When Mayor Josh Nathan and his Democratic colleagues knocked on doors ahead of Election Day, he said the message from residents was clear: keep Rye, Rye.
That sentiment — balancing preservation and progress — will guide the city’s future, Nathan said Wednesday in a State of the City address at The Osborn. This was one of the first formal addresses in several years, reviving a tradition that had largely been set aside since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former Mayor Josh Cohn delivered an annual message in January 2020, and the next formal update wasn’t until March 2025. For Nathan, restoring the address was a priority.
Now 118 days into his administration, Nathan called the city “strong and in good order,” saying municipal operations have remained stable despite leadership changes and broader economic pressures. He credited city staff with maintaining services, advancing projects, and supporting new council initiatives in the administration’s early weeks.
“That is our north star,” Nathan said. “Managing that tension between preservation and progress.”
Hours after the City of Rye launched an online survey regarding its first comprehensive plan update in 40 years, Nathan touched on a number of topics the plan will address, including:
Community engagement
Nathan said the new(ish) council has worked to make itself more accessible to city residents — implementing a new agenda format that spotlights local people and encourages engaged discourse, and bringing back office hours. It also, for the first time, included Rye Neck in its joint school district–city council meeting and held a historical meeting at the Square House, welcoming city volunteers who help keep Rye moving. The city also launched the Living Landmarks initiative.
“We have set the stage for active engagement,” Nathan said, adding that it is “essential” to manage “preservation and progress we all value.”
Neighborhood issues
The council is looking at reinstating curbside food scrap recycling. He said there will be more to come on the matter.
He highlighted the relationship with the parks and a focus on traffic and pedestrian safety, particularly for Rye Neck residents. City staff is reviewing Rye Park neighborhood data alongside the former United Hospital site in Port Chester and Rye Country Day School.
Public safety and quality of life
The mayor emphasized quality of life “because that’s how all of us primarily experience Rye” — from the streets to individual homes and neighborhoods to restaurants frequented.
Standing in The Osborn, Nathan said he thinks of the senior-living community as its own neighborhood that’s “critical” in the city.
He said almost immediately, the council unanimously voted to ban gas-powered leaf blowers year-round in Rye.
“Peace and quiet returns on May 1,” he said.
Nathan added he hopes the largest institutions “start planning soon to transition to electric blowers so that we can enjoy a total ban” as the city makes that transition now.
The council will look at options to better support cell coverage in Rye, where Nathan said more than one-third of people have “unacceptable coverage.”
“This is both a quality of life and safety issue,” Nathan said, noting the possibility of engaging with an independent consultant that can develop a fix, as many neighboring communities have done.
In response to concerns about staffing, Rye has added one police officer and one firefighter. It also recently purchased a $1.47 million fire engine. Rye’s Swift Water Rescue Team earned level 2 state accreditation. Public Safety Commissioner Michael Kopy launched an innovative drone program, which is expanding. Nathan said there have been 618 drone flights since last July.
Capital improvement plan
According to Nathan, a discussion at length on the city’s capital improvement plan will take place this summer.
A number of projects, he said, are in various stages of being “underway.”
The Forest Avenue sidewalks are “advancing” and are expected to be ready within the year.
“When I moved here, we were talking about that sidewalk,” Nathan said. “That was 25 years ago.”
Repairs to the Theodore Fremd retaining wall to stabilize the roadway and protect the downtown from flooding are underway, along with HVAC upgrades to City Hall, which are nearing completion. Other projects are also seeing progress and repairs.
Fiscal resilience
Nathan noted that for Rye residents, affordability means different things.
Rye was named the safest city in New York state among municipalities with populations greater than 14,727, according to SafeWise, an organization that researches national crime and safety trends. It also continues to hold national rankings as a wealthy suburb.
“We are sensitive to the cost of our residence that they incur in the school county and city taxes, assorted fees, and the requests for philanthropy,” Nathan said.
He added that he is focused on starting budget discussions early to ensure an involved and thorough process.
“When discussions start early, surprises are kept to a minimum,” he said, adding that the city could accommodate the library because it had time and money to allocate.
The council brought back the finance committee, which had been inactive for a number of years, to help guide the city and “see the future implications of the choices before us.”
Efforts to combat flooding
Nathan called flooding the “existential threat” to Rye — the city, he said, is at a “proven risk” when it comes to riverine, rainwater, and coastal flooding. The Blind Brook and Beaver Swamp Brook, along Midland Avenue, have caused “tens of millions of dollars” in damage.
The situation is one that won’t go away, and Nathan said planning is paramount.
“No one in Rye should be left homeless or economically wiped out by a storm,” he said. “We must take off fund mitigation — consistently and proactively. And we now are.”
Two building department staffers are being trained as Certified Floodplain Managers.
“It is essential that we have a competency in house,” Nathan said.
In June, a citizen preparedness training will be scheduled. Nathan also cited recent partnerships with neighboring municipalities as essential to keeping Rye strong and moving forward in preparedness and planning.
Comprehensive sustainability planning
Nathan said more than 150 volunteers have stepped forward to help with comprehensive planning. They will receive a short survey to ensure the areas and opportunities match their interests.
Priorities include central business district design standards, flood mitigation code and ordinance review, and other appropriate flood-related measures; a cell service plan; and Gagliardo Park.
