Mystery: Are Parts of Rye in the “Yellow Zone”? No One Knows…

Late Wednesday afternoon, when the State announced Port Chester had moved to “Orange Zone” status, a closer look at the State zone map showed the “Orange Zone” area across Port Chester and a new “Yellow Zone” buffer area.

On close inspection, the “Yellow Zone” now clearly pushes into the parts of Rye that abut Port Chester. Areas impacted include areas on and immediately off Grace Church Street closest to Port Chester, the Courtyard Marriott, and the Rye Country Day School and surrounding areas including Hillside, Cope Circle and Grandview. After asking the City late Wednesday about this development, it is now actively trying to figure out if this is an aggressive map designer, of if certain areas in Rye will be subject to new restrictions. The City has not be notified by State authorities about any designation.

In a note to residents, Mayor Josh Cohn said the City was busy trying to deciphering the new State map. “This is a head-scratcher, as the State claims that its colored zones are based on “data metrics,” but none of our present group of active COVID cases reside in this new yellow zone that runs from the Sound on the east (north of Guion) to Grandview and Evergreen on the west… Our State legislative team and County staff are looking into the matter and, I hope, will be able to release us from what appears to be map creep.”

See the full map as published by NYS late Wednesday.