Last Updated on Thursday, 06 October 2011 14:02

County Executive Robert P. Astorino joined Tarrytown officials and others at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 5 to celebrate the completion of the newest segment of RiverWalk, the recreation pathway paralleling the Hudson River. With this parcel, almost 33 miles of the planned 51.5-mile pathway have been completed.   

The ribbon-cutting for the pathway's newest 0.6-mile stretch took place on the waterfront, immediately north of Pierson Park.

RiverWalk is being developed through a series of projects constructed by the county, local municipalities and private developers.

The county contributed $3.5 million towards the costs of building the new section.

"This is money well-spent, in that it helps both the environment and the local economy," said Astorino. "It gives our residents access to the riverfront, a wonderful park and another segment of the county's RiverWalk. Ultimately, we will have the downtowns of 14 riverfront municipalities connected."

The project was part of a cooperative effort by the county, the village, Scenic Hudson (a non-profit environmental organization) and National RE/sources, a company that specializes in acquiring and redeveloping environmentally impaired properties.

This new section is on a portion of a 25-acre waterfront parcel that was formerly used for industrial material storage and manufacturing and is now being redeveloped. To allow for new development and public access to the shoreline, most of the buildings on the property were demolished and asphalt plant was relocated. The company also remediated environmental contamination. Hudson Harbor, a 238-unit residential community, is being built on a portion of the site.

Of the total $7.225 million cost of the project, the village contributed $1.3 million and the federal government $425,000 through the efforts of Rep. Nita Lowey.

Scenic Hudson contributed $2 million, half of it from the Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Hudson Valley Land Preservation endowment and the other half from Kathryn Wasserman Davis, a Westchester philanthropist, through the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund and the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation. Davis, who is 104, still kayaks on the Hudson River. The developer, National RE/sources, contributed land under a site plan approval agreement with the village.

Tarrytown Mayor Drew Fixell said: "On behalf of the residents of Tarrytown, I want to express our deepest gratitude to all of our partners in this wonderful project, and especially to Mrs. Katherine Davis, who simply cannot be thanked sufficiently for her remarkable personal generosity and vision."

Scenic Hudson RiverWalk Park at Tarrytown, as this section will be named, will feature sitting areas, a prominent overlook, a terraced sitting and picnic area, and will provide opportunities for visitors to access the shoreline and view the river, Tappan Zee Bridge and the Manhattan skyline.

Read more about Westchester's RiverWalk.

A virtual visit along RiverWalk is also offered on the Web site. The aerial imagery of Google Earth and GIS mapping technology was combined with point-of-view pictures for a bird's-eye view tour along the entire 51-mile route.