Message from the Mayor: Holiday festivities, Toy Drives, Ravensdale Bridge
Posted on: December 7, 2018 - 12:49am
Fellow Residents,
This is the moment in this Season of Light where there are so many opportunities to give, to mingle, to enjoy the season. It starts, in a big way, tonight. The Downtown has been decked out with “stellar”-themed decorations in store windows (thanks to the artists involved in this effort!), lights in the trees, and tonight, the Holiday tree lighting and the Village Crawl.
Friday Night
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Tree lighting is at 6PM at the Harmon Community Center. There’s a sing-along, hot chocolate, a lovely holiday display, and a special visitor of great interest to children (bring your camera).
The Annual Village Crawl starts at this time as well. For those new to this, you purchase a pack of five tickets ($20) at various locations or at the Community Center or at a table at the VFW Plaza from 6PM to 8PM. Each ticket can be exchanged for a particular food or beverage at fifteen participating restaurants, including the brand-new Italian restaurant “Divino”, which has opened where Tony’s was, and at Palo Vivo, which will be opening in the gift-wrapped building at the corner of Warburton and Spring, and will be serving food as well. You spend the evening walking from restaurant to restaurant, sampling and enjoying the company of friends and fellow residents. It’s a great way to spend a night, and $5 of your $20 lands up going to the Hastings Food Pantry, so it has a nice upside as well for those who could use it. (More here: destinationhastings.org)
A number of local shops will be open as well, including a “Pop-up Shop” in the old Indigo location at 546 Warburton Avenue, with local artisans and artists. As I will say now and until the cows come home, please shop local. First, do a full sweep of the downtown to buy gifts and gift certificates before you hit the malls or online “merchants”. If you want a downtown that is something other than a post-internet ghost town, you need to support our merchants, who have much to offer and much that would be appreciated by gift recipients. Shopping guide (here).
Finally, to cap off the festivities, the Blicker Blues Band plays at the Upstream Gallery, Friday from 8PM to 9:30PM ($10 donation at the door).
Toy Drives
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They accept unwrapped toys, and then works with local parents where they pick out a toy for their child and wrap it so they can participate in the giving. They’re accepting toys at the Family-to-Family office on Warburton. Drop-off is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, now until December 10. Text them ahead of time at 914.391.3220.
The Mill Annual Toy Drive
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This Monday, December 10th, from 6PM-9PM at The Mill. Bring a new, unwrapped toy or gift card to donate and enjoy free hors d’ouvres, cash bar, and live music. Toys go to Family-to-Family (see above) and gift cards go to the Sloane Kettering Pediatric Playroom.
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You can give to this toy drive, originating with the Marine Corps, at the bin at the Community Center and elsewhere in the Village. Bring a toy tonight as part of the festivities and donate it this effort.
Other holiday-related activities:
Drop and Shop Bingo Thursday, December 13 at 6PM
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You can drop your children (five and over, please) at the Community Center, and while they enjoy playing bingo, you can support downtown businesses by spending in local stores and eat in local restaurants. Please pre-register at the Community Center.
Winter Celebration, Sunday, December 16th
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Join us at 2:00 PM at the Community Center for a winter celebration that include a performance and reading of the Dr. Seuss classic “The Grinch”, and enjoy music, face painting, hot chocolate. Please pre-register at the Community Center.
Join us at 2:00 PM at the Community Center for a winter celebration that include a performance and reading of the Dr. Seuss classic “The Grinch”, and enjoy music, face painting, hot chocolate. Please pre-register at the Community Center.
Drop & Shop Dinner & Movie Night, Thursday, December 20 at 6pm
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Drop your kids off at the Community Center and while they enjoy pizza and a showing of “The Incredibles”, you can support downtown businesses by spending in local stores and eat in local restaurants. Please pre-register at the Community Center.
Ravensdale Bridge
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Onto other topics of interest, the New York State Department of Transportation’s consultants held a meeting at the Greenburgh Town Hall on Wednesday regarding proposals on how to replace the Ravensdale Bridge. (Click Here to watch the meeting) Two proposals were reviewed. One, previously presented, involved closing the bridge entirely and routing cars down over Odell or up over Ashford Avenue during a nine-month period. The other involved the construction of a temporary bridge and then over an 18-month period, the replacement of the existing bridge. There was unanimous support, including the contingent from Hastings, for the second option and this will be taken back to the NYSDOT for further development and funding discussions. Other presentations by the NYS DOT will follow, including in Hastings, at times to be announced.
Car thefts
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Unfortunately, holidays or not, there have been a spate of larcenies from cars across the Village in the last ten days. The previous police chief once said to me that not even Mayberry was Mayberry (a generational quote probably lost on a lot of people), and the comment stuck with me. Hastings is very safe – safer in most measures than it has ever been – but that shouldn’t lull you into complacency. Lock your car doors, and your homes when you aren’t there. (Click here for Holiday Crime Prevention Tips)
It would be a little dour to end on a car theft warning, so I will also mention that through the end of the year, all parking is free in the downtown for the couple of hours that you need to shop or eat. There is much to sample and enjoy at this time of the year, so take advantage and spend some time shopping and eating in our village, enjoying the holiday season and the company of friends and loved ones.
Sincerely
Peter Swiderski