About a dozen protesters gathered at Village Hall on April 11 for a “Stand Up for Mt. Kisco” rally to voice concerns over public safety, rising costs and transparency in local government.
The event was promoted through the private Facebook group Mt. Kisco News & Safety and was not related to the ongoing Saturday Rally for Democracy.
Rally-goers accused local officials of limited transparency and questioned town operations and decision-making, including police patrol coverage and whether oversight bodies like the Ethics Board are functioning effectively.
Speaking to this reporter, Kim Terlizzi expressed dissatisfaction with police patrol, citing an instance when three police cruisers responded to a report of harassment by a drunk man, suggesting the cruisers had not been out on patrol but rather came from the department.
Organizers and attendees pointed to issues stemming from public intoxication and behavior in shared spaces, including allegations of bathing in streams and defecating outdoors.
School safety was also raised, with concern about Mt. Kisco Elementary School and the lack of a regular school resource officer, alongside complaints about rising taxes and water costs.
Others expressed concerns over the town’s unhoused population, including expanded shelter options and accessory dwelling units.
Taking place a week after Mt. Kisco’s “No Kings” gathering drew thousands, rally-goers seized on similar imagery to accuse town officials of steamrolling residents and lacking transparency. The board was accused of using rules of decorum (including limiting speeches to three minutes) to silence opposition.
An AI-generated poster depicted Village Board member and Democratic Committee Chair Tom Luzio—who is up for reelection this fall—as “King Luzio.”
“At the last village board meeting, [Luzio] demanded that a three minute rule for speaking, that is on the books, be imposed on residents making comments at the public comment section of the village board meeting,” Terlizzi said regarding the “King Luzio” sign. “That [rule] has not been followed for many years. He requested, and it was voted on, that it be followed now, because he doesn’t like what residents have to say.
“Meanwhile, non-residents are allowed to get up there and speak, and they’re speaking on national/federal issues which have nothing to do with Mount Kisco,” Terlizzi added. “They are not taxpaying residents nor business owners and they’re allowed to have as many minutes to speak as taxpaying residents. Totally ludicrous!”
Luzio later told the Mt. Kisco-Bedford Tome he “didn’t impose” the rule and noted it is a common practice at many deliberative bodies.
"The three-minute rule has been a rule not just of our government, but virtually every town, city, county and village, as well as planning boards and school boards," he said. "No one here created that a week ago Monday.
“Not only was it our rule, but the prior administration passed those same rules at their organizational meeting at the beginning of their term,” he added. “Every town, on the first day of every term, passes the rules of government at its organizational meeting; otherwise, you can’t function.”
Luzio said it was “absurd” to suggest he would impose rules on residents and not non-residents.
“You could talk about UFOs or anything else, but the decorum rule [permits] three minutes of public comment on anything you want,” he explained. “But comments cannot be directed at board members or village employees directly; they should be addressed to the board.
“This rule was passed at our organizational meeting,” he added. “It’s incredulous to me that people operating under these same rules, who had the opportunity to address, amend or change them are now complaining about the very rules they adopted.”
Rally-goers, however, said the "three minute" issue was just one way local leaders are ignoring their concerns. “Stand Up” attendee Linda Cucolo cited declining town walkability and rising taxes and called for solutions to the homeless problem.
A resident since childhood, Cucolo carried a sign reading “The water rate is too damn high” and said there was not enough police presence patrolling the town.
“I love walking,” she said, but added that she now feels less safe doing so.
Braille Diaz spoke about increased homelessness and public intoxication in the area, while Tony Pauline complained that officials are ignoring longstanding problems.
“In August of ‘24 there was a Coffee and Conversation at the New Castle Town Hall,” Pauline said. “I stood up at that meeting and there were probably 200 people on a Saturday afternoon, and I talked about the problems here in Mount Kisco. This is almost two years ago. I talked about the crime [and the] intoxication crisis.”
Diaz, a volunteer firefighter and member of the town ethics board, said public intoxication impacts the town’s emergency services.
“Every time this happens, if these individuals are intoxicated, there have been several instances of volunteers being assaulted. I feel they’re being neglected, especially in the ambulance. Even though they’re volunteers, they need support,” he said.
Luzio told the Mt. Kisco-Bedford Times he was “not minimizing” concerns about public intoxication.
“There is a problem but it should be handled by sitting down with enforcement,” Luzio said. “These are town ordinances that are being violated.”
He said policing concerns should be brought to Westchester County Police, which has jurisdiction in Mount Kisco, and questioned why the prior board failed to hold the eight required quarterly meetings over two years despite known issues.
“For my first year on the board I served with [Theresa] Flora and Angie Garcia-Guerra,” Luzio said. “During that time, I spoke up on multiple occasions about holding the quarterly meetings that were required by our contract with the county PD. Those quarterly meetings never happened in the two years of the prior administration. We met with the county PD in January and raised all of these concerns, and again last Friday at our second quarterly meeting.”
Luzio, the chair of the Mt. Kisco Democratic Committee who is up for reelection this fall, is a former prosecutor with decades of experience who noted that officials are limited in how they can help someone who is publicly intoxicated unless that person commits, God forbid, something more serious.
“The DA has conditions,” Luzio said. “Sentences have to rise to the level of a criminal offense. Enforcement is always part of the equation; rarely is it the only part of the equation.”
Diaz also criticized the lack of a regular school resource officer at the elementary schools.
“You have one officer for the Fox Lane campus, the high school and middle school, and then you have one officer for all the elementary schools,” he said.
Attendance at the rally, he said, is “a good way of gauging the opinion of the general public, not only the people here in town, but in the neighboring towns to New Castle, etc.”
Sandi Nicosia said the rally “gives a voice to concerns that many residents feel have not been adequately addressed.”
“My hope is that it encourages more open dialogue, responsiveness and ultimately more thoughtful decision-making that reflects the community’s best interests,” she said.
Both at the rally and in a later text exchange with the Mt. Kisco-Bedford Times, Terlizzi accused the town of mismanagement.
She is active on the Facebook group Mt. Kisco News & Safety, which has been critical of local leaders.
“Our parking rates have increased 100 percent since December, and we are running out of water in the village while rates keep going up,” Terlizzi said, adding that residents have been restricted from outdoor water use even as long-standing water supply leaks went unaddressed.
Terlizzi — who said she served on the recreation commission for more than two decades and recently sought another volunteer role — believes her criticism of the government was used against her when she volunteered for another role.
Terlizzi said the experience, which included discussion of her social media activity, was “the most unprofessional, embarrassing interview I have ever been a part of.”
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