Rye City Council Honors Former Mayor Steve Otis

RYE, N.Y. – The Rye City Council honored former Rye Mayor Steve Otis at Wednesday's meeting by hanging his picture inside of the city council chambers alongside the portraits of previous city mayors.

"This is a very special tradition," Otis said. "Every community has special characteristics and special traits, and that is very much true of Rye."

Otis, who served as mayor of Rye for 12 years, from 1998 to 2010, is currently seeking the New York State Assembly seat in the 91st district. Otis currently serves as Chief of Staff for Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer (D-Mamaroneck).

"For me the 12 years was a great honor. I really enjoyed every moment of it," Otis said.

Current Rye Mayor Doug French spoke about Otis' contributions to the Rye community.

"If you look around, the Damiano Center, the firehouses, Whitby Castle, the pedestrian safety initiatives and some of the grants, Steve has touched us in so many ways that many people don't realize," French said.

Council member Catherine Parker, who served on the council with Otis, spoke about the dearth of knowledge Otis brought as mayor.

"It was an honor to serve with you," Parker said to Otis. "I was so impressed with the depth of knowledge you had on our local government, county government and state government. I felt that I really learned quite a lot."

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