There are a lot of optimists and skeptics in the region, all debating whether Haverstraw will complete it’s ‘renaissance’ in a timely fashion. I thought it would be interesting to see how the people actually feel. We can only hope that the Village will change for the better. I would say that I’m an optimist – so I already voted. Please, leave your vote here and check back to see what the overall sentiment regarding Haverstraw’s future actually is.
Please, try not to vote more than once. If you feel that strongly about this poll, get your friends to vote! I’d like the sentiment represented in this poll to be as accurate as possible. Thank you!
HaverstrawLife.com 
Haverstraw is amazing now! Just took a walk from the Harbors down Maple then up Broadway to Emline Park and back, unreal.
There is no reason Haverstraw can not suceede. However, five years ago I left Haverstraw amidst great enthusiasm and hope for dwontown beautification and the promise of new businesses, sidewalks, etc. Now I am back and can’t believe that beyond no downtown improvements having occured, the village looks in worse shape than it was five years ago. Why is Spring Valley, that five years ago was in worse shape than Haverstraw, quickly and successfully redeveloping Main Street/Rt 45 downtown while Haverstraw can not seem to do anything productive? What is the Chamber of Commerce doing to encourage greater interest in new village business and what is the new village government doing so different than the Wassmer era?
The easy answer is there is no money to start the streetscape project. The harder question is why hasnt Martin Ginsburg initiated the Streetscape program out of his pocket? I really think Martin miscalculated the importance of getting the Streetscape program underway to help Haverstraw attract more great restaurants. Being cynical, I would say its because he’s making a killing on the Harbors (I live there) even in this down economy. So why focus on the Village? However as a director of the Greater Haverstraw Chamber of Commerce I can answer your other question. Unfortunately the Chamber of Commerce is not fully dedicated to the Village of Haverstraw, its members are made up of people from the Town of Haverstraw and North Rockland. I have been beating a dead horse about trying to get new business to come the Village. Three years ago I even personally went to landmark business’ throughout Rockland trying to convince them to come here but had no success. However, the Village did get a million bucks to start the promenade on the water, you can read about it on this great site. Come to Provident Bank in Haverstraw this Thursday at 6:30 for a Chamber event and make your voice heard!
I don’t think that Ginsburg is still making a killing at the Harbors. He would have been better off, however, starting the project with the phase at the base of Main Street. That way you start sprucing the downtown up and demand for his townhouses would stay high. Touching on the Spring Valley comment – what they are building on Main Street is obscene (granted it’s better than what was there); it amounts to tacky architecture with heavily subsidized apartments included. Downtown Spring Valley isn’t better off with this type of development. To be perfectly honest, the Village of Haverstraw NEEDS luxury, market-rate, and middle-income housing in the Downtown. Buildings need to be restored, and higher earning tenants MUST be attracted. At this point, there is no diversity in the downtown – opposite of what one thinks of diversity as. The downtown is currently a monoculture, aside from some small pockets of artisans, urban pioneers, and a few of the establishments on main street and broadway. We need a wide array of offerings in the downtown, a wide range of housing stock (not just low-income, and middle-income). Sustainable and prosperous downtowns thrive because they are diverse in their inhabitants and in their businesses. We need to attract young professionals, the creative class, artsy people, etc. If we can make Haverstraw a bohemia in a sense, that will pave the way for further development and restoration of the Village’s storied past! Good luck Adam! Please, let me know if I can help at all.
Do you think Haverstraw will get any stimulus money?
Just dropping by.Btw, you website have great content!
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I’m not sure if Haverstraw got any stimulus money. Most of the money for the streetscape program came from the State level, I believe. Apparently, the streetscape project will finally begin in the spring (hopefully).
ok, not to throw a fly in the ointment (and I get where you’re going with the poll question), but have you been to Nyack lately? I’ve never seen so many empty storefronts! That said, it is more commercially viable and does have a “better” downtown. And, of course, there are more progressive thinkers there, but that’s always been the case. I believe what we really need in the VofH is to create our own identity. One that’s even better than Nyack’s. The gauntlet has been thrown…
Good point! haha I was echoing the circa-2008 sentiment with this poll, as many North Rocklanders were claiming that Haverstraw was the next Nyack. I agree. It has much more of an urban feel than Nyack; it seems more cutting edge, almost like Alphabet City in the early 90s or even parts of Williamsburg ten years ago. It’s got a vibrancy that can’t be matched in Rockland County. I agree, it needs its own identity, or its current identity must be brought out and made more apparent to everyone in the tri-state area. I do think the local food movement could be a big part of Haverstraw. Well, I’m preaching to the choir to you, Cat, but hopefully everyone else realizes it!