Bicyclists are good business, especially in Empire State Trail Towns.

Now that the Tarrytown has both the Shared-Use Path across the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge* and the state-spanning Empire State Trail -- not to mention the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail, the spur trails around the lakes area and the Riverwalk -- it's a pretty compelling argument: Tarrytown is a genuine hub for bicycle tourism.

Parks & Trails New York is rewarding and certifying businesses that offer accommodations to bicyclists, from bike racks out front to healthy, locally-sourced food. Certified bike-friendly businesses, per the website, value their cyclist customers and strive to provide the kinds of services they need.

The "Bike-Friendly" designation has been awarded along the Erie Canalway, but is now open to other businesses across the state. TEAC would love to see certified Bike-Friendly decals in many of the windows of Tarrytown's Main Street-Broadway businesses. We already know we're "bike-friendly"!

"Bike 'friendliness' is a not a yes or no matter. Businesses don't have to offer every amenity or make expensive additions to be certified - a business may already be bike friendly and not even know it! There are small, incremental modifications and ways to better welcome bicyclists to an establishment."

*it will always be the Tappan Zee to me. :0)

CARBON-NEUTRAL BY 2040

Fond of the roaring diesel sound of your GMC Sierra 1500 truck, and hope to replace it with another a few years down the road? You might want to rearrange your priorities: General Motors has announced that they are phasing out petroleum-fueled cars and trucks. Sometime before 2035, those big, carbon-fueled vehicles will be redesigned with all-electric drivetrains and the latest battery technology.

According to the NY Times, G.M. said its decision to switch to electric cars was part of a broader plan to become carbon neutral by 2040. “General Motors is joining governments and companies around the globe working to establish a safer, greener and better world,” Mary T. Barra, G.M.’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “We encourage others to follow suit and make a significant impact on our industry and on the economy as a whole.”

We know from the success of brands like Tesla that there is no compromise in power, speed, or driving range with well-designed electric vehicles. The build-out of quick-charging stations is accelerating. With industry cooperation, gas and diesel-powered cars and trucks will soon follow coal-fired power plants into the dustbin of history.

By Mai Mai Margules

On the snow-covered slope of Warner Library’s lawn facing Wildey Street, a few bright pink garden ties herald the site of an exciting new addition to Warner Library -- a pollinator garden.

In April, TEAC in collaboration with Friends of the Library and dedicated volunteers will break ground on a 15’ x 10’ native plant garden. This demonstration garden will benefit pollinators and residents alike. For our pollinators it will create much needed habitat and food sources. For our residents it will bring joy and awareness of the vital role that pollinators play within our ecosystem.



Warner Library is an ideal location for this endeavor. As a vital and dynamic part of the Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow Villages, Warner is on the vanguard in educating our community and bringing awareness to important issues. The Library engages residents of all ages and walks of life with its wonderful array of resources. The new garden will allow learning to begin even before entering the building.

The creation of the garden will serve as a live learning experience for visitors. The garden will contain host plants such as milkweeds, wild petunia and red twig dogwood that provide vital sustenance to caterpillars. Mountain mint, hyssop and echinacea will deliver additional nectar and pollen to visiting pollinators. A background of native grasses will shelter insects and birds and bring year round visual interest.

Signage will identify the plants and the role that each plays in the local ecosystem. Warner’s extensive seed library will have pollinator friendly seeds available to those who want to create their own pollinator gardens. Informational links and resources will be readily available so that all of us can “connect the dots” both in planting pollinator gardens and in spreading the word as to their importance.

As a demonstration garden we will be championing many aspects of environmentally friendly gardening. Garden soil will be amended with compost from TEAC’s food scrap recycling program. We will use shredded leaves mixed with compost to make a terrific mulch that is cost effective and doesn't contain harmful chemicals. No pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers will be used. After summer blooms have faded, perennial stalks and grasses will be left standing to provide habitat for insects and overwintering birds. The garden will thus support the living world year round.

We need your help to successfully launch this project! TEAC and Friends of Warner Library will kick off a Go Fund Me campaign this week titled Bees and Books --- Warner Library’s Pollinator Garden. Please donate what you can and share the link with friends. This is an incredible opportunity to showcase important environmental issues to a large audience in the heart of our Village. We have a committed group of volunteers who will plant and maintain the garden but we must raise money for necessary supplies and plants. Please help us save our endangered pollinators and start a call to action so that pollinator gardens become the norm rather than the novelty. We thank you in advance for your support.

If you've recently decided to take the plunge for an electric bike for commuting, you may have also discovered the joy of riding an e-bike for pure recreational pleasure.  

Once sticking to the paved rail trails was enough, but since e-bikes effectively flatten out the hills, they open up the possibilities for rides on more challenging roads, places you might have otherwise avoided if you're not in the best of shape, or if you simply want to ride for pleasure, minus the sweat.

Electric Bikeways designs self-guided, turn-by-turn touring routes for you and your electric bike through some of the prettiest backcountry dirt roads and byways of the Hudson Valley, Connecticut and the Catskill Mountains.

The rides are deliberately routed to stay far away from anything but the quietest roads, so you may not pass any cars at all while you're riding.

Most routes are between 10 and 20 miles, to accommodate the range of most e-bikes out there. The routes can be downloaded onto your phone and with the RideWithGPS app, you can hear audible instructions, much like the GPS directions you use in your car.

(BTW, there's a great selection of e-bikes at Sleek eBikes, on Main Street in Tarrytown.)


A backcountry road in the Delaware Water Gap is gated and closed, in winter months, to car traffic. But not to bikes.
 

• 2 Tablespoons cooking oil or vegan butter
• 1/2 Large yellow onion
• 2 medium potatoes (any kind will do)
• 1 large sweet potato
• 2 large carrots
• 1 cup of Brussels sprouts
• 1-2 garlic cloves peeled and sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste

PUT THIS ON YOUR CALENDAR: The Village of Tarrytown is looking forward to the annual Riverkeeper Sweep Cleanup on May 1st, 2021. It will be held from 9am to 12pm. More details will follow in the coming newsletter. 


The Hudson River shoreline in Oscawana Island Nature Preserve in Croton-on-Hudson. The River Sweep keeps plastic bottles and other floating debris out of the river and off these beautiful shorelines.

Did you know? You can tap a Norway Maple tree for sap and make your own maple syrup, just as you would a sugar maple tree. It's a great "urban homesteading" activity, and it puts those "weed trees" to good use!