Week of June 13

June 12, 1875 – 150 YEARS AGO

Rockland County Journal

AROUND HOME

  ☞  It is reported that H. W. Sherwood, principal of our public school, will not teach here after the present term. If this is true, we think a great mistake has been made by someone.

  ☞  The Clarksville Hotel has been so renovated and improved lately that its old friends can scarcely recognize it. It is now in a prime condition to accommodate a few Summer boarders.

  ☞  We are under obligations to the Advocate, Messenger and City and Country for the lively interest they appear to take in the Editor of this paper. It is an inexpensive way of advertising.

  ☞  Remember that a recent law of New York makes it a penalty of from one to ten dollars to mutilate any shade tree around any school house, church, public building or highway, or to tie a horse near enough to one to injure it.

  ☞  The Anniversary of the Nyack Reformed Sabbath-school, which takes place in the church tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, at 3 o’clock, will undoubtedly be a pleasant affair and well worth attending. Don’t fail to go. Admission free.

  ☞  To-morrow (Sunday) will be “Children’s Day” at New City M.E. Church. The church will be decorated with the floral contributions of the school and friends. The exercises will embrace singing, addresses, etc. Services at 10 ½ A.M.

  ☞  Mrs. Martha Green was found lying in a private yard, on Thursday of last week, in a sad state of “fatigue” (called by some intoxication). She was taken charge of by Hubbell who took her to the lock-up, where she remained until morning, when she was discharged by Justice Stephens.

June 13, 1925 – 100 YEARS AGO

Rockland County Times

GRASSY POINT GETTING POPULAR

[Image: Lithograph by Arthur Bowen Davies of Grassy Point, with the Hudson River in the background. Clay pits used by the brick industry, the village of Haverstraw, and High Tor are visible. Image courtesy of the Samuel Dorsky Museum, State University of New York, New Paltz, via NYHeritage.org.]

         The activities at Grassy Point midway since the inauguration of the movement by Mr. Gurran has constantly grown in popularity until on Sunday the whole beach and Main Street as well as the Bowrie was literally a swarming hive of humanity and not only as the pleasures and popularity of the beach as a cool refreshing place to spend an hour or two on a warm afternoon or evening with its attractive bathing advantages, proven a big inducement automobile owners not only in the immediate vicinity, but extend down in Jersey, but on Sunday not less than four excursion boat loads of pleasure seekers to help join the throng.

June 11, 1975 – 50 YEARS AGO

Our Town

 HOMEOWNERS BATTLE STATE’S WIDENING OF ORANGEBURG ROAD

         After receiving assurances from town and state officials that the widening of Orangeburg Road from four lanes to eight lanes was a dormant project, the 12 families whose homes are located on both sides of Orangeburg Road west of Lester Drive were surprised to discover Thursday that crews were busy ripping up lawnsM sidewalk and driveways in an apparent continuation of the widening project that started at the Palisades Parkway Bridge.

         “We were promised several times that the road would not be widened any further,” said Mrs. Richard Garlick, of 53 Orangeburg Road. “After the original widening from two to four lanes, things were bad enough.”

        Residents who live along the road received copies of the letter sent by Donald Brenner, executive director of the Orangetown Department of Public Works, to Nicholas Sinacori, head of the Poughkeepsie regional office of the New York State Department of Transportation.

        In that letter, Brenner refers to an agreement made August 7, 1974, at the field office of the Orangeburg Road project, that the road widening would spare the stretch of homes between Lester Drive [and] the Orange and Rockland right-of-way about 1.4 miles to the west.

        He also includes an official request from town supervisor Americo DiFrancesca that that portion of the project be deleted from the contracts.

ANGRY MEETING

        When the residents discovered Thursday that the widening was in progress, they demanded a meeting with town officials. After several hours of what is described as “acrimonious discussion,” a meeting was scheduled for Thursday night, attended by county attorney Diane Rivet and town attorney Werner Loeb.

        Some of the 12 residents accused town officials of “knowing all along” that the widening would take place. As a result of the meeting, Loeb, Mrs. Rivet and Arthur Rouse, an attorney hired by the residents, began emergency action that resulted in a show-cause order obtained by Loeb from Judge Theodore Kelly, halting work on the project.

        All parties will appear at a hearing in Albany, Friday, June 13. “We’re prepared to show that the state has come in and ignored even basic safety factors for the residents who live on that part of Orangeburg Rd.,” Rouse told Our Town. “The poor people who live there won’t even be able to get their cars out of their driveways. We feel the state’s action is arbitrary and capricious.”

ROAD TO NOWHERE

        Originally, the Orangeburg road widening was planned as part of a connection between Route 303 and Route 304, which planners believed would be made necessary by traffic from the Uris-Blue Hill complex.

        However, the Uris-Blue Hill building remains 95 per cent vacant and the Pearl River-Gilbert Avenue portion of the eight-lane, 85’ wide road has been scrapped on the county’s planning map.

         “It is really a road to nowhere,” complains Jerome Kothman, who lives at 51 Orangeburg Road. “That eight-lane road they want to build through Orangeburg turns into a four lane road, then turns into a two-lane road. They’re not going to enlarge the part that runs through Pearl River, so the whole idea of a superhighway is ridiculous.

        Other residents told Our Town that the construction project, even if halted short of their sidewalks, has already devalued their homes and has affected their living habits.

         “Who would buy my house?” asks Mrs. Garlick. “If I wanted to sell it for $68,000, I’d be lucky to get $50,000 for it. I can’t even get out of my driveway.” Speeding traffic, heading west on the four-lane stretch of highway, keeps her awake at night, Mrs. Garlick says, and poses a serious threat to children in the area.

         “During the day the traffic is all tied up because of construction,” she says, “and at night the cars and motorcycles turn the road into a speedway. Who would move in here? Certainly not a family with small children. Not with the road right up to the edge of the property.”

PRAISES JOINT EFFORT

        While some residents feel they were betrayed by the town and the state, Rouse says he has received “excellent cooperation” from Loeb and Mrs. Rivet in the legal fight against the state.

         “I can honestly say the town has worked very hard in this matter,” he says, “and Mrs. Rivet has been with us 100%.”

        Rouse is seeking to enjoin the state from further work by means of an Article 78 proceeding, which is a form of taxpayers’ suit.

This Week in Rockland (#FBF Flashback Friday) is prepared by Clare Sheridan for the Historical Society of Rockland County. © 2025 by The Historical Society of Rockland County. #FBF Flashback Friday may be reprinted only with written permission from the HSRC. To learn about the HSRC’s mission, upcoming events or programs, visit www.RocklandHistory.org or call (845) 634-9629.