Editor’s note: Welcome back to Rocklandia, our (relatively) new column designed to inform you, dear reader, about stuff (news, stories, people, politics, public safety, music, movements, wild animal versus human interactions, etc.) going on in Rockland County, from a Nyack-centric perspective. Here at Rocklandia, we love conversation and feedback. Please email us with thoughts, stories, ideas, food recs or anything else at alex@nyacknewsandviews.com.
After months on the campaign trail, knocking on doors, making phone calls to potential donors, attending countless events and community meetings, all Joe Rand wants is to curl up in his pajamas and eat a big bowl of pasta from Dolce Vita.
It’s approaching 9 pm on Tuesday, exactly two weeks from election day in what appears to be a very close race for the 38th district senate seat, which pits Rand, Nyack’s gregarious mayor, against Bill Weber, the Republican incumbent.
Earlier in the evening, Rand crashed a Clarkstown candidates forum as part of his everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to campaigning, something he is basically doing for the first time after running unopposed for mayor in the last two election cycles.
Before his pasta arrives, Rand graciously granted Rocklandia 30 minutes of his time to discuss the election, his political philosophy, life on the campaign trail, his beef with Weber, why he thinks he’s building momentum and a hilarious attack ad against him that proves, if nothing else, that despite the long, slog of running for office, he has not lost his famous sense of humor.
And if nothing else in these dark times, we here at Rocklandia appreciate a good sense of humor.
The Lineup
- Rand Hopes to Ride Blue Wave
- Quick-Hit Voting Guide
- Mario the Halloween Grand Marshal
- ICYMI: A Tragic Killing of a Rocklander on the GWB
- Food for Thought
- Musical Outro
Rand’s Plan to Ride the Blue Wave
In 2020, Nyacker Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, a former teacher and village trustee, narrowly defeated Weber, taking back the 38th district senate seat for Democrats after a ten-year run by Republican David Carlucci.
But Weber, an accountant by trade, temperament and appearance, rebounded and beat Reichlin-Melnick by increasingly larger margins in both 2022 and 2024, buoyed by a redistricting change that eliminated Ossining and added Haverstraw to the 38th.
Enter Joe Rand, a former lawyer who helped turn his family’s real estate business into one of the biggest and most successful in the county. Rand, a natural public speaker with a penchant for engaging in snark-infested social media battles about local issues, started as a village trustee and then took over as mayor in 2023.
Last year, after securing a $4.5 million investment grant for his, Rand aimed for higher office and announced his bid to take on Weber. Now, in the waning days of the election, Rand hopes to ride what appears to be a nationwide blue wave built on the Trump administration’s dwindling approval rating fueled by an unpopular war, high-profile corruption scandals and rising costs that fly in the face of the president’s campaign promises.
Meanwhile, Weber, a genuinely nice guy who once laughed at one of my Trump jokes during a Boy Scout clean-up on 304 near Dr. Davies farm, is suffering from the Trump dump (opposite of bump — ok, you’re right, it needs some workshopping, but we’ll see how it goes) and being hamstrung by his ultra minority status in a New York state legislature now thoroughly dominated by Dems.
[Note: Rocklandia reached out to Weber seeking an interview through both his senate and campaign offices, but did not hear back. It remains unclear if he remembers our jovial conversation while plucking cigarette butts from the side of the road a few years back.]
As Rand explains it, due to his party’s extreme lack of power, Weber is unable to bring much in terms of funding (known as “member items” in Albany and “pork” to old school political junkies) back to Rockland County. That’s millions of dollars in investments that we’ve been missing out on for the last four years.
“The fact is,” Rand says, “if you are a Republican in Albany, you don’t have any influence over legislation, you don’t have any influence over the agenda, and you can’t bring funding back to your district.”
Rand estimates that Rockland’s lost some $40 million in infrastructure investments since Weber took office.
On the campaign trail and in multitudes of mailings, Weber tries to use Rand’s Democratness against him, painting him as just another radical liberal who would further radicalize the state’s left-leaning policy agenda. According to his own argument, Weber would serve as a necessary counterweight to hold Democrats in check.
But Rand sees this as faulty logic. Really, Rands says, “The only thing he can do is make speeches after the decisions have been made.”
Besides, Rand says, he’s not even that liberal and far from a Democratic socialist. “I think I agree with progressives about 80 percent of the time.”
He added, “I’m not ideological, I’m pragmatic. So, I want to try to find a solution to a problem. And I’ll take the solution from anywhere it comes, whether it comes from the left or right.”
Rand also says he’s willing to be persuaded and change his mind on his issues. For example, he says he wasn’t initially supportive (not surprising, given his real estate background) of Nyack’s attempt to implement the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, which would have put rent control on certain properties. That fell through, Rand says, but shows he’s willing to bend if it benefits his constituents.
Under Rand’s watch, Nyack did opt into the Good Cause Eviction law, which provides renters with protection against unreasonable evictions and rent increases.
The real solution to Nyack and Rockland’s housing affordability problems is to build more housing, especially multi-family units, like apartment buildings, condos and townhouses.
Easier said than done. But Rand says Democrats are moving in the right direction: cutting red tape and incentivizing builders, specifically by eliminating the some of the state’s environmental review for more types of housing projects.
In Nyack, Rand has identified the area on Route 59, across the street from Old World Market, behind Nyack Diner (formerly Hogan’s) as underutilized space that could be rezoned for more housing.
“You could put in hundreds of units, while maintaining retail there,” Rand says.
It’s unclear what Weber’s plan is to attack the housing crisis, but we do know he opposed Governor Kathy Hochul’s moratorium on new data centers, which Rand says are getting overly-friendly tax breaks, without offering much in terms of jobs.
“[They businesses behind the data centers] are the some of the most valuable companies in the history of the world,” Rand says. “They can afford to pay tax their taxes.”
He also pointed out Weber’s objection to a law designed to prevent predatory pricing, which businesses use to gouge customers, often the elderly, just because they can.
Going into the final stretch, Rand says he hopes to highlight these differences on the campaign trail, where he says he and his team have knocked on some 30,000 doors in the past three weeks.
Rand said he’s seen a big uptick in voter enthusiasm in his travels around the county, where he’s trying to hit half a dozen events every day, leading to late nights waiting for takeout pasta in downtown Nyack. This fits a national narrative and polling that suggest Democrats could take both the House and Senate on November 3. Cook Political Report recently said 11 House races recently shifted from a toss-up to leaning Democrat just this past week.
We also know he’s doing his best to tie Rand to the most destructive menace facing Rockland County: legal marijuana dispensaries.
Rand says Weber (or proxies) probably spent $25,000 on an enormous mailer showing a clearly AI-doctored image of Rand looking stoned on one side and a Trustafarian dude holding a burning joint near two cute AI-looking kids.
It’s desperate and deceptive, Rand says, “I mean, there are serious issues we’re facing right now,” but legal marijuana dispensaries are not one of them. In fact, he says, the one cannabis dispensary in Nyack, Treehouse, brought in half a million dollars in tax revenue that is paying for more health and human services in the village.
However, Rand did find the humor in it: “I laughed when I saw it.”
Thanks, Joe. We all could use a little more laughter, I think.
Quick-Hit Voting Guide
What are the Election Dates?
- General Election – Tuesday, November 3
Polls are open from 6 am until 9 pm.
When is Early Voting?
- General Election: Saturday, October 24, through Sunday, November 1.
Where do I vote?
Use the Polling Place Look-up tool.
(Excludes School, Library, Fire District Elections and Early Voting.)
Sample ballots are available on the Polling Place look-up.
How do I get an absentee ballot or an Early Mail Ballot?
Please see the BOE’s Absentee Ballot page for more information.
ICYMI: A Tragic, Senseless End for Rockland Dad
On Wednesday, I received a text message from the director of the St. Paul’s CYO basketball program, where I’m coaching my son’s 6th grade squad and have met a ton of cool, caring dads.
In the message, the director said the father (Koran Irvine) of one of St. Paul’s 7th grade players was tragically killed the night before while driving home on the George Washington Bridge. He sent us a link to the Gofundme page. Everyone on the group text expressed anger and disbelief. The page quickly raised a few thousand dollars.
At the time, the shooter had not been apprehended. But soon enough, we found out more details, including the allegation (which is not really being disputed; it’s all on camera) that the shooter was a former NYPD detective and Haverstraw resident, Victor Romero, who was finally arrested and charged with manslaughter on Thursday.
What makes this so terrifying and maddening is that (A) it occurred on Irvine’s commute home from work, a drive so many of us make daily without fearing for our lives. What makes it even worse is that the shooting appeared to be in retaliation for an alleged offense that appeared to be no one’s fault (the two drivers merged into the same lane at the same time) and did not lead even result in damage to either party. Until someone pulled out a gun.
The incident is now national news and, if there is an upshot, it is the outpouring of support for Irvine’s family in the wake of this tragedy. That initial few thousand dollars is now up to more than $220,000.
Still, it will never be enough.
Food for Thought:
A few foodie thoughts on our way out the door.
- We love We Love Bread!
- Speaking of bread, we also love that Didier is now offering frozen baguettes because it’s highly upsetting when you made some soup but can’t get there before they sell out, which is usually around 3 pm. Thanks for thinking about us commuters, Didier!
- RIP to My Father’s Place and soul food in Nyack for the time being. You will be missed.
- Don Chuy’s is crushing the game. It’s my son’s favorite carnitas in Rockland right now.
If you have any information (or recommendations or Top 5 lists or a good recipe), please email Rocklandia: alex@nyacknewsandviews.com.
Exit Music
Because every good show needs some good exit music to send you on your way! This one is for my soul brother, Alex Briggs, who taught me how to be a music connoisseur, among many other things. You are loved and missed.
Please be in touch, this DJ takes recommendations: alex@nyacknewsandviews.com. See you next time! (Probably, hopefully in two weeks)