In our Meet the Boards & Commissions series, MyRye.com will introduce readers to the boards and commissions of the City of Rye and the residents who run them. All volunteers, these residents give their time and expertise to keep our city running. The series is intended to bring visibility to what each board and commission does, its priorities and what might prompt a resident or another person or company to interact with the group.
We have made our best efforts to reach out to each board and commission chairperson directly or via City officials. If you are a board or commission chair and have not been contacted, or if you are a reader with feedback on this series, please get in touch with MyRye.com.
Meet the Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Committee and its Co-Chair Brian Dempsey.
Your Name: Brian Dempsey
Board or Commission: Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Committee (TPS)
Your role: Co-Chair with Kelsey Johnson
MyRye.com: What is the charter for your committee?
Dempsey: Originally the Traffic and Transportation Committee, TPS was established to advise the City Council as well as other entities such as City Staff and the public on traffic and pedestrian safety issues in the City. It is also tasked with seeking public input and promoting public education efforts about traffic and pedestrian safety and issues in Rye.
The Committee is composed of residents with interests in safety. We try to have parent representatives from each of the schools who keep us alert of the traffic and pedestrian issues at the schools. We also have a member of the Police Department as well as a representative of the School District participate in our meetings who are extremely helpful.
Over the years, the TPS has
- Re-instated Bicycle Rodeos to teach children about bicycle safety
- Spoken to school children about pedestrian safety and organized “walking school buses” to encourage more children to walk to school
- Participated as judges in the high school photography contests regarding traffic safety and distracted driving/walking awareness
- Conducted field visits to observe concerns of residents
- Coordinated with the Rye Police Department to organize motor vehicle crash data
- Advocated for and won grant funding for pedestrian safety upgrades, like new sidewalks
- Presented to City Council in response to traffic and pedestrian safety issues
- Educated the public on City policies, for example speed humps, and helped facilitate changes where possible
- Reviewed requests from other boards and commissions
Looking at 2026, what will be your top initiatives?
Dempsey:
- Safety around schools including nursery schools regarding awareness at crosswalks and that not every driver stops at the crosswalks.
- Overall pedestrian and bicycle safety including continuing the Bicycle Rodeo this spring.
- Improving driver behavior especially regarding speeding, distracted driving, and yielding to pedestrians through education efforts and continued collaboration with community partners like the Rye Police Department.
Would you be supportive of your meetings being broadcast and recorded by the City for public viewing?
Dempsey: Yes, but do not think it is necessary as we are only a committee and we can only make recommendations, not official policies. Our meetings are all online so anyone can participate in them.
Are written agendas and written meeting minutes available?
Dempsey: Yes, on the committee page of the City website.
Are your meetings currently recorded [on RyeTV, online meeting video, etc.]?
Dempsey: No, not recorded but are live on-line.
What are your key performance indicators (KPIs)?
Dempsey: As stated above, we can only make recommendations which are mainly in response to resident comments. The less comments that we receive, the less concerns people have so we feel things are getting better.
Who is the City Council liaison to your [Board or Commission] for 2026?
Dempsey: James Ward, the deputy mayor, was appointed our liaison during 2025.
Tell us about the residents or others you interact with at your Committee.
Dempsey: We collaborate with the police and fire departments as well as the engineering, planning and public works departments along with the City Manager. Representatives of the police department participate in each one of our meetings and are extremely helpful as they see what is going on every day. We coordinate with Westchester County and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) when necessary as they have jurisdiction over various roads in the City. We review traffic and pedestrian items that are brought to the committee by residents or from members of the committee or at the direction of the city council.
Most of our discussion items come from residents with traffic or pedestrian concerns who speak at the beginning of our meetings or have submitted a letter or email. Many of these residents tend to be relatively new to Rye. The majority of comments are about the area around the schools, speeding, drivers not yielding to pedestrians and distracted driving.
When was your committee chartered by the City of Rye?
Dempsey: TPS was established in the 1990s. There was a brief hiatus but then it was reformed later in 1998 due to the amount of traffic complaints that the City Council was receiving. It was originally named the Traffic and Transportation Committee, but pedestrian safety became more of a focus and the name was changed in 2010. TPS Members have represented the committee in joint projects with other boards and commissions and have presented to the city council, planning commission and zoning board of appeals.
Looking back across 2025, what were your committee’s top achievements?
Dempsey:
- Re-instated the Bicycle Rodeo after a several year hiatus. Had 100 children attend despite the weather. It was coordinated with other organizations including the Rye Tri Club, Danny’s Cycles, the Police Department and the School District. Children had a safety check performed on their bicycles and then learned bicycle safety and rode the bicycles through different courses.
- Continuously coordinated with the city and school district to improve pedestrian safety around the schools.
- Upgraded the pedestrian crossings at various locations in the City including adding rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFB’s) as well as improving signing and striping.
- Increased the number of mobile speed signs installed throughout the city. These signs both gather useful speed and traffic volume data while positively impacting driving speeds. We have received a lot of positive feedback from community members on these installations as a way to mitigate speeding.
Tell us about you:
How long have you been in your current role?
Dempsey: I was being added to the Committee in the mid-1990’s, then the committee was put on hiatus. I was vice chairman in 1998 when the committee re-started and then have been chairman since about 2000.
Who appointed you to this position, and what year were you appointed?
Dempsey: Steve Otis when he was mayor back around 1998.
Besides yourself, who is the longest serving person on your committee??
Dempsey: Kelsey Johnson, who is our co-chair.
When does your current appointed term expire?
Dempsey: At the end of 2027.
What is your day job?
Dempsey: I am a licensed professional engineer in six states, a certified professional traffic operations engineer, and a certified roadway safety professional as well as a partner in a consulting engineering company where I have been for almost 40 years, specializing in traffic engineering. I also serve on the Westchester County Traffic Safety Board and have represented the majority of municipalities in Westchester County as well as represented the county and state.
How much time does your role require in a typical month?
Dempsey: It takes several hours a week including talking to residents, responding to resident comments, preparing agendas and minutes, performing research of legal issues and state/federal regulations on signage and other issues, site visits and observations, meetings/discussions with city staff, conducting traffic counts and traffic signal timings, preparing the agenda, and writing the minutes. Also, we get stopped all over the city with residents who have a traffic issue.
If I took you to Jerry’s or Oakland Beach Deli for lunch this week, what would you order?
Dempsey: I go to Jerry’s often as our families have known each other for about 100 years. My order changes depending upon the daily hot specials but my favorite is the jambalaya.
Where do you live in Rye and how many years have you lived in the City?
Dempsey: I was born and raised in Rye in the Hix Park area in a house my father built when he got back from World War II. My family has been in Rye since the mid-1800’s. I now live in the Mead Pond area.
Thanks Brian!
Learn More:
2025 Profile
Main Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Committee page on City website
Committee Members:
Brian Dempsey, Co-Chair 12-31-27 (term expires)
Niamh Alexander 12-31-28
Kelsey Johnson Co-Chair 12-31-27
Emily Baldwin – just moved to City Council 12-31-27
Jason Ertel 12-31-27
Anna Maria LaMonte12-31-28
Kelly Smith-Powers 12-31-28
