Spring 2009 Newsletter

VOLUME XXXIX NO. I
PUBLISHED BY THE PIERMONT CIVIC ASSOCIATION
M&T Bank—Open For Business
Getting Through
Hard Times
P
Fred Burrell
P
iermont’s M&T Bank is making conventional mortgages,
home equity loans, car loans
and lending to local businesses and
has done so throughout this financial crisis. Further, its stock is selling
at a good price and it is paying dividends to shareholders. None of this
is unusual unless you compare the
bank to its larger brethren who have
stopped making loans, gone begging
to the federal government for bailout money and have stock selling for
less than a cup of Starbucks coffee.
How has M&T
managed to navigate this ongoing financial crisis
and to function as,
well, a bank ought
to? Paula Mandell,
Regional
President of M&T Bank
(shown at left),
summed it up by
saying that M&T conducts itself like
a good, old-fashioned bank, which
wants to serve its community and
to maintain a strong balance sheet.
“There were times when some would
say that the bank did not benefit from
all of the upside potential that some
of the larger banks had an opportunity to but in the end, that has come
back to hurt them. We have not had
those issues. We like to stick to our
knitting, as they say, and what we
know.”
What M&T knows is how to provide loans and banking services to
the communities in which it operates
and to hire people who live within
the communities it serves. Some Piermonters, in fact, view M&T as strictly
a local Piermont bank. It is anything
but that. Headquartered in Buffalo,
the 150-year-old, $67-billion bank
traces its origins to the Manufacturers and Traders Bank in Buffalo. After
a series of mergers and acquisitions
over the decades, it changed its name
to M&T Bank. The bank today has
more than 700 branches and 1,600
ATMs across Delaware, Maryland,
New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
West Virginia, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
continued on page 16
SPRING 2009
iermont seemed depressed enough
in The Purple Rose of Cairo. But this
time it ain’t just the movies. The Village Board is doing all it can to cope with
our recession/depression, Mayor Chris
Sanders said. “We’re making every effort
to keep Piermont’s 2009 budget as low
as last year.” While most of the Village’s
income is from real estate taxes, other revenues have declined about 8 percent. Pier
permits, planning and zoning and building department fees are all down as housing construction and home improvement
slow down. As far as expenses are concerned, there is a 3.4% increase in debt service. “But we’re keeping salaries flat,” the
Mayor added, “And we look at everything.
If an item costs a few hundred dollars and
we can shave off $100, we’ll do that.”
How are Piermont real estate prices
holding up? Debbie Blankfort, owner of
Baer & MacIntosh Realty, said “Houses
are selling about 20% down from the 2005
levels, but homes on the River haven’t
declined at all. If any thing, I’ve seen
them go up. If you price a house correctly,
it should be gone within 30 days.” She
guessed that northern and central parts of
Rockland have seen real estate prices go
down “at least 30%­— perhaps 40%—from
2005. But there’s a lot of appeal to real
estate in Piermont.” How is she personally dealing with the economy? “I’ve been
spending money in Piermont because so
many people aren’t.” She said. “I’m very
careful when I shop. I bought $600 worth
of great clothes on sale at Ki. I think I
saved about $700.” Her one-woman economic stimulus package is a boon to Village boutiques.
The Tappan Zee Thrift Shop is chugging
along a lot like normal, according to pricing manager Helen Lipovsky. “Some days
it’s quiet; other days it’s booming,” she
said, “We’ve got some really fine thing—
very nice jewelry; beautiful clothes. It’s a
fun place to come to.” For even greater
bargains, ”On the first of the month, we
continued on page 13
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State Of The Parks
is a cinder block shack and a lot of asphalt. Pretty brutal.
The plans include fewer pavements, more grass and a grove
of cottonwood trees. Piermont architect, Robert Hoene has
drawn a treatment for the old block building that will create a pavilion with a wrap around verandah in the style of
an old train depot. The building interior is not planned for
any particular use at present but the porches will be a port in
the storm in sunny or rainy weather. Billboard and train and
ferry schedule panel spaces will feature panels of historic,
wildlife or environmental interest.
Fred Burrell
Skating Pond
At long last the skating pond in the ‘dell’ at the Sparkill
end of the Village was dredged out, cleaned up, and rededicated on a glorious winter day in early February. Ironically,
the day marked the end of skating season for this year as
flip flops in the temperature have not allowed the green
‘safe skating’ flag to be flown. It was a warm day of civic
pride when Chris Sanders dedicated the park in the name
of Eleanor Stroud, the neighbor mom who served hot cocoa
and watched over the kids skating on the pond in the 70’s
making memories that have not been forgotten. It took a real
push of hard work to ready the pond and park. Mayor Sanders thanked the firemen, Al Bartley and the Highway Department, Village Trustees and Town Councilmen up to Supervisor Tom Kliener and County Executive Scott Vanderhauf for
contributing to the realization of what was called a “Courier
and Ives moment”.
Memorial Benches
All the traditional benches approved in the pier memorial
bench plan have been installed and are being enjoyed by all
those that stroll the pier. Three sets of boulder group benches
and three sets of benches crafted from driftwood were also
approved but have not been taken probably because they
were a little vague to visualize. Now a group from the
Nyack Audubon Society is in the process of commissioning
a driftwood bench to mark the memory of a bird-watching
member. Joe Serra from Outside In Piermont is coordinating the creation of the bench which should be an interesting
and artistic addition to the windswept scenery when it is
installed this spring.
Salt Meadow Walk
A new plan for a walkway loop to the mouth of the
Sparkill Creek is moving from ideas and discussions to some
preliminary plans and more discussions. The lands south of
the pier road ( to the right heading out the pier) known as
the Salt Meadows are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environmental Conservation DEC. Once used for
farming such crops as pumpkins and considered by the
Rockefellers as a site for an oil refinery the tidal, salt water
marsh is now recognized as one of the most important fish
breeding estuaries in the region. The walkway is planned to
split from the pier road just past the gate and run as a cinder
trail south along the ball field property and then follow the
Sparkill Creek to the mouth of the Hudson. From the mouth
of the creek the walk is proposed to head north just inside the
Pier Pavilion and Cottonwood Grove
Grant funding is pending on some improvements to the
end of the Piermont Pier. As stunning as the river vistas are
out near the memorial flagpole the reality of the park there
The Newsletter is published three times a year by the
Piermont Civic Association, Box 454, Piermont, NY 10968
Editor: Bob Cone
Contributors to this issue: Fred Burrell, Ron Derven,
Joan Gussow, Grace Mitchell, Bob Samuels,
Sally Savage, Dan Sherman, Yvonne Trinkwater
Advertising: Charlene and Dick Stern
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
beach along the river edge as a boardwalk passing through
the reed grasses, cattails and phragmites until it reconnects
with the pier. Along the way an elevated bird watching platform has been envisioned that could afford a view over the
tall grasses out to the river and Tallman Mountain.
P.I. with the goal being a fairly ‘maintenance light’ hillside
awash with old fashioned flowering favorites from spring to
fall. There is a loosely banded group called ‘The Friends of
Half-moon Park’ that needs more friends. Weed wranglers
wanted.
Main Street Planters
A park in its own right the thirteen planters along Main
Street are robust combinations of flowers and foliage. Time
tested and sturdy favorites like petunias and impatiens are
crammed cheek by jowl with oddities and finds like crimson
spotted lungwort, cranesbill geranium, newly introduced
salvias and angelonia. In recent years the summer and fall
installations have been created by Susan Freiman, Randy
Ragasto and myself.
A New Dog Park
Way out at the west end a new dog park is just moving
from planning to reality. In the weed-choked train triangle
bounded by the Rail Trails just behind the Arbor Hill garden
center in Sparkill a .4 acre dog park is being given the green
light as a pilot program by the Town of Orangetown. James
Castagna, the organizing dynamo who saved Sparkill’s
Depot Square from being paved as a DOT Park and Ride
has jumped in and taken the bulldog by the horns. Jim has
championed the park through the Parks Advisory Committee and Orangetown Town Board ….. Fund raising is under
way since the plan is to create the community service park
with no capital burden to the Orangetown Parks Department. The Friends of the Sparkill Dog Park (working title)
need people, dogs and funds, not necessarily in that order.
Look for the Happy Dog logo.
Half Moon Park
This park, where the stairs go from Piermont Avenue near
Baboo’s Pizza up to the Play Group on Hudson Terrace, is a
lot of stairs but also there are some lovely settings for perennial beds and ornamental shrubs with a lawn terrace and a
remnant of a bocce court. Poison Ivy rules the rock walls and
borders but we’re working on that. Several new ornamental
trees were planted this past spring along with some sturdy
“Knock Out” roses. Perennial clones and cast offs are always
welcome. More needs to be done to combat the weeds and
A Bog Garden
In the same Triangle a bog garden is being discussed
to help recharge the aquifer and detain runoff flow to the
Sparkill Creek by filtering the channelized ditch through a
broader planting of native, non invasive shrubs and perennials. Meeka Asayag of Namaste Garden Environments is
helping plan this important Green project. Stay tuned for
more on the bog garden.
Much is being done with the help of volunteers. For more
information or to help with any of the exciting park projects
contact: [email protected].
~Dan Sherman
Muriel Lyn Morgan
Licensed Massage Therapist
Medical & Pain Relief Specialist
845-641-6732
www.MedicalMassagePainRelief.com
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Festivities Ahead Despite Cutbacks
P
iermont’s merchants and restaurateurs, battered by the recession,
are hoping the village’s summerlong series of happenings, marking
the 400th anniversary of the discovery
of the Hudson River, will bring hordes
of hungry, free-spending tourists to
the village. Piermont’s festivities are
a small part of the statewide celebration, called the Quadricentennial. It
also commemorates Samuel de Champlain’s discovery of the lake that bears
his name and the 200th anniversary of
Robert Fulton’s first steamboat journey
on the Hudson.
Many of the events (see schedule)
are ones that the village regularly hosts,
but several stand out and are sure to
make this summer extra special:· A replica of Half Moon, the ship that Henry
Hudson commanded when he discovered our river is scheduled to tie up at
the end of the pier on Saturday, June 6. ·
The Sidewalk Bistro plans to close Main
Street for a Bastille Day Celebration the
next Saturday.· The barge Lehigh Valley and the Tug Pegasus will be tied up
on the end of the pier and be offering
a menu of events Labor Day weekend,
September 5-7.
Unfortunately, the recession has cut
back plans all across New York. Albany
had been set to send Rockland County
$45,000 to pay for local festivities but
that’s now doubtful. Piermont, Nyack,
and Haverstraw were to divide the
money. Despite the economy it looks
like Piermont will have a busy and
happy Quadricentennial.
Quadricentennial Tentative
Calendar of Events
1. Rockland County Emerald Society Run: annual event. May 3, 2009 Sunday. Five kilometer run for fun.
[email protected]
2. Dennis P. McHugh Fun Run:
annual event. May 16, 2009 - Saturday: Five kilometer run for fun.
www.dennispmchugh.org
3. Vietnam Veterans: annual event.
May 31, 2009 Memorial Day. Last Stop
and Watch Fires held at the end of the
Piermont Pier. 8 pm
Last Stop: During World War II, it
was the embarkation point for troops
going to fight in the European theater
and debarkation point for those who
returned.
Watch Fires: These fires are set each
year on Memorial Day for a twentyfour hour period in memory of those
soldiers who have died in all wars and
conflicts of the United States.
4. Cornetta’s Restaurant and Marina:
June 6, 2009 – Saturday at Cornetta’s
Marina Will welcome boarders (845)
359-0410 [email protected]
5. The Half Moon Ship: June 6, 2009
– The Half Moon will arrive at about
4pm and will dock at the Piermont pier
over night.
6. Sock Hop: annual even June 15,
2009 – Saturday at Flywheel Park 7pm
An evening of music and dancing,
featuring a 50’s dance contest. Lynn
Boone of Boone Docks (845) 365-2221
[email protected]
7. The Sidewalk Bistro: special
event. Saturday, July 12, 2009. Main
Street Piermont will be closed at 11am.
An all day festival will be held celebrating “Bastille Day” and commemorating Franco- American ties relating to the
Quadricentennial. Alan Eigenman: (845)
680-9460 www.sidewalkbistro.com
8. Street Fair “A Taste of Piermont”:
special event. August 8, 2009 Saturday
9. Blue grass Festival: special event:
August 29, 2009. Music to be played
from the balcony of the restaurant John
McAvoy (845) 359-1089 www.turningpointcafe.com
10. Hudson River Crabfest: annual
event. September 13, 2009 - Sunday. 12
noon to 5 pm. Friends of the Dennis P.
McHugh Piermont Public Library. This
is an all day event featuring Hudson
River crab dinners, drinks and entertainment. It is held at Piermont’s Goswick pavilion. The funds raised support the Dennis P. McHugh Piermont
Public library. If funding is available,
the Ferry-Go-Round will stop at the
Piermont pier on this date. Doreen
Conosenti (845) 365-0499 dconocentinicepak.com
11. Waterfront Museum: September
25-28, 2009. Labor day weekend. The
barge Lehigh Valley and the Tug Pegasus will dock at the Piermont pier. Each
day a special event will be planned
David Sharps (718) 624-4719 www.
[email protected]
12. Lions Club Apple Fest: annual
event. September 20, 2009. Flywheel
Park 12 Noon.
13. Shakespeare Renaissance Festival: October 3 & 4, 2009
14. Scarecrow contest: annual event.
Friends of the Dennis P. McHugh Piermont Public Library: October 18, 2009
- Sunday. Doreen Conosenti (845) 3650499 dconocentinicepak.com
Piermont Historic Society Events:
1. April 17, 2009
a. The Historic Place of Rockland
County in the Modern Art Movement
b. Mark Waller
c. Dennis P. McHugh Piermont Public Library, 7:00 PM
2. May 16, 2009
a. Treasures in the Attic: On-TheSpot Antique Appraisals
b. Debora Karten.
c. Piermont Village Hall, 2:00pm
Piermont Rowing Club:
Summer 2009
The Club is planning a Hudson River
regatta in conjunction with other rowing clubs in the Hudson Valley.
Dennis P. McHugh Piermont
Public Library:
Year-round events centered on the
Hudson River, Piermont and environs,
which will include lectures, music,
movies, art exhibitions etc.
~Bob Samuels
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Highway Superintendant Seeks Green Pastures
P
iermont will soon have a pair of very large shoes to fill
when Al Bartley retires from his longtime post as head
of the village’s Highway Department. Bartley has
decided to step down on August 21 at the eligible age of 55
because, he told the Newsletter, “it’s time to start taking care
of myself.” Beginning this summer, the village will have a
new Highway Superintendent, at this writing probably Tom
Temple, whose job of filling “Big Al’s” size 15’s is no easy
task. (for ongoing projects, see www.villagedpw.com).
During his 31 year with the department including 10 as
its boss, Bartley has supervised the replacement of most
of the sidewalks in the village and the repaving of most of
its streets. This is in addition to the regular maintenance
the department performs so consistently that it has made
Piermont a legend for the cleanliness of its streets and the
promptness of its snow removal. A remark that one hears
over and again from people who have worked with Bartley
is that he is a perfectionist who never asks someone to tackle
a job that he will not do himself. Bartley can as likely be spotted directing traffic around a hole in the street or picking up
a shovelful of dirt as behind his desk.
But there has been a price: his wife, Dianne, has too long
been a “snow widow” because of the long winter hours, he
says, and this is another reason for his retirement. His new
home is in Sidney, New York, in the foothills of the Catskills,
where he owns 33 acres, and plans to begin the new regime
Fred Burrell
by losing some weight and “seeing what retirement life
entails.” He adds that whatever lies ahead, his heart will
always be with the village and the people of Piermont.
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The Farres
M
~Sally Savage
any Piermonters know Marc
as the musician/composer
who also organizes the Friday
night movies at the library. And many
others know Viviane as creator of wonderful seasonal recipes in the Nyack
Villager and as the lovely hostess of a
cooking school and innumerable memorable meals. The meanderings that
first brought them together and then
led them as a couple to their gardenringed house on South Piermont Avenue is as full of turnoffs and “go back”
signs as one would expect, given that
Marc started life in English-speaking
Baltimore and Viviane grew up speaking French some 8 thousand miles south
and west of there, on an obscure piece
of France out in the Pacific Ocean. Viviane says now of New Caledonia, not a
colony but a “territorial collectivity of
France” with a large “native” population, “I always felt I had been born in
someone else’s house.” On that remote
island, she remembers spending weekends at her family’s farm, helping her
grandmother prepare meals for the
family; and she remembers her father
teaching her to hunt, gut animals and
make sausage, experiences that may or
may not have contributed to her ultimate decision to leave meat behind
after she left her homeland in 1980 for
the United States.
The one place her father would agree
to send her was California; the one college degree he would pay for was economics (she was expected to become a
banker). So in 1984 she graduated from
Pepperdine University in Malibu with
a double degree, one in economics for
her father; and for herself, another in
French literature which she had earned
simultaneously and surreptitiously.
She also had a pile of garments that
she had knitted in her spare time, and
an “artistically inclined” South African
husband whose sales skills encouraged
her to open her own knitwear company
a month later. That gets her to 21. Her
father didn’t speak to her for 10 years.
Meanwhile, a year after Marc’s birth,
the family was moved by his Frenchborn philosophy-professor father to
Washington, D.C. where Marc attended
school in the French Lycée (thus preparing him to talk to Viviane years later!)
He graduated from there in 1976. And
although he was convinced that his life
work lay in music—he had composed
since he was 11— he went on to graduate from Georgetown in 1980 with a
degree in mathematical economics,
since the university didn’t have a music
department. That got him to 21.
During a year at the World Bank, Marc
kept his musical side intact by DJ-ing on
two NPR affiliates in Washington and
playing in several bands, then moved
to Paris where he began writing for a
French music magazine. A year later, he
moved to New York responding to an ad
for a music manager with pianist Rosalyn Tureck and her Bach Institute at the
Manhattan School of Music, a job that
very shortly led to his longest (and best)
job to date—6 years managing the Cunningham Dance Foundation for Merce
Cunningham and John Cage, many of
them spent on world tours. Facing the
big 30, Marc left the road in 1989, moved
to San Francisco to live for a year on savings, and spent his time recording while
composing for ballet and modern dance.
A year later, he moved back to New York
to marry the woman he had trained to
take over his position as manager of the
Cunningham Dance Company.
During these same years Viviane and
her husband moved their design studio to Burlington, Vermont where in
1986 she set up shop in an old building
and indulged her growing attachment
to food and cooking by growing what
was ultimately 50 different vegetables
and herbs in a community garden plot.
Divorced in 1996, after 12 years of marriage, Viviane found herself blossoming,
and when she left Burlington in 1997 it
was to take a job as head designer at a
Manhattan knitwear company.
Marc meanwhile, now back in New
York, began proofreading manuscripts
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for Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and working for various ad agencies. Composers
and musicians, he knew, have always
needed patrons — so he decided to
become his own patron, ultimately setting up a company called Word Sharpeners, writing and editing for law,
accounting and business services firms.
This new structure enabled him to support himself while leaving him time for
his music, and he signed a contract with
an independent record company and
released his first record in 1994. When
Marc’s marriage broke up in 1996, our
characters’ paths begin to converge.
The principals are both in New York,
she free and newly arrived from Vermont, he newly free, established as a
business and technical writer and now
working on his second record.
Introduced by mutual friends from
Burlington, they met in April 1997.
Marc says his instant reaction was
“thank you God”—and then he fled
to Paris (again). “My life was in tatters. I thought I wanted to be in Paris
and marry a Frenchwoman, but I had
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already met my Frenchwoman back
home and it took me a while to figure
it all out.” Four months later, he moved
himself and all his possessions back to
New York and the two wanderers spent
Christmas of 1997 out in New Caledonia, where Marc charmed Viviane’s
father and found himself wondering
“how this exotic flower came out of
that soil.” The proposal came later, in
July on Martha’s Vineyard, and the two
of them settled down in Viviane’s small
West 10th Street apartment.
And Piermont? In July of 2001, the
Farres went to Tuscany where Viviane
found herself shedding tears as they prepared to return to New York. They came
back not long before 9/11 shut down
the city below 14th Street and speeded
up their search. Viviane wanted a place
like Vermont, but needed to stay near
New York because she was still working as a designer. Marc feared what he
thought of as the drudgery and conventionality of suburban life—but neither of
them had seen anything like Piermont.
They moved to the South Piermont Ave-
The Newsletter Is
On The Web
The Piermont Newsletter is also available on the World Wide Web. You can
find it at:
http://piermont-ny.com/newsletter/,
free to everyone with an internet connection.
4/20/09 11:54:22 AM
Elizabeth Cino
Leasing Consultant
The Overlook at Piermont
Telephone 845.359.1700
Facsimile
845.359.3070
Email
[email protected]
Web
www.winnco.com
5207 Overlook Circle, Piermont, New York 10968
NEW ADS to size.indd 11
nue in January 2002, and Marc, ever the
doubter, burst into tears as the moving truck pulled away—while Viviane
opened a bottle of champagne. When
spring came and Marc discovered Tallman Park almost in his front yard, he
was totally won over.
So now you know how they got here.
You’ll see them both at the Farmers
Market this summer, and meanwhile, if
you see Marc sitting at his computer in
the library, don’t go over and say hello.
He’s hard at work.
~Joan Gussow
We offer a challenging and creative
curriculum, small classes and a joyful
learning environment for Kindergarten
- 8th grades. Summer Program available.
110 Demarest Mill Road, West Nyack, NY 10994
845-627-0234 www.bluerockschool.org
Blue Rock School - Where Every Child is an Honored Student
4/20/09 12:00:42
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I
n early December, at the time of her
appointment as honorary chair of
the Quadricentennial Celebration
of 400 years of New York history, First
Lady Michelle Paterson reported that
“we are utilizing the occasion to focus
attention on the most important legacy
of all - environmental and economic
sustainability starting with the next 100
years.” Like many other organizations
in Rockland and beyond,
the Piermont Library will
in the coming months present programs and events
with this celebration/idea
in mind.
In many discussions of
“sustainability”, the word
“local” figures prominently.
During May an exhibit of
photographs of the Piermont fishing business run
by Dennis Hardy and his
family will provide an inside
look at an industry which
was for centuries a vital
part of the local economy.
The Hudson River has been
a rich source of food since
before western European settlement of
the area. According to David DeVries,
an early settler, the Native American
Munsee people caught “great draughts
of fish”, using “seines from seventy to
eighty fathoms in length, which they
themselves braid,” and “little set nets,
six or seven fathoms long, braided like
a herring net.set on sticks in the river,
one and half fathoms deep.” Later the
river provided food for the settlers, and
the fishery developed very quickly in
the 1800s. Shad and striped bass were
the major food fish caught in the early
From The Library
nets and in 1896, according to one
record, an impressive 1,681,371 pounds
of shad was taken in the New York section of the Hudson River alone. Dennis
reports that for many years their operation caught over 100,000 pounds of fish
annually! That’s a lot of food from a
local source.
The Hardy’s fishing operation used
technology not significantly different
from that of earlier fisherman, although
they did have commercially made nets
at their disposal. Fishing on the Hudson has always been a labor-intensive
process and provided employment for
many, but today what was once the
third largest commercial fishing industry in the U.S. has been decimated by
pollution. Environmental and economic sustainability would both be
served by creating the conditions for a
viable local fishery once again.
In June, an exhibit by photographer
Susan Freiman will portray life in our
own Community Garden, Joan Gussow’s garden and on various farms in
Rockland County. Rockland was once
a very rural, agrarian place, and even
residents of the small towns and villages had garden plots that provided a
significant part of their food each year.
There is now growing interest in trying
to regain the capacity for local food production. The pictures will be arranged
to show what is growing
in the different seasons,
with a section that focuses
on fruit, vegetable and
flower “portraits” as well.
Freiman lived in Piermont
for 10 years and was very
active with the Community
Garden. She’s delighted to
share her photographs with
us for this celebration.
In conjunction with the
exhibit, on Sunday, June
7, at 2 .m., Joan Gussow,
an internationally known
expert in nutrition and
long-time advocate of the
relocalization of the production of food as part of
creating a sustainable food system,
will join us to talk about the work she
has done over the last 30 years and the
signs that seem to indicate that we now
have a government that is pushing in
the same direction. She will discuss the
huge rise in interest in home growing
of vegetables and many efforts in Rockland County designed to keep Rockland farming and promote home gardening, and also give us some idea of
the great variety of edibles that can be
grown here.
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July’s heat and humidity generally have many of us looking longingly at the great river outside, wishing we could
take a dip locally, rather than having to fight the traffic to
travel to some beach or lakeshore. So it’s an appropriate
time for our display of old photographs of the Fort Comfort Inn, once a tourist “destination” in Piermont where one
could do just that. Fort Comfort went through several incarnations in the early years of the twentieth century when the
development of the steamboat and railroad had made possible a growing tourist business in the Hudson Valley. People
streamed out of the hot and dirty city to find healthful air
and tranquility along the banks of the river, and an enterprising Fort Comfort Inn and Realty Company converted
an old mansion on the west side of Piermont Avenue into a
hotel. Subsequently a recreational facility called “Fort Comfort Resort” or “Old Fort Comfort Park” was started on the
other side of the avenue southeast of the hotel. It included an
ice cream parlor, bathing beach, merry-go-round, shooting
gallery, bowling alley, dance hall, swings, boating, and other
amusements. The beach at Fort Comfort was described as
“the most desirable place on the Hudson for bathing... The
clean, fine sand bottom sloping gradually for a long distance
makes it absolutely safe for small children and enjoyable
to all. A modern Bathing Pavilion lighted by electricity for
bathing at night, has about one hundred large booths furnished with shower and foot baths. Fort Comfort is strictly
a first-class resort in every respect, and is patronized by
people of wealth and refinement.” The Inn had its own vegetable garden to supply its restaurant with fresh seasonal
produce, and live music was played in the afternoons. The
recreational use of the Hudson has been limited in recent
years because of the dangers of pollution, but it is a part of
our legacy waiting to be reclaimed.
And since we are not sustained by bread (or fish and vegetables) alone, on a somewhat different note a small display
in August will focus on Piermont’s home-grown poet Florence Ripley Mastin. Mastin was a descendant of George Ripley, founder of Brook Farm, and grew up on Franklin Street
in Piermont in a house then called Four Gables. She was valedictorian of the first graduating class of Tappan Zee High
School (located in Piermont) in 1903. She went on to graduate from Barnard and later to teach English and Creative
Poetry for many years at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn. Bernard Malamud, one of her students there, wrote to
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her: “Yours is the hand that reaches for flowers, and if there
are none, flowers grow to be for your hand.” He believed
“she was unique,” as did many of her students whose tributes flowed in after her death. According to a friend, “she
lit a spark in countless numbers of boys and girls. Startling
them with unconventional teaching methods, she gained
not only their attention, but their devotion.” While teaching at Erasmus, she lived in Greenwich Village and wrote
her own poetry, which appeared on a regular basis in Poetry
magazine and the New York Herald Tribune. Close to one
hundred poems were published in the New York Times,
and several books of poetry, including Over the Tappan Zee,
Green Leaves and Cables of Cobweb were published over
the years. Although she lived and worked for most of her
adult life in the city, her writing was clearly influenced by a
childhood spent with the river and mountains of Piermont.
Mastin also spent many childhood hours in the old Piermont Library and always had a great affection for it. In a
poem entitled “Miss Addie,” she takes a fond look at the
“strict librarian of my childhood”, Addie Haring, who,
dressed in black alpaca with white cuffs and collar, guided
“my small hand to the right books..” Retiring from Erasmus in 1952, Mastin returned to her childhood home to continue writing. She composed a long poem called Freedom’s
Dream for New York State’s 350th Hudson Champlain Celebration, 1609-1959, which became its official poem and was
published by the New York State Commission on Historic
Observances. One of the copies we have at the library is
inscribed: “For the Piermont Library with my life-long love,
Florence Ripley Mastin.” Fifty years later, for the 400th Celebration, we will remember her contribution to the life and
letters of New York with this exhibit.
In addition to “the right books”, today your local library
provides you with a variety of programs and services. You
can see a film, attend a concert or lecture, view an art exhibit,
meet with other residents, bring your children to art and
music classes, AND take out some great books, periodicals,
films, and music, use our public computers and have wireless Internet access. All of the programs are free of charge. For
a small fee, you can use our public copier and fax machine.
And, for many of us, living in Piermont means it’s possible
to walk or bike over and leave the car at home!
UPCOMING
FIRST FRIDAY FILM SERIES
Our May 2nd film (7:30 p.m.), Shakespeare in Love (1998),
is a brilliant, fast-paced, deliciously romantic feast worthy
of the Bard himself. Directed by John Madden, with an allstar cast including Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Judi
Dench, Ben Affleck, Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, it is
heartfelt and hilarious, raucous and romantic, and one film
that every lover of words, and theater, and movies, should
see. Be sure to check our website at www.piermontlibrary.
org for information about future films.
CONCERT SERIES
The library was fortunate this year to be awarded a second ACOR grant for a concert series. Thanks to this grant,
continued on page 15
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The Piermont Civic Association And Thrift Shop Connection­­—A Village Treasure
I
n 1966, the village of Piermont might
have had a six-story apartment
house where the Tappan Zee Elementary School stands today if it were
not for the PCA. When Lee McPherson
learned of the plan, she phoned her
neighbor, Robert Bradbury. Within a
few days, concerned villagers, among
them Mildred Burck, Katherine Smith,
Daisy Spencer, Mimi Bryan and Barbara Keil, met at the McPherson home
to form an organization, based on committees, for the betterment of Piermont.
A newsletter dated July 19, 1967, listed
the committees: Kurt Gerhardt chaired
Business; Mrs. Arthur Tallman, CleanUp; Dale Hiestand, Liaison and Library,
to be filled. They called it the Piermont
Civic Association. A paragraph in the
Fall/Winter 1968 Newsletter spells out
what the association wanted to do for
the town.
“Some smaller projects we might take
on in the near future include providing park benches and landscaped spots
throughout the village, helping with
teenager and senior citizens recreation
centers, and press for the razing of deteriorating and dangerous structures.”
Though the PCA does not boast
about its accomplishments, we know its
members planted the trees along Main
Street, built the gazebo in Kane Park,
and for many years held an annual
Blue Grass Festival and we may assume
that the spring flower beds scattered
about town every year are the work of
the PCA. What many may not know is
that the TZ Thrift Shop was launched
by the PCA. Their monthly newsletter,
sent to all the residents, was too expensive for the newly founded association. A meeting was called to save the
paper. When Bob Bradbury suggested
a thrift shop, Mildred Burck immediately volunteered to chair a committee
that included Katherine Smith and Bob.
Within a month they had rented, without a lease, the original Mom Miraglia’s
tavern for $75 a month. It was small
but furnished. The Miraglia’s left the
long mahogany bar, and the mirrored
We accept
most
prescription
plans
wall behind the bar with shelves meant
to hold bottles. Three months later on
December 10, 1966 the shop, “committed to thrift, quality, and charity,” was
open for business. To suit the times and
the community, it was stocked with
practical clothing for young and old,
household goods, skates, roller and ice,
and occasionally, a wooden sled. The
story is told that Mildred was alone in
the shop before it opened that moving.
When she saw the long line of customer’s, she was overwhelmed. She called
Katherine, “Katherine, there’s a mob of
people outside! What should I do?” she
asked. “Open the door.” she answered.
The operation of the Shop has not
changed since that day. It is simple. The
shop’s profits are distributed among
participating members. The share to
each member depends on the volunteer hours and the value of the donations contributed. Donors choose their
organization. The PCA, Piermont Community Play School, Piermont and Palisades Libraries, Piermont Ambulance
Mon. - Fri.
9-7
Sat. 9-4
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Corps and the Fire Department shared
the profits until 1971 when the shop
declared itself independent of the PCA
in order to make donations tax deductible. The IRS considered it a political
institution.
Currently there are 10 organizations: Macedonia Baptist Church, Mental Health Association of Rockland
County, Inc., Palisades Free Library,
Piermont Public Library, Piermont
Reformed Church, Rockland Family
Shelter of Rockland, Inc., St. John’s R.C.
Church, Tappan Library, Tappantown
Historical Society.
Over the years, the shop has kept
up with the community. Along with its
every-day practical clothing and hardware, the shop now has a reputation for
its collectibles, bric-a-brac and luxury
items like leather jackets, furs, couture
fashions, and all sorts of things. Customers know that whatever it is they
buy, it will be a bargain. Prices range
from ten cents for items in the toy chest
to the extraordinary $1500 for a set of
Danish dinnerware in the window. Carolyn Bristol, a long-time board member, whose husband, Alfred, worked
at Sotheby’s recognized the value of
a water color pen and ink drawing of
a two-masted schooner titled “Boat
on the Charles River” donated in the
name of the Macedonia Church. Sotheby’s appraised it at $700 to $800. It
was auctioned and brought the church
$1,412 after gallery commissions. A
collage suspected of being a Picasso
went from Sotheby’s to Christopher’s
in NY only to disappear in Paris. And
“little things mean a lot.” A week or so
ago, a grey-haired woman, timidly laid
a Shop-Rite bag on the counter. When
she was asked, if it was a donation,
she answered shyly, no, it was a bag of
hand-knit doll clothes her mother had
made for her when she was a girl. She
was looking for a doll that could wear
them. Touched by the request, customers and workers, rounded up the dolls.
She left the store with her bag, a smile
and a ten-dollar doll to dress.
The Tappan Zee Thrift Shop, now in
its forty-third year, owes much to the
dedication of its volunteer Board of
Trustees: past, Carolyn Bristol, Winifred Strakosch, Ursula Vernon; and
present, Sally Dewey, Rosy Dixon,
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Cynthia McKenney; and bookkeeper,
Ruth Jessup. All have served for thirty
years or more. “While they, the Piermont Civic Association, were on the
mark in laying out the groundwork for
the shop’s operation, I don’t think even
they could have foreseen just how far
we would come and for how long we
would be around,” said Rosy Dixon in
an address to the volunteers who staff
the shop.
The shop may be the oldest commercontinued on page 17
4/21/09 12:12:21 PM
11
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President’s Corner
M
ost Piermont merchants
struggle constantly to
survive but this
year their fight is especially difficult because of the
worldwide economic downturn. I hope the summer tourist season gives them a shot of economic adrenalin and you
should hope so too.
If you don’t agree, let me try to open your eyes. Those
of us who were here before the village began its rebirth -before 1984 when Woody Allen shot his film, “The Purple
Rose of Cairo”—remember a far different downtown Piermont. The joke was that Woody had to fix it up to make it
look good enough for the Depression-era movie.
Gerhardt’s auto repair (it also sold gasoline then), the
wine store and the Community Market were in business.
John McAvoy had opened his Turning Point restaurant and
that was a real bright spot, but our Main Street mostly had
empty stores. A few had families living in them.
There were no world class restaurants. It would have
struck us as absurd if someone had predicted that we’d have
tourists standing in line while waiting for tables at our Wine
Bar and French Bistro. Downtown was a downer. It affected
the spirit of the village and its home prices. We don’t ever
want to go back to that.
Jaffee, has been a dependable source of state aid for
Rockland County since he was first elected in 1999.
Now local politicians are worried about that stream
of state bounty running dry.
The problem is that the Senator is a Republican. Until
this year that was a huge advantage. The Republicans had
always controlled the New York State Senate and the Democrats always held sway over the Assembly. It seemed it
would be that way forever. Then, in the 2008 elections, the
Democrats won 32 of 62 of the Senate’s seats and forever
was over.
Some New City politicians asked the white-haired Morahan to consider switching parties but he turned them down.
Of course we still have Assemblywoman Jaffee a Democrat
in a Democratic Assembly fighting for every dime she can
get us.
***
Thanks to Piermont’s volunteer firemen the village finally
was able to reopen the Valentine Avenue skating rink. Once
the village had jumped through a complex set of bureaucratic hoops so it could dredge the pond, the firemen set to
work rebuilding the skate house and spiffing up the property. Piermont’s bravest donated their time and the materials. What a terrific job. We salute them.
~Bob Samuels
***
If you’re at all interested in local history, don’t miss Firth
Haring Fabend’s novel, “A Land So Fair.” It begins with
the voyage of two young brothers sailing from Holland to
New Amsterdam. Firth, a descendant of the early Dutch settlers who settled this area, grew up locally and has written
about our these people before. Piermonters will recognize
our marsh and creek in this fascinating multi-generational
tale. It’s available at the library or order a copy of your own
online from Amazon.Com or Barnes and Noble.
***
Grandfatherly State Senator Thomas P. Morahan, who
represents us in Albany along with Assemblywoman Ellen
12
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Getting Through Hard Times continued from page 1
put some category of merchandise on
sale--- for the entire month!”
Judge Laura Weiss, Piermont’s magistrate, has one of the few depressionproof enterprises in the Village. She
gets bad people and miscreants to pay
for the costs of her court. Judge Laura
said she hasn’t had a salary increase,
herself, “for two or three years.” All
Piermonters can save themselves $250
every time they refrain from “littering”
or carrying “weapons of any kind” on
the Pier. “Disturbing birds or animals”
can also cost you $250, but Judge Laura
doesn’t recall any disturbed animals in
her court..
Angel Rufino, manager of Pasta
Amore, has seen a big drop in diners.
There used to be a lot of parties during
the leafless months. But now, he said,
“We’ve cleaned the party room, turned
the lights off and closed it down. We
buy less food and we’ve unplugged
a big refrigerator.” Angel has added
low-priced items to the lunch menu.
He offers a full-size serving of Chicken
Francese with pasta for $10.95. At dinnertime, the same meal with vegetables
would cost $15.95. To personally deal
with the economy, Angel goes back to a
recipe from his boyhood in Spain. “We
take any pasta, rice and beans that’s in
the refrigerator and put them in a pot.
Then we chop up any leftover steak
or fish we find and throw that in, too.
Then we heat it all up and have a big
breakfast.”
Superintendent Al Bartley said
“we’re trying in every way we can” to
cut costs in Piermont’s Department of
Public Works . There’ll be no department pay raises this year and Al, himself, is retiring this summer, so there will
be less salary paid to him this year. But
“There are some things we can’t control,” he noted. “For example, the cost
of salt for icy roads has gone up 36%
in the last two years.’’ On a personal
level, Al said he takes care of repairs at
his own house. “I’m pretty handy,” he
said. “I do a lot of work at home.” The
retiring Superintendent said he saved
money this winter by shoveling the
snow out of his own driveway, instead
of hiring a neighborhood kid.
~Fred Burrell
Educational Toys
Kids Clothing
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Reader’s Write
From Ex-Fire Chief
to Friends—Thanks!
On April 6, 2009 the Piermont
Fire Department welcomed a
new chief, James B. Alise. My
term as chief is up. I would like
to thank all of the people in the
Village of Piermont and Grandview
who supported the Fire Department
for the past 2 years. The Piermont
Fire Department is made up of a great
bunch of people who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the safety of our
community. In other communities volunteerism is becoming a thing of the
past, but that’s not the case in our community. In the past 2 years we have had
at least 15 new members join. Another
great stride we have made is the fine
working relationship between the Fire
Department, Police Department, and
our DPW. When we have an incident
we work together as one, whether it is
during floods, medical Calls, fires, or
river rescue, you name it; together we
get the job done.
I think our Village is not only blessed
with a great Fire Department, but a
great Police Department and DPW.
Chief O’shea is one of a kind, I work
all around the county and I have never
seen another Chief of Police doing
a traffic stop. To me that means a lot.
And as for his officers, you can’t ask for
a better group of guys. I know every
couple of years we talk about the cost
of the cops, but if you ask me they are
well worth it. You don’t realize how
good the feeling is when you call 911
for your child who is not breathing, and
you see a police officer and a fire chief
at your door in a matter of minutes. I
have been on numerous calls like this;
the look on the parent’s face is a look
you don’t forget. To me you can’t put a
price tag on that.
Superintendant Al Bartley (or Big
Al as his friends call him) was made
from the same mold as Chief O’shea,
Al is very conscientious: I think the
DPW starts at 7am, and Al is usually
in there at 5am, and that type of commitment is shared by his men. If you
come from outside the village of Piermont during a snow storm you will see
what I mean. The members of the DPW
are some exceptional people. Some are
mechanics, carpenters, and welders;
there isn’t much they can’t do. Big Al is
retiring this year, and he will be greatly
missed. I have been friends with Big Al
my entire life, and as a friend you can’t
find a better one. As I rose through the
ranks to be Chief of the Fire Department Big Al was one of my best mentors, and for that I want to thank him.
Good luck my friend.
Daniel Goswick
14
Bob Samuels
People have decorated this utility pole on the pier with various
colorful objects, some homemade and others store bought.
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From The Library continued from page 9
as well as additional funding from the Friends of the Piermont Library, in March Alyssa Reit performed French and
Spanish Music for the Solo Harp; in April Sarah Underhill
and Ian Worpole, accompanied by Jude Roberts and Lily
McCabe, played Music in the Celtic/Folk Tradition; and on
May 17 at 2 p.m., the Bennett Harris Trio will bring us American Roots Music: Early Jazz and Blues. Harris is an expert
traditional acoustic blues guitarist/singer, specializing in
Piedmont ragtime and Mississippi Delta sliding styles from
the pre-World War II era. He uses a vintage 1930s National
steel Duolian for slide playing, as well as a 1930s Gibson LO flat-top acoustic guitar. His trio has been playing festivals,
concerts, clubs and venues of all sorts throughout the Northeast for over a decade. He is joined by Richard Barbera, a
self-taught improvisational jazz fiddler, and Gary Brooks,
whose sound was to some extent shaped by the bass stylings of his older brother Harvey Brooks, a noted player in
the 1960s/70s folk and rock music scenes.
This project is made possible, in part, with funds from
the Community Arts Grants program of the Arts Council
of Rockland, the Decentralization Program of the New York
State Council on the Arts and a generous grant secured by
Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee. Additional funding for the
series has come from The Friends of the Dennis P. McHugh
Piermont Public Library.
children, which will explore the theme EXPRESS YOURSELF AT THE LIBRARY through different forms of artistic
expression including painting, music and puppetry. Please
stay tuned for more information!
The library is located at 25 Flywheel Park West and is
open Monday-Thursday, 10-8 p.m., Friday, 12-5 p.m., & Saturday, 12-4 p.m. Telephone: 845-359-4595; Fax: 845-359-1579;
Web: www.piermontlibrary.org
~Grace Mitchell
SUMMER READING CLUB
We are planning an exciting Summer Reading Club for
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M&T Bank—Open For Business continued from page 1
“As a regional bank,” explains Ms.
Mandell, “M&T is one of the strongest
currently in the nation—we are in the
top three, given our year-end results.
In 2008 in the struggling economy, we
were profitable and paid shareholder
dividends. We also retained profits in
the company, which is the key for a
bank to be able to provide lending.”
Ms. Mandell notes that over the
past year there have been substantial changes in the credit markets, the
criteria for making loans and pricing.
“We have always been careful in our
approach on the credit side of the business but we have not stopped doing
residential mortgages, we have not
stopped making auto loans, we have
not stopped doing home equity loans,
we have not stopped doing commercial loans for small businesses and
large businesses or commercial real
estate loans. We have not walked away
from any of the businesses in which we
operate. “Economic Recovery in the
Region
M&T is optimistic about an economic recovery in this region. Ms.
Mandell regrets that neither she nor the
bank has a crystal ball, but, she points
out that this region of the country is
not suffering the same foreclosure rate
as other areas like Florida, Arizona and
Nevada. “Clearly, we are not immune
and we are seeing more problems pop
up but we are confident that there will
be a turnaround and we are confident
that this area will come back more
quickly than other areas. But it will
probably take longer than any of us
would like. We have got to get through
more of 2009 to get a sense when the
turnaround will come,” she concludes.
~Ron Derven
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The Piermont Civic Association Thrift Shop Connection continued from page 11
cial tenant on Main Street and the only
one that has not changed. Precisely
because it is not a conventional business, it is fixed in time. It has not renovated or remodeled. That is its charm.
In a photo, Main Street in the early
1900s, it’s easy to recognize the little
store at the corner though an awning
blocks the distinctive leaded stain glass
transoms above the store windows. Letters on the building read “ICE CREAM
SODA.” Woody Allen got it right: the
sets for Purple Rose scenes are authentic. Piermont natives say there really
was a movie house, a factory, ice cream
parlor, pharmacy, and hardware store.
Some also said they could walk across
the Hudson when it froze.
The Tappan Zee Thrift Shop attracts
the curious, the browsers, the collectors, the bookish, and the thrifty. People from across the river and Bergen
County are regulars. First- time visitors
to Piermont, noticing the quaint picturebook entrance, step in to ask about
the little shop on the corner. The Tappan Zee Thrift Shop, a village treasure,
deserves to be a landmark on the Pier-
500
17
mont map and a character in Piermont
history.
For the past six years, the shop has
had a Fashion Show modeled by volunteers. The clothes and accessories
and items from the shop are auctioned.
Local merchants donate gifts to be raffled. This year the date is April 17, at
7:00 p.m. in the community room in
St. John’s R.C. Church. The evening is
always fun. Admission is free and all
are invited.
~Yvonne Trinkwater
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
THE PIERMONT
NEWSLETTER Box 454
Piermont, NY 10968
NORTHVALE, NJ
PERMIT #19
ZIP CODE 07647
HOT DOG TRUCK RENTALS
Hamburgers – Ice Cream
Birthday Parties • Graduations • Fundraisers • Company Picnics
914-393-6666
Email: [email protected]
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