By now my little photography adventures have taken me to almost all of the Harlem Line stations (the only outstanding stations are Woodlawn, Williams Bridge, Botanical Garden, Melrose and Tremont. I’ve been warned for my safety at the last two). I’ve done a lot of fun things, and gotten to explore quite a bit. I’ve eaten an italian ice in Hartsdale with @kc2hmv, splashed in the river near Crestwood, and munched on good food in Mount Kisco, Valhalla and Tuckahoe. I’ve seen all the Arts for Transit pieces, and other randomly cute things, like the Commuter Rooster in Scarsdale. But despite all this, when I chatted with @bitchcakesny last night and she asked me my favorite station of all, I couldn’t quite answer.
There are so many good things about some of these stations, how could I pick just one? Wassaic and Pleasantville have my favorite Arts for Transit pieces, and I loved Harlem-125th’s art too, not to mention it was a great spot for photography. Bronxville has a unique station, and the shops surrounding Mount Kisco, Hartsdale and Scarsdale are cute and worth exploring. Chappaqua’s restored station building is a beautiful sight, and I’ve always been fond of Brewster’s old station building. What I was able to do though, is narrow it down by asking myself a question: If I had to be stuck at a single station for the entire day (maybe there was a big fire or something, shutting down Metro-North??), which would it be? And that answer is Katonah.
What makes Katonah special? The area around the station is very cute – full of shops and restaurants for eating good food. I will admit though, the Katonah Museum played a part in the decision. If you don’t mind walking the half mile from the station to this art museum, you really could spend the entire day here viewing art, shopping and eating. And if there was still time left you could hang out in the gazebo not far from the station, or go and visit the library which is two blocks away. Katonah is just another one of the nice places located along the Harlem Line, but one that certainly sticks out in my mind.
Nice shout out for the gazebo. I saw my very first train from that thing (well, its predecessor that burned to the ground) at the tender age of about a week and forever blame it for a lifelong “choo choo curse” that later lead me to work on steam locomotives. Too bad I was born about 50 years too late to catch that era on the Harlem. Keep up the good work!
Hey, thanks for the comment. Fifty years too late would make you around my age I imagine… By the way I checked out that link you posted and it is pretty awesome.
Emily, you don’t have anything to worry about at Melrose or Tremont. I commute regularly from Melrose and/or Yankees-E. 153rd Street. The “fear factor” that people sometimes attribute to the South Bronx does not correspond with the reality of the walkable but gritty community that I’ve experienced in three years of living on the Grand Concourse.
Don’t worry about Melrose or Tremont. These areas are pretty safe nowadays.
Love the Katnoah station area! Great for a day trip.
Another good spot to visit is Peppino’s. The restaurant (and connected liquor store) are built in the original Katonah rail station. The current MTA station is a newer (and less colorful) one built one block north of the original site in the early 1980s.
You know, I think I’ve eaten there. I don’t remember what the name of the place, but it was in the original station. They were kinda looking at me funny when I was going to take pictures though, so I kinda got shy about it and didn’t really take any. Katonah is a nice little area though, I like it a lot.
Congrats on the article in the NY Times today. With respect to Katonah and its train history, there’s a legend in Katonah that may or may not be true. Would be curious if you knew… Supposedly, Katonah was a dry town for many years, but railroad property was exempt from town rules so a liquor store could operate in the old train station because it was on railroad property. What do you think? Urban myth?