Page 74 - Westchester Magazine - January 2011

Yes, we Westchesterites have a reputa- tion for moving to the county for more breathing room, green spaces, and pic- turesque, bucolic villages. But we don’t want to enter into some kind of Green Acres bargain, where gaining space and fresh air means giving up any semblance of a metropolitan lifestyle.
In fact, it’s our cities and our larger towns that are growing. According to the Westchester County Department of Planning, between April 2000 and July 2009, North Castle’s population grew by 12 percent, Harrison’s and Rye Brook’s by 11 percent, Peekskill’s by 10 percent, and White Plains’ by 8 percent. (Ardsley had the big- gest growth of all with 13 percent, but since the village is so small, that really only amounted to a change of fewer than 600 people, while White Plains added more than 4,000 new residents.)
In comparison, our smaller towns and vil- lages are actually losing people. In that same period, Mamaroneck shrunk by 1.53 percent, Scarsdale by .38 percent, Ossining by .27 per- cent, Pleasantville by .18 percent, Bronxville by .14 percent, and Pelham Manor by .04 percent. Sure, those percentages are far tinier by com- parison, but those were the only municipalities that—in an ever-growing county—saw their populations decrease.
The change could be chalked up to the ex- pense of living in a tony village like Bronxville or Scarsdale. Or, it could be a testament to how, for lack of a better word, cool our cities are becom- ing. Last decade, White Plains didn’t even have its own movie theater. Now, in the same build- ing, it not only has a multiplex (with, some- times, a piano player in the lobby) but a venue for live theater in development, too—along with a hot nightlife scene along Mamaroneck Avenue so we can grab dinner or drinks after- wards. Peekskill is also a destination in its own right, especially for beer fans, who can enjoy a Paramount Pale Ale at the Peekskill Brewery or one of the 20 craft beers on tap at Birdsall House.
When it comes to our cities, we suspect even Eva Gabor would approve.
{6}We Eat
Better—and
Out More Often
In the 10 years since Westchester Magazine debuted, our dining scene has exploded with Manhattan-based restau- rateurs like Dan Barber blazing suburban frontiers. In 2004, his Blue Hill at Stone Barns dared to offer on-trend cuisine to knowing palates, and Barber’s Pocantico Hills restaurant be- came a pilgrimage site for that new breed we call “Foodies.” The success of BHSB is legendary—six years since its open- ing, its 90 seats still require a two-month wait.
More daring food frontiers were broken in Yonkers, on a crumbling Hudson pier that once housed a defunct steamboat line. With a Rockefeller estate not at hand, Chef Peter Kelly turned his eye to the rebirth of Yonkers. Yonkers-born Kelly was hoping to take the snicker out of the Hello Dolly line that claims the inner-ring suburb is “the most beautiful town in the world.” With help from the City of Yonkers (eager to repopulate its stunning waterfront), Kelly re-vamped the Yonkers Pier to house his flagship, X2O. Kelly’s Zagat top-rated restaurant now sits docked against the Hudson, gazing from three sides on the Hudson’s once-forgotten beauty.
Across the county, on the Port Chester shores of the Byram, Greenwich resident and multiple James Beard Award winner Joseph Bastianich had a vision. He bought multiple derelict buildings on Mill Street—including a burnt-out res- taurant called Tarry Lodge. With his business partner, Mario Batali, Bastianich launched his suburban empire with the help of partners Nancy Selzer and Chef Andy Nusser. The re-vamped Tarry Lodge debuted in 2008 and drew record crowds, packing its 200 seats from lunch until midnight. Two years later, Batali and Bastianich expanded their footprint with next door’s Tarry Market and Tarry Wines, creating a diversified Italophilic food Mecca on a once-sleepy suburban corner.
More Manhattan restaurateurs followed, seeking end- less opportunity and reasonable rents. Stephen Paul Mancini fled North with partner Chef Eric Gabrynowicz, who landed in Armonk after formative years with Danny Meyer’s Union Square Cafe. According to Mancini, the move was a no-brainer. “There is a client base of well-traveled, well-educated people who have dined out all over New York City or even the world. There are people here who know how to dine well.” In 2007, BLT Steak parked at the base of the Ritz-Carlton with its first sub- urban venture, while just this year, Godfrey Polistina of NYC’s Ouest, Carmines, and ‘Cesca set up shop in Port Chester with Arrosto.
According to Chef Peter Kelly (who has cooked in the re- gion since before the Manhattan diaspora), the county’s dining habits have changed with its new wave of great restaurants. Where once, lavish meals out were reserved for anniversaries and birthdays, Westchester’s new dining populace eats out all week long. “Our culinary landscape has improved primarily be- cause of two changes: the first is an emphasis on ingredient- driven menus, and the second is a move away from strictly event-based reservations.” Now, with more and better reasons, Westchester is dining out all week long.
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7 We
Have
More
Open
Space
In the past decade, we have recognized the importance of open space and have worked hard to preserve it—or what was left of it. Tom Andersen, the deputy execu- tive director of the Westchester Land Trust, notes that, in the late 1990s, the Department of Planning reported 55,400 acres of recre- ational and open space. By 2010, the acreage was up to 69,868—and growing. That’s an increase of 26 percent in just 10 years.
“Before the 1990s, county government and municipalities weren’t adding any open spaces or parkland,” Andersen says. “At the same time, the county was experiencing a construction boom. People saw that their fa- vorite woods, fields, farms, and access points to the Hudson River and the Sound were be- ing built on. That started a strong movement of local residents and elected officials to start preserving open space, and it really took off after 2000.”
So, next time you take a lazy stroll along one of our trails or parks—remember, some- one worked pretty hard to make sure that didn’t become a condo.
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then
NOW
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72 / JANUARY 2011 / WWW.WESTCHESTERMAGAZINE.COM
[5] We Like Things a Little More Urban