A Tribute to Our People

As we ring in 2009, let’s celebrate Haverstraw’s diversity and its people. The following clip offers documentary photography generated from students ages 5-20 from Ken Karlewicz’s After School Photography Program in the Village of Haverstraw. The photo journalist project offers a unique glimpse into daily life in the Village.

The View is Clear on Broadway!

Finally, we have seen progress on Broadway with the demolition of the former automotive shop on the corner of Jefferson Street and Broadway and the vacant cinder block structure to the north of the Lady Warren Hose Company firehouse. The demolition of those structures has opened up a view to Bowline Pond. The structures were not historically significant and were mostly likely built after the 1970s. The site will eventually become a ceremonial entrance to the Haverstraw Village Greenway, which is to extend from Bowline Pond to Emeline Park and then to the southern end of the Harbors at Haverstraw.

The Village recently won a $1 Million grant from the State of New York’s Environmental Protection Fund to continue work on the greenway at Emeline Park, to connect that section of the path to the existing promenade at the Harbors at Haverstraw. When completed before the end of 2009, the promenade and surrounding park will become known as the Henry Hudson Quadricentennial Park in honor of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the river that bears his name.

Farewell to Bricktown Brewery

I am sad to report that the Bricktown Brewery at 4 Main Street shuttered its doors in the shadows of the worsening local and national economy. The restaurant had a good 5-year run in the Village, attracting new faces to the downtown that had yet to experience Haverstraw. Haverstraw eateries and stores have been hard-pressed in recent years to attract enough patrons to make their businesses viable. The Iron Horse antiques store was the last business to shut its doors on Main Street, following Chadia’s Home Furnishings. The Riverstone Antiques Center at the Stone Building aside the Village Hall has also closed shop, citing difficult economic times.

Haverstraw needs to attract new patrons that are willing to return with more business. Many patrons of Bricktown Brewery cite crime as the major deterrent. Patrons feel uncomfortable knowing that drug and crime problems plague the downtown. I recently have had conversations with many Haverstraw downtown patrons, trying to find the key to a lasting downtown revitalization. How did Nyack work? How has Greenwich Village, Brooklyn, and even Asbury Park turned into havens of artists, intellectuals, and young families? Haverstraw is missing that key. We must ban together to find the key to a vibrant, lasting downtown Haverstraw.