The fastest-growing city in New York State
That's how Mayor Mike Spano's office describes Yonkers — and there's a real build behind the brag: a $3.8 billion revitalization effort reshaping the downtown waterfront, new businesses and tech offices moving in, and a sustained rebuild of Yonkers Public Schools. Each week we track what's actually on his desk — the budgets, developments and decisions moving through City Hall — with the source every time.
Sources: Office of the Mayor, City of Yonkers · City CivicAlerts · desk updated Sept 20, 2026
What City Hall actually did this month
The short version: The Oct 13 stated meeting is in the books — 10 new filings, every one referred to committee, nothing passed yet (full list below). Before it, the Sept 15 docket had come home: the council's first stated meeting of the fall — the first since June 24 — showed final results in Legistar: 36 of its 38 items passed, headlined by the self-storage moratorium (GO.9-2026), the sale of 566 Saw Mill River Road (LL.9-2026) and a $3,321,809.25 settlement over a 1989 petroleum spill. The two holdouts: the former PS #9 conveyance was withdrawn, and the Mary Teague Way renaming is "Held." From Sept 29, the 12 meeting-night filings remain queued — none passed. The mayor's $9.7 million downtown grant competition closes October 16 (per the city's Sept 10 announcement; deadline not re-confirmable today — city pages 403 to our checks), and the next stated meeting is Tuesday, October 27, 7:00 PM — preceded by a 6:30 PM public hearing on the D-MX/UR-HD zoning overhaul.
The top 10 hearings, in plain English
The ten most consequential City Council meetings and hearings on the official record right now — what was on the table and what actually happened.
THE budget vote: $1.64 billion for FY2026-27
- Adopted the full package in one sitting: tax budget, capital budget, grant budget, salary schedule and the tax roll for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2026.
- 4.75% property-tax increase — the council cut the mayor's proposed 5.25% after May's public hearings.
- Also passed: a water-rent increase, bond ordinances for capital projects and tax-certiorari judgments, and short-term borrowing authority (revenue/tax anticipation notes).
- Schools came out ahead: $56.3M in added support, including $17.3M for infrastructure/Wi-Fi and $6.3M for textbooks, laptops and equipment — helped by a late ~$55M state-aid infusion and the max $15M state municipal-assistance payment.
Council takes the show on the road — affordable housing and a new deputy planning commissioner
- Inter-municipal developer agreement advancing the affordable housing development at 636 South Broadway (HIF funds).
- Confirmation sought for Melissa Kaplan as Deputy Commissioner of Planning.
- Added senior-nutrition grant funding ($31,549.29 Title IIIC/NSIP, plus a ~$76K Wellness in Nutrition item) and mid-year budget transfers.
- Introduced (sent to committee) two quality-of-life ordinances: roll-off/underground garbage container rules and a vehicles-in-parks ban.
- Declared July 2026 National Parks & Recreation Month in Yonkers.
Zoning tweak goes to a public hearing
- Residents got their say on a proposed amendment to Section 43-33(J)(2) of the Zoning Ordinance before the council votes.
City sells off Warburton Avenue properties, leases 610 Nepperhan
- Local laws passed authorizing the conveyance of 607 and 579 Warburton Avenue plus part of 583 Warburton rear, and a lease of city property at 610 Nepperhan Avenue.
- Juneteenth (June 19) officially declared in Yonkers; Lupus Awareness Month recognized.
- $24,000 settlement (Allstate a/s/o Pablo Arias) approved; environmental reviews cleared for the property moves.
Budget hearing, take two — in the neighborhoods
- Second of two public hearings on the proposed 2026/2027 operating and capital budgets — the evening session held away from City Hall so east-side residents could speak. Three minutes per speaker, sign-up on site.
DMX gets his corner: School & Brook renamed "Earl DMX Simmons Way"
- Council Member Tasha Diaz's resolution honorarily renamed the corner of School Street and Brook Street — by the Calcagno Homes where DMX grew up — "Earl DMX Simmons Way." Passed unanimously.
- Amended the city's smoking code (Chapter 68).
- Home-rule message backing school speed-zone cameras (state bills S10564/A11479).
- Three settlements approved: $10,900 (property damage), $20,000 (school injury claim), $27,000 (police-involved injury claim).
- Declared Pride Month, Men's Health Month, Brain & Alzheimer's Awareness Month, and Indigenous People's Day (Aug 9).
First budget hearing at City Hall
- First public hearing on the proposed $1.6B+ budget — residents' first formal chance to weigh in on what became the 4.75% tax increase.
World Cup bars, EV chargers and an anti-trafficking pact
- Backed the state "HOST Act" — letting cities create temporary expanded alcohol-service zones for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
- Approved Westchester County agreements for Level 2 EV charging stations and the county Anti-Trafficking Task Force; accepted a U.S. DOJ justice-programs grant.
- Majority Leader John Rubbo pushed Albany to pay nonprofits on time (S.9761/S.9855).
- A $546,871 county infrastructure grant was held over (not voted) for a later meeting.
Affordable housing zoning law goes to hearing
- Public hearing on the proposed local law amending Article XV of the zoning code — affordable housing rules.
- Same night, the council accepted a Homeland Security tactical-team grant and an intimate-partner-violence reduction grant, and approved a long-house sewer connection for a Wyndcliff Road property.
- Nuryel Benitez appointed to the Yonkers Human Rights Commission.
Graffiti crackdown, Tesla chargers, two union contracts
- Toughened the graffiti ordinance — stronger enforcement, real penalties, removal procedures.
- Approved a 24-hour public Tesla charging station special-use permit.
- Ratified contracts with Local 1897 (AFSCME) and SEIU Local 704B; settlements of $25,000 and $52,000 approved.
Who runs Yonkers city government
Standing committees: Budget & Finance · Rules · Real Estate · Education · Environmental Policy & Protection · Legislation & Codes · Municipal Operations, Public Safety & Labor · Community & Mental Health Services · Intergovernmental Affairs · Accessibility & Inclusion.
Every City Hall record, one click away
We read all of these so you don't have to — but every claim on this page traces back to the city's own records, and here's the full toolbox. Quirk worth knowing: under the council's rules, the annotated agenda is the official minutes, and meeting videos are often listed "Not available" — the written record is the record.
What's next at City Hall
The October 13 stated meeting is in the books. The council met, 7:00 PM, at One Larkin Center, Board Room, 4th Floor — the agenda's Final filing listed the grant acceptances, the budget amendment adding three IT positions, the Italian Heritage/Columbus Day resolution and the resolution urging the Board of Education to adopt age-appropriate restrictions on student use of artificial intelligence in elementary schools. The morning after, Legistar shows 10 new filings action-dated Oct 13, every one "Referred" to committee — none passed (the full list is in "The last 30 days"). Next up: Tuesday, October 27 — a 6:30 PM public hearing at City Hall, Council Chambers (4th Floor), on the D-MX/UR-HD zoning overhaul, agenda already filed Final in Legistar, followed by the council's 7:00 PM stated meeting per the city's October slate (that agenda has not filed to Legistar yet). The rest of the October slate is below.
The September 29 double-header is in the books. The council convened at Saunders Trades and Technical High School: a 6:30 PM public hearing on the Mary Teague Way street renaming, then a 7:00 PM stated meeting. Both agendas are now filed final in Legistar — and as of our Oct 6 check, all 12 filings from that meeting have moved to "Agenda Ready — Items for Consideration" in Legistar, none with a pass date, so nothing from Sept 29 counts as passed yet. They're queued for a future docket, not enacted. [Oct 14: they were still queued as "Agenda Ready" at this morning's check — the Oct 13 meeting acted on its own 10 new filings instead.] Under council rules, the annotated agenda on the Legistar calendar is the official record of what actually passed; we'll post outcomes the moment they appear.
October is posted. The city's calendar now lists the council's two October stated meetings — Tuesday, October 13 and Tuesday, October 27, both at 7:00 PM — so the standing 2nd & 4th-Tuesday schedule holds. The board slate is up too: Board of Contract & Supply on Oct 6 and Oct 20, the Landmarks Preservation Board on Oct 7, the Parks Board on Oct 13 and the Planning Board on Oct 14. And the first big fall docket outside the council chambers: the Zoning Board of Appeals has posted a 16-case draft agenda for Thursday, October 22, 6:00 PM — back in the Saunders Trades and Technical High School auditorium, 183 Palmer Rd. That's nine open/continued hearings plus seven new ones; the headline requests include a 201,760-square-foot warehouse and office building at 79 Austin Ave, a 60-unit apartment building at 69 Spruce St, a 56-unit building at 68–72 Buena Vista Ave, and a variance-heavy new apartment proposal at 1221 Yonkers Avenue. One quirk: the Legistar calendar itself still carried no October events at our Oct 2 check — these postings live on the city's own calendar. [Oct 14: the Oct 13 stated meeting and Parks Board have now met — the Legistar record confirms the stated meeting; the Planning Board meets Oct 14 at 5:30 PM; board outcomes stay as calendar-listed, our last full city-calendar read predates them.] Agendas file to Legistar ahead of each meeting; we'll post them as they land.
Every government date we know
Break the Silence for Domestic Violence 5K Run/Walk — held Oct 10
City Hall closed — Columbus Day
City Council Stated Meeting — met Oct 13
Parks Board Meeting — met Oct 13
Planning Board Meeting — Oct 14, 5:30 PM
Deadline: DRI project proposals ($9.7M)
Board of Contract & Supply Meeting
Zoning Board of Appeals — 16-case hearing night
City Council Public Hearing + Stated Meeting — D-MX/UR-HD zoning on the table
Per the city's civic calendar and Agenda Center, last read in full October 2, 2026 and re-checked via Legistar on October 14 — the city's calendar site has blocked automated reads since Sept 20, so the October slate stands as of the Oct 2 read, minus the events that have since met (the Oct 5–7 items, the mobile tax office at Coyne Park, and now the Oct 13 stated meeting and Parks Board; the Planning Board meets Oct 14 at 5:30 PM). Standing rule: stated meetings on the 2nd & 4th Tuesdays (council rules require the agenda to members by 3 PM the Thursday before); October's are posted — Oct 13 and Oct 27. Sources: City calendar · Legistar · City Council page