Local Matters Westchester

Chappaqua’s John Cirillo joins Local Matters Westchester to share stories from life in sports PR — from his Brooklyn roots and Fordham days to his time with the Knicks, Madison Square Garden, and beyond. Hear about Patrick Ewing, Spike Lee, Reggie Miller, and Cirillo’s creative life as a teacher, author, and lyricist. Recorded remotely from Genesis/Saw Mill Club in Mount Kisco.

At 92 and 67, Broadway veteran Patricia Conolly and her actor/astrologer husband, Colin McPhillamy, join Local Matters Westchester to share stage stories and tell us what's in the stars, politically and otherwise.

Tarrytown Trustee Effie Phillips-Staley joins Local Matters Westchester to discuss her Democratic primary campaign for New York’s 17th Congressional District, where she hopes to challenge incumbent Republican Mike Lawler in the general election.

She shares how her working-class upbringing shaped her perspective and highlights her priorities: housing affordability, humane treatment of immigrants, health care access, and climate action. Phillips-Staley also weighs in on civic engagement, youth activism, and foreign policy, stressing her focus on giving disenfranchised communities a voice.

This week on Local Matters Westchester, we talk with John Cappello, an Air Force veteran and Democratic candidate for New York’s 17th Congressional District. He’s running against incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, whom he calls not genuinely moderate, questioning the congressman’s support for President Trump, what he describes as his recent performative politics, and votes like the “Big Beautiful Bill.”

A Rockland resident, Cappello details the moment he decided to become a pilot, his work honoring World War II heroes through the Halyard Mission Foundation, and how and why he decided to join this race. 

He explains how his views have evolved and clears up questions about his party registration and political identity. Our conversation also leads him to explain how Barack Obama became the first Democrat he supported for president.

We ask Cappello about the Gaza hostage deal, the government shutdown, and health care, along with local concerns like affordability, housing, and education. He says his campaign is rooted in leadership and practical problem-solving over partisanship.

We’ve invited all the candidates (Democrats and Lawler alike) to join us in this ongoing congressional race series, as local and national attention continues to focus on this key swing district.

This week on Local Matters Westchester, we talk with Tibi Guzmán, CEO of The Arc Westchester, the county’s largest organization supporting people with developmental disabilities and their families. 

She explains her journey into this work, which was shaped by her own experience as the parent of a child with autism, and why that personal connection fuels her passion for the mission.

Guzmán shares how The Arc Westchester serves the community through programs that build independence and opportunity, from early intervention to adult housing and employment support. 

She also weighs in on federal budget decisions in Washington that could significantly impact people with disabilities, explaining what’s at stake for families and why advocacy matters.

Guzmán also pushes back against claims linking autism to vaccines, describing how it creates societally damaging stigmas for families already facing significant challenges.

Additionally, she spotlights the work being done at the Ann Manzi Center in Mount Kisco, which just marked a milestone with a ribbon-cutting following major renovations.

This week on Local Matters Westchester, we spoke with Cheryl Smith Alvarez, director of the Westchester Transcendental Meditation (TM) Center in Katonah.

Alvarez explains what Transcendental Meditation is — and isn’t — how she first discovered the practice, and why so many people, from busy parents to frontline health care workers, are finding it life-changing. She also shares details on a partnership at Northwell’s Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, where she has helped train more than 100 doctors, nurses and other health care staff in TM over the past couple of years. So if your local care team seems calmer than expected, Alvarez and TM might just be part of the reason.

We also cover common misconceptions about meditation, its relevance in today’s stressful and divided times, and practical tips for anyone looking to bring more calm, clarity and creativity into daily life.

This week on Local Matters Westchester, we’re joined by Peter Chatzky — Briarcliff Manor’s deputy mayor, a longtime business executive, and a Democratic candidate in New York’s 17th Congressional District, where a crowded primary field has formed to challenge Republican incumbent Mike Lawler.

Chatzky reflects on lessons from decades in local government and shares his views on housing, gun violence, healthcare, bridging divides, Israel, and the influence of NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

He also offers his perspective on Lawler’s claims of being a political moderate and shares his take on his fellow Democrats, as the race for one of the nation’s most closely watched congressional seats takes shape.

Paul Feiner has been town supervisor of Greenburgh since 1992, making him the longest-serving supervisor in Westchester County. In this week’s episode of Local Matters Westchester, we talk with Feiner about how he got his start in politics, why he decided against becoming a rabbi, and the pros and cons of his trademark (and almost comical) accessibility.

He shares why he believes the political establishment doesn’t like him — and why constituents do — his disappointments with both Democratic Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (over Edgemont’s incorporation push) and Republican Congressman Mike Lawler (for supporting Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and massive cuts affecting local hospitals), and why he treated Hillary Clinton the same as any other resident when she considered moving to Greenburgh.

Feiner also discusses his love of swimming and biking, how he cares for his elderly mother, his plans for new museum projects, and what he hopes to accomplish in a next term — he’s running for reelection this November, with no sign of slowing down his high-energy, sometimes frenetic pace. 

After more than three decades in office, he reflects on what keeps him motivated — and why he insists on answering every email and helping every constituent, even as some colleagues wish he managed his time differently.

When the Record-Review closed, the Bedford area lost a trusted source of local news. One year ago this month, The Recorder — a nonprofit founded by Ed Baum, Lloyd Trufelman, and Karen Sabath, with longtime editor Thane Grauel helping to lead the newsroom — stepped in to fill that gap.

In this episode, Local Matters Westchester co-hosts Adam Stone (publisher of The Examiner) and Martin Wilbur (former Examiner editor-in-chief, now a senior reporter at The Recorder — yes, it’s an incestuous local media world) talk with Editorial Director Ed Baum and Publisher Lloyd Trufelman about how it all began, the reasoning behind its nonprofit structure, the story behind the brand name, how they’re inspired by the legacy of a 19th-century Katonah Recorder, and much more.

Over the next 15 years, if Westchester doesn’t step up efforts to address its housing gap, the county could lose between 8,400 and 12,000 jobs annually, $533 to $742 million in earnings, and $32 to $57 billion in GDP, according to a May report by the Regional Plan Association (RPA), released with the Westchester County Association.

“Westchester County is in the midst of a housing crisis, which, if left unaddressed, will impact the long-term health of the regional economy,” the report warns. “Despite recent progress, the supply of new units has not kept pace with the growing need.”

On this week’s episode of Local Matters Westchester, we speak with Marcel Negret, RPA’s director of land use, to break down the findings and what they mean for residents and policymakers.