'Touch-A-Truck' Fun: Public Works Week Swings In Like A Wrecking Ball

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — If you didn't already know that the Touch-a-Truck celebration was happening at New Rochelle City Hall on Monday, the nearly constant blaring of airhorns joyfully pulled by schoolchildren might have been the first clue.

But, before the fun of a giant wrecking ball bounce house, the cotton candy and the chance to take part in crafts of public works project proportions, Mayor Yadira Ramos Herbert presented a proclamation to Acting City Manager Wilfredo Melendez, officially declaring May 19 - 25 as National Public Works Week.

Melendez spoke with pride about the workers in one of the city's largest departments, and he knows what he is talking about. In addition to taking the reins as acting city manager, he has also been the commissioner of the New Rochelle DPW since 2023.

"Our dedicated teams within the Department of Public Works provide vital services year-round," Melendez said of the celebration. "This year’s theme recognizes their indispensable role in supporting every neighborhood in the City."

After the public officials honored the city employees whose jobs never stop, the DPW workers were put straight back to work. In this case, they set their can-do attitudes to the job of helping the kids of New Rochelle discover the magic of heavy equipment (and really loud horns).

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The city workers who can normally be found clearing snow from city streets, collecting garbage before dawn or mowing acres of city property in the blazing sun, had a perfect 72 degrees and clear skies for the day's special assignment. The DPW crews patiently helped children paint their hands a color of their choice before leaving the handprints on the city's fleet of snow plows, sanitation trucks, tractors and cherry-picker trucks. The DPW employees recounted the important work of keeping the city moving to awestruck youngsters, occasionally pausing to help a tot complete the seemingly unsurmountable climb to the driver's seat of a salt truck.

And they did it all with a smile, much like their approach to the jobs that keep the city running like a clock.

The event marks the beginning of the 64th Annual National Public Works Week, celebrated May 19-25. This year’s theme is "Advancing Quality of Life for All," highlighting the contribution that Public Works pros make in the communities they serve.

The Department of Public Works is made up of more departments than one might expect, including Administration, Central Garage, Engineering, Property & Grounds, Sanitation & Recycling, Sewers & Drains, Streets & Highways and Traffic Services.

Although New Rochelle's public works workers made quite an impression on their guests, both young and old, it was the collection of trucks that stole the show.

In fact, since the Touch-a-Truck festivities, the heavy equipment has earned celebrity status among the schoolchildren who are now experts after an up-close examination.

"That's the tractor from the truck show!" one 6-year-old honorary construction worker exclaimed after seeing a familiar green mower in the wild. "Can you believe it? They really use it!"