The Picturesque Hudson

In a fantastic account of the Hudson River towns, The Picturesque Hudson, author Clifton Johnson paints an elaborate and detailed picture of Haverstraw and surrounding communities in 1909. Haverstraw is described as a vibrant village with a rich history, even 100 years ago. I have attached Chapter IX: Haverstraw & Stony Point. The account reads as follows:

THE ferries on the Hudson between New York and Albany average about twenty miles apart, and often when I wanted to go from one side to some place directly opposite, my choice lay between a long and inconvenient journey around, or hiring a special conveyance. Thus it happened that I voyaged to Haverstraw by motor boat from a village on the east shore. The river here is at its widest — four miles is the official figure, but my skipper called it five and I suppose charged accordingly. The sun had set, and the western haze was suffused with color. As we cut rapidly through the water the shore toward which we were going became less vague and I could see the clustering buildings of a town with lofty hills of irregular outline behind. The most conspicuous peak in this range of hills is known as High Tor, and a local legend relates that one of the wise men of the East long ago found his way to America and on the summit of High Tor built an altar. This aroused the Indians to demand that he should worship as they did, and when he refused, they were so enraged that they prepared to attack and kill him. But he was saved by a miracle — for an earthquake opened a great gaping crack in the earth and engulfed his enemies. This crack is the channel through which the Hudson now flows.

Knickerbocker Ice Festival Celebrates a Cool Past

Rockland Lake, the former home of one of the largest and most famous ice houses in America – the Knickerbocker Ice Company, is hosting the annual Knickerbocker Ice Festival. The festivities are full of new events to mark the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s famous trip up the river that bears his name as well as the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the steam age when Henry Fulton sailed the first steamboat, the Clermont, up the Hudson. The festival will boast Hydrogen cars by GM, solar technology, hot air balloon rides, a fireworks display, scale ice-carved replicas of Hudson’s ship Half Moon and the Fulton Clermont, and an ice gallery that displays historic photographs encased in ice blocks. I highly recommend visiting the festival this year, and to learn more about the ice works that graced Rockland Lake for nearly a century. The festival website is http://knickerbockericefestival.com/ and to learn more about the history of Rockland Lake and the Knickerbocker Ice Company, visit the Palisades Parks Conservancy website at www.palisadesparksconservancy.org .

Bring Trolleys to Haverstraw

I wrote this Opinion Article for the Journal News in 2005. I made some changes to keep the content up-to-date. I hope you enjoy my optimism!

Trolley Car in Downtown

The Haverstraw Revitalization is on its way and the vision for this project is vast. Proposals include an aerial gondola, Haverstraw Bay Performing Arts Center, restaurants, a 20-foot wide/2-mile long waterfront promenade, 850-units of luxury housing, an expanded community center and village pool, tree-lined streets, outdoor dining, artist lofts, bed and breakfasts, novelty shops, a new hotel and spa, outdoor amphitheatre, an incredible fishing and ferry pier and increased ferry access to Westchester, Yonkers, Manhattan and beyond. Haverstraw is finally reclaiming is long lost fame. Just recently, in the Journal, residents at a village meeting about the Revitalization raised questions about parking and traffic flow.

Haverstraw Hosts the Creative Class

Urban Hipsters or the Creative Class? The Hudson Valley is seeing a boom in urban pioneers moving from New York City and into upstate downtowns that offer a diverse, “edgy,” and vibrant atmosphere set amidst Victorian homes, brick, and awe-inspiring River panoramas. The “creative class,” or young, late twenties and thirty-somethings that are serious about starting families are migrating to places like Haverstraw, Peekskill, and Beacon. The creatives are also mainly employed in their own businesses, mostly in the entertainment or arts fields. The Hudson River villages are boasting major savings in housing costs, and access to nature and urban downtowns. On the other hand, the urban hipsters that are so famously “plaguing” – if you can call it that – Brooklyn, Jersey City, and parts of Harlem, are a younger band of wanderers that are beginning to frequent the Hudson River Villages as well. I would say that hipsters normally come before the creative class, which then creates a setting that might draw more conservative/safety-seeker residents that might be found, say, in places like Nyack and riverfront communities in lower Westchester.

New Website for the Harbors at Haverstraw

Ginsburg Development Companies has just updated its website for the Harbors at Haverstraw luxury waterfront community, currently under construction in Haverstraw. Phase I of the project is about 75% complete. Already, hundreds have moved into their new homes in Haverstraw. Most of the large condominium buildings & clubhouse building are also complete. The Harbors at Haverstraw is only the first of three waterfront communities that are planned to grace the banks of the Hudson River in the Village of Haverstraw.

The above was brought to you by www.HaverstrawLife.com

Main Street Ferry Terminal Designs Take Form

McLaren Engineering Group of West Nyack has been working diligently on the design of the Ferry Terminal, retail spaces, and parking garage that is to be situated at the foot of Main Street in the Village. The massive project will allow for the New York Waterway Ferry and New York Water Taxi service to move from the current ferry landing to the foot of Main Street and at Emeline Park for broader access by Village and regional residents. The project is viewed as a long-awaited catalyst to return the Village downtown to its former splendor. Many residents and commuters are excited for the new ferry facility and pier. Officials believe that project will be operational within the next three years. Here are notable renderings from the project:

Waterfront Plan Haverstraw

The Foot of Main Street

www.mgmclaren.com