarly arranged by city staff. The FOIL/Open Meetings Law training was delivered by Castaldo via recording. No board vote on any trainer selection ever occurred. It could not — the board has never met to vote on anything.
No stipends were paid to anyone. The City of New Rochelle Department of Finance confirmed in response to FOIL request 26-852 that no stipend payments have been made to any CCRB members. Separately, the records show Chairperson Fapohunda wrote to Castaldo on March 11, 2026 affirmatively declining her compensation. The city accepted her declination on April 16. No other member declination was found in the production. Whether the absence of payments reflects a city determination that the board is not operational, a policy decision, or simply an administrative oversight has not been explained.
The Resolution 2025-102 contradiction has never been internally acknowledged. The FOIL production seeking communications about correcting the error in Resolution 2025-102 — which states CCRB members “may be” law enforcement, directly contradicting the city code — produced no internal discussion, no draft corrective resolution, no legal analysis, and no acknowledgment by any city official that the contradiction exists. The production contained only forwarded copies of Talk of the Sound’s own questions. Either the city has never discussed correcting the error, or responsive records were not produced.
What We Still Don’t Have
The New Rochelle Police Department has produced no records in response to any of the 11 FOIL requests submitted on May 17. Those requests cover the 2026 Citizens Police Academy scheduling, Sean Kane’s Giglio/Brady status, all cases investigated by Kane and the Special Investigations Unit, civilian complaint methodology records, and other matters.
The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office has not responded to Talk of the Sound’s FOIL requests.
What NACOLE Told Us
NACOLE Executive Director Cameron McElhiney responded to Talk of the Sound’s inquiry on May 17 — the same day it was sent — confirming three training sessions in March and April 2026 and stating the city initially contacted NACOLE in 2024 but that contracting and scheduling issues caused delays. Talk of the Sound submitted follow-up questions on May 18. Those questions have since been substantially answered by the city’s FOIL production, which shows NACOLE contracting began in January 2025, was delayed by insurance requirements through late 2025, and ultimately cost between $9,325 and $11,000 — with the final agreed price not confirmed in the records produced.
New FOILs and Media Inquiries
The records have opened new lines of inquiry. Additional FOIL requests will be submitted shortly, including records related to Monroe University’s CCRB training engagement and pre-January 2025 NACOLE communications. Those will be reflected in the updated FOIL section of the full report.
What Comes Next
The full 14-section research report, updated to reflect all new information from the FOIL productions, is available to paid subscribers at Words in Edgewise.
The following articles, based on findings from the records produced so far, will be published on Talk of the Sound:
No Stipends Paid to New Rochelle CCRB Members; Chairperson Declined Compensation
City Manager Admitted Board Could Meet Before Training Was Complete. It Never Did
New Rochelle Violated Its Own Code on CCRB Trainer Selection — For Every Training Component
Inside the Records: How the New Rochelle CCRB Got Trapped in a Doom Loop of Its Own Making
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 (preferred) or contact via WhatsApp: +353 89 972 0669.