The Westchester County District Attorney’s office has been investigating the Rye Boat Basin since the beginning of the year, according to DA office spokesman Lucian Chalfen and the Rye city corporation counsel Kristen Wilson. The DA’s office took over the investigation after the city forwarded them some materials in January, Wilson said.
The city started a probe into the Boat Basin in October when they placed its supervisor Peter Fox on administrative leave. Fox was allowed to return to work after six weeks of leave but the city’s investigation was not concluded, according to Wilson. In January, the city turned the investigation over to the DA’s office and discontinued its own probe.
Wilson and Chalfen could not comment on the nature of the investigation, when it may end, or if any specific individuals are being targeted.
“The investigation into the boat basin predates the Rye Golf Club investigation,” Chalfen said, explaining the issues date back further than those of the Golf Club. He emphasized that the RGC and Boat Basin investigations are completely separate from each other.
The boat basin operates via a city "proprietary fund", in a manner similar to a private enterprise with a $1.1 million budget. Fox had been accused of using the city boat to pull a barge and a stuck boater out of mud flats near Hen Island, actions the Boat Basin Commission does not allow, according to a report by the Rye Sound Shore Review’s Christian Falcone.
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