TRANSPORTATION/AIRPORTS
Rye is close to two of the nation’s most busy airports: LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International Airports are both under 30 miles away in New York City. The Westchester County Regional Airport is about 10 miles northwest in White Plains and offers flights to 10 of America’s key cities.
The Westchester County Bee-Line Bus Service runs a service through Rye, linking it to Harrison, White Plains, and Yonkers, with connecting service to cities across the county. Metro North runs a train service from White Plains south into Manhattan (the Harlem Line), and from Harrison south to Grand Central Station (the New Haven Line).
BRIEF HISTORY
Westchester County’s oldest permanent settlement, Rye was founded in 1660 when a small group of settlers arrived from Greenwich in nearby Connecticut. They bargained with the local Mohegan Indians for land and gradually purchased the present day Rye, Harrison, and White Plains area.
Rye remained an isolated farming and oystering community for over two hundred years, serviced by the New York-Boston stagecoach, which made its first run in 1772. After the advent of the New Haven Railroad in the mid 1800s, Rye became a popular holiday spot for city dwellers. By the end of the century trolley lines ran all the way into New York, and one could travel there for just 8 cents! This appealed to working folk eager to get out of the inner cities, and Rye’s population began to increase dramatically, especially in summer. By 1904, there were two schools, five churches, a library, and a lively population of 3,500 residents. Incorporation came that same year.
Rye flourished in the period directly after the First World War, when commuter trains and the new parkways effectively made the village a suburb of greater New York. By 1930, there were nearly 9,000 residents and in January 1942, Rye became Westchester’s sixth and smallest city.
Today, the City of Rye is a tranquil suburban community with many historic landmarks, including the home of America’s first chief justice and the Square House Inn, built in the 1700’s and slept in by George Washington, John Adams, and General Lafayette. Along the old Post Road, you can see the milestones placed by Benjamin Franklin in 1763 to mark the 24th, 25th, and 26th miles from New York.
POPULATION
Rye is home to about 44,000 residents.
SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS
With its pretty neighborhoods, large parks, good schools, and restricted urbanization, Rye is a safe and relaxing place to make a family home. Nestled in a sheltered harbor on Long Island Sound, Rye has a large marina and lovely beaches. Residents enjoy boating and waterskiing in summer and stunning sunsets year round. Rolling hills embrace the bay and little streams make their way downhill. You are never far from the sound of water.
Tree lined streets enhance the residential character of Rye, which is largely made up of single family homes, with a smaller number of condominiums and apartments making up the difference.
Urban development is strictly controlled—there are no tower apartments, motels, shopping centers, or manufacturing plants in Rye. The central business district on Prospect Street is large enough to serve the needs of local residents but small enough to remain neighborly.
The community protects Rye’s character, limiting urban development and voting to increase recreational areas. Only five percent of property is used for business and industry. Rye has a terrific Nature Center which runs environmental education events and programs and sits in a beautiful park. The Rye Golf Club has a superb 18-hole course, an Olympic sized swimming pool, and a small pool for children. Playland Park, a lovely art-deco theme park from the 1920s, brings many visitors to Rye. Playland has over 45 rides, some thrilling and some charming; a lake with a sweeping beach and delightful boardwalk, game arcades, a 19-hole championship miniature golf course, and an Olympic-size pool.
HEALTHCARE
The United Hospital Medical Center in nearby Port Chester provides locals with state-of-the-art prenatal, surgical, and emergency care. The Rye Hospital Center and the Osborn provide private care and the Rye Psychiatric Hospital Center caters to those in need.
EDUCATION
There are plenty of good schools to choose from in Rye, which has two public school districts and various private schools.
The Rye City School District has three elementary schools—all York State Schools of Excellence and National Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence. The district’s middle school has an innovative and effective approach, whereby teacher teams cover central educational subjects, and the high school supplies a wide range of programs and courses at honors and advanced placement levels. The district also administers The Rye School of Leadership, an alternative learning school.
Rye’s Greenhaven suburb is served by the excellent Rye Neck School District.
There are several secular and religious private schools in Rye, including the prominent Rye Country Day School (K through Grade 12), a college prep facility which uses traditional and innovative teaching methods to develop the academic abilities of its students to the maximum. Lively arts and athletics programs balance the student.
There are several excellent colleges in surrounding towns, including Berkley College in White Plains; the College of New Rochelle and Iona College, both in New Rochelle; Sarah Lawrence and Concordia Colleges in Bronxville; Manhattanville College and Purchase College-SUNY in Purchase; Marymount College in Tarrytown, and Mercy College at Dobbs Ferry. The Westchester Community College is in nearby Valhalla.
RYE BROOK
LOCATION
The village of Rye Brook is in southern Westchester County in the state of New York, about 40 minutes south of downtown New York City. About 3.5 miles inland from Rye and 1.5 miles inland from Port Chester, Rye Brook is close to several key Highways and Interstates.
I-287 runs along Rye Brook’s southeastern border on its way northwest to White Plains (about 5 miles away) and beyond and southeast to Port Chester, where it ends at I-95. I-95 runs south to Rye and Harrison, before joining the highways and interstates feeding New York City at Eastchester; north east on I-95 takes you into Connecticut. I-287 out of Rye Brook meets I-684 just before reaching White Plains; I-684 proceeds north to the intersection with I-84 at Brewster. I-84 runs west across the Hudson River and east into Connecticut.
Hwy 15 borders Rye Brook to the northwest, running west to Riversville, CT and beyond and south east to Mount Vernon, NY and New York City. Rye Brook’s western corner is formed by Hwy 15 crossing with I-287.
TRANSPORTATION/AIRPORTS
The Westchester County Regional Airport sits on Rye Brook’s northernmost border; La Guardia International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport (both in New York City) are about 25 and 30 miles away respectively. Westchester Airport runs non-stop flights to 10 of the nation’s major cities, LaGuardia and JFK schedule flights around the country and the world.
The Westchester Bee Line provides a bus service linking Rye Brook to other Westchester communities including White Plains and Harrison, which both have rail stations on Metro North lines into New York City.
BRIEF HISTORY
Long the home of the Mohegan (Mohican) Indians, the Rye Brook area was first colonized by outsiders in 1660, when a small group from Greenwich (CT) successfully negotiated a treaty with Shenarockwell, a Mohican chief, for all the land along Long Island Sound between the Mamaroneck and Byram Rivers.
The early English settlers cleared lands and established farms. Some of these became large estates. Rye Brook remained a secluded farming village until after WWI, when new train lines and parkways to the Rye region bought suburbanites and holidaymakers to the area.
Rye Brooke remained a small village surrounded by large estates, farmland and open countryside until the 1950s, when population swelled from 2,661 at the beginning of the decade to over 6,000 by its end. By the 1980s, Rye Brooke’s population had reached 8,000 and incorporation became an issue. The largely upper middle class population wanted to determine how their tax dollars were spent and ensure that much remained at home. Rye Brook incorporated in July 1982.
Rye Brook government is non-partisan and performed by unsalaried volunteers. This ensures cost savings, strong community spirit, and a high level of local participation in Rye Brook life.
POPULATION
The community of Rye Brook is about 9,500 strong.
SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS
Rye Brook is a lovely historic village with tree lined streets, large tree filled parks, and outstanding schools. This predominantly middle to upper class area has beautiful family homes and great recreational programs for its citizens. Crawford Park is the beautiful site of a historic mansion from an early estate and the adjacent Rye Hills Park has ball courts, walking trails through lovely old woods, and a belvedere overlooking Long Island Sound. The Oakland Beach provides access to water sports.
Well placed to key cities in the region (like White Plains and New York), Rye Brook has become home to several major corporations including Philip Morris Corp., JWP, MCI, Hitachi Chemical, Prudential, and NYNEX.
Residents love their village and care about each other. The Annual Rye Brook Birthday Party held in Crawford Park, is planned by citizens and looked forward to by all.
HEALTHCARE
Rye Brook is close to several top-notch hospitals. The United Hospital Medical Center in Port Chester is closest, and the Greenwich Hospital Association is less than 5 miles away in Greenwich, CT. The Rye Psychiatric Hospital Center is about 4 miles away. There are good public and private hospitals and clinics about 5 miles away in White Plains, like the Burke Rehab Hospital and the St. Agnes Hospital.
EDUCATION
Rye Brook is served by two school districts: the Port Chester Union-Free School District, and the Blind Brook—Rye Union Free School District. The Port Chester district encompasses 5 elementary schools, a middle school and a high school; the Blind Brook administers 1 elementary school and a combined middle and high school. This district is small and students benefit; both the schools are nationally recognized Schools of Excellence and both are accredited by the Middle States Association. Almost all students complete school with the choice to enroll in a four year college or university.
Rye is near to many good colleges and universities, including SUNY College at Purchase (about 3 miles away), SUNY Westchester Community College (about 8 miles away in Valhalla), Iona College and The College Of New Rochelle (both about 11 miles away in New Rochelle), Pace University-Pleasantville Briarcliff (about 11 miles away in Pleasantville), Mercy College at Dobbs Ferry (about 13 miles away), and
the Long Island University in Brookville (about 15 miles away).
PORTCHESTER
LOCATION
Port Chester is on Long Island Sound in New York State, in southern Westchester County, just northeast of Rye and Harrison. White Plains is about 7 miles inland and New York City is about 30 miles south. Rye Brook is right next door, about 2 miles inland; Rye is just over 2 miles down the coast.
Like the towns that surround it, Port Chester is a prime location; right on Long Island Sound and well served by major highways and interstates.
I-95 (the New England Throughway) passes along the harbor on its way from Connecticut to New York City, intersecting with I-287 at Port Chester’s southern border. I-95 northeast from Port Chester takes you to Greenwich and Stamford, CT (4 and 8 miles northeast), and I-95 southwest passes through Rye (about 1.5 miles away) and Harrison (3 miles away) to Eastchester (12 miles away), where it connects to the highways that feed New York City and finally runs west across the Hudson River.
From the junction with I-95, I-287 runs inland (northwest) past the Rye Brook turn off (Hwy 15), White Plains and beyond. I-684 Intersects with I-287 just east of White Plains, and takes you north to the junction with I-84 at Brewster. I-84 proceeds west across the Hudson River and east into Connecticut.
TRANSPORTATION/AIRPORTS
The Westchester County Regional Airport in nearby White Plains has one of the nation’s largest based corporate fleets. Airlines take off for key national cities daily. La Guardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport are both less than 30 miles south in New York City, bringing global centers within easy reach.
The Westchester Bee Line bus service connects Port Chester to other Westchester communities including White Plains and Harrison, which both have rail stations into New York City.
BRIEF HISTORY
Along with Rye, Rye Brook and Harrison, Port Chester was part of the land area originally purchased from local Mohegan (Mohican) Indians from early settlers in 1660. Port Chester began as a small saw mill and boat builders at the mouth of the Byram River. In those days the tiny settlement was aptly named “Saw Pit” and was gradually settled, mostly by boat builders and their families. As farms were established inland, the little port became an ideal outlet for farm produce, which was shipped from there to towns further south.
With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Saw Pit became a strategic military outpost, with both armies fighting to posses it. At the end of the hostilities, most of the village had to be rebuilt, and the shipping industry prospered once more. Steamboats began to arrive from New York City, bringing tourists, goods and mail, and taking away produce. Saw Pit became known as the “Port of Westchester”, which was shortened to “Port Chester in 1837. On May 4, 1868, Port Chester was incorporated as a village within the Town of Rye.
The arrival of the railroads in the mid-1800s hurt Port Chester, as rail transport undercut the need to ship goods by steamboat. Slowly the village changed its economic base from trading port to manufacturing hub, and by 1950 Port Chester was one of the Hudson Valley’s foremost factory towns. Workers spent their hard earned dollars downtown, meeting up with friends from neighboring settlements in the village’s many stores and restaurants.
During the 1970s, most of the factories began to move south or west, and Port Chester was hit hard, along with most of the other manufacturing towns in the area. Locals focused on maintaining and developing the town’s retail and restaurant industry, and this turned out to be a wise move. Today, Port Chester’s downtown shopping area and “Restaurant Row” attracts locals and visitors alike.
POPULATION
About 28,000 residents enjoy life in Port Chester.
SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS
Port Chester has worked hard to upgrade itself from a manufacturing town to an exiting retail and cultural center. Locals cooperate to beautify their community with trees, urban cleanups, public artworks and more. Over 50 acres of parkland break up the residential areas, and residents enjoy strolling, jogging, or biking on the green walkway that runs along the Byram River.
Port Chester is fast becoming Westchester County’s restaurant capital, with many award winning restaurants offering a delicious range of cuisines. Visitors also flock to the town’s well planned downtown port development, which has movie theaters, restaurants and great stores beside the waters of Long Island Sound.
Long an Irish and European immigrant community, Port Chester is more recently home to migrants from Central and South America and the Caribbean; these families have bought Latino flavors, in both food and culture, with them.
HEALTHCARE
Port Chester’s United Hospital Medical Center offers top-notch prenatal, surgical and emergency care. The Greenwich Hospital Association is less than 5 miles away in Greenwich, CT, and the Rye Psychiatric Hospital Center is about 4 miles away.
EDUCATION
Port Chester has two school districts: the Port Chester-Rye Union School District and the Port Chester Union-Free School District. The former oversees 3 elementary schools, 1 middle school, a high school and a magnet school; the latter 5 elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. Both school systems are well thought of and students rank highly in academic standards. The New York Times recently described the Port Chester-Rye Union district as a “High Profile, High Performing School District in Westchester County.”
Higher education options abound. Nearby colleges include Berkley College in White Plains; the College of New Rochelle and Iona College, both in New Rochelle; Sarah Lawrence and Concordia Colleges in Bronxville; Manhattanville College and Purchase College-SUNY in Purchase; Marymount College in Tarrytown, and Mercy College at Dobbs Ferry. The Westchester Community College is in nearby Valhalla.
HARRISON
LOCATION
Harrison is on Long Island Sound in south Westchester County, New York, adjacent to Rye. White Plains is about 4 miles inland and Rye Brooke about 3 miles. Port Chester is next to Rye. New York City is about 25 miles south.
Like the communities that surround it, Harrison is close to several major highways and interstates and readily accessible to New York City and other important regional centers.
I-95 (the New England Throughway) passes through Harrison on its way from Connecticut to New York City. I-95 northeast travels through Rye to Greenwich and Stamford, CT (about 8 and 13 miles away); I-95 southwest runs to Eastchester (about 10 miles away), where it joins into the complex interstate and highway system feeding into New York City before turning west across the Hudson River towards Newark.
I-287 meets I-95 between Port Chester and Rye; I-287 passes northwest past Rye Brook to White Plains and beyond, meeting I-684 just east of that city. I-684 travels north to the junction with I-84 at Brewster. I-84 proceeds west across the Hudson River and east into Connecticut.
TRANSPORTATION/AIRPORTS
When it comes to airports, Harrison area residents are enviably spoilt for choice! The Westchester County Regional Airport in White Plains brings national centers to the doorstep. New York’s LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International Airports run daily flights around the United States and the world and are both less than 30 miles south in New York City. Teterboro Airport is about 26 miles away in New Jersey.
Harrison’s bus service is supplied by Bee Line Bus, who runs a service into Yonkers via Rye, Port Chester and White Plains. Connecting bus and rail into New York City run from both Yonkers and White Plains. Harrison has a railway station also, which is a stop on Metro North’s New Haven Line from New Haven to Grand Central Station, New York City.
BRIEF HISTORY
The Harrison area was the original home of the Siwanoy Indians, and there are several stories as to how it passed into the hands of white settlers. They may all be true, as Indians may have sold the land more than once, not understanding the concept of land “ownership”, but only that of “stewardship”.
What is known for sure is that the land was sold to several men between 1662 and 1695, the final being John Harrison, the town’s namesake. Harrison was the only one to file with the government of New York, and thus the only one with legal ownership. Harrison sold the land to Quakers around 1724. An early French Quaker, Msr Havreland started up the famous Haviland China manufacturing business there. Harrison was also a small farming center. Residents also found work in the village’s weaving shops, saw mills and grist mills. One grist mill from 1700 still stands, on the banks of the Mamaroneck River at West Street, adjacent to the Hutchinson River Parkway.
Harrison was important in the Revolutionary War, and several historic sites still remain around town, including the hills in the west part of town, which were full of hiding places for ammunition. Locals have found plenty of buttons, bullets, and cannonballs on the hills.
In the late 1890’s, West Harrison’s landowners developed it into a resort with a hotel, a casino and an internationally known ski jump. Harrison’s present downtown was built after the coming of the railroad in 1848. In 1870 the railway station was built and wealthy business people started to travel up for holidays; eventually many of these men bought land and developed large country estates. The railroad also bought immigrants from the opposite end of the scale; hardworking Italians who bought small farming plots in Brentwood and Silver Lake. Today the Italian neighbourhoods of Harrison and West Harrison are full of their descendents.
POPULATION
Harrison has around 25,000 residents.
SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS
Historic Harrison is a pretty town that still retains a largely rural character. It has plenty of lovely parks and green areas, good schools, and a warm sense of community. Many residents are descendents of Italian immigrants who first arrived 200 years ago; many others have similarly meaningful roots. Harrison’s direct rail link to New York City means that the Big Apple is close enough for work or play, but you can still enjoy living in a rural area.
HEALTHCARE
There are several excellent hospitals in nearby White Plains, including the Burke Rehab Hospital and St Agnes Hospital; The Rye Psychiatric Hospital Center is about 4 miles away. Port Chester’s United Hospital Medical Center offers top of the line prenatal, surgical and emergency care.
EDUCATION
Harrison has 2 elementary schools, a middle school and a high school, administered by the Harrison Central School District; nearby colleges include Manhattanville College and Purchase College-SUNY in Purchase; Marymount College in Tarrytown, Berkley College in White Plains; the College of New Rochelle and Iona College, both in New Rochelle; Sarah Lawrence and Concordia Colleges in Bronxville, and Mercy College at Dobbs Ferry. The Westchester Community College is in nearby Valhalla.
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