Our New Inhabitant is a Wooden Stag!  

Over the past couple of weeks you may have noticed that we have a new sculpture on the preserve, which is easily observed from North Broadway.  The sculpture is titled "River Hook Stag" and was created by the artist, Alberto Bursztyn. Alberto created our new inhabitant from local reclaimed wood.  Much of the wood came from the River Hook site itself, and therefore, makes it even more special to us.  Alberto had some assistance from our Rockland Conservation and Services Corps team as well as Mark Attebery, a local sculptor.  The funding for this project came from a generous donor who has a love for outdoor art.  We are thrilled to have the River Hook Stag be a part of the scenery for the community to enjoy for years to come.  

We are planning to install a couple of new sculptures at the preserve around September or October.  If you are interested in donating to the expense for the rental of our sculptures, please make make a gift through our donation page. 
 

Great news! A New Pathway through River Hook! 

We were fortunate to host the Lieutenant Governor of New York, Antonio Delgado, and our NY District Assemblyman, Ken Zebrowski, this past week.  We showed them the progress made at the preserve, with the help of the Rockland Conservation and Services Corps (RCSC) members, and to update them on the path construction.  The contract for construction of the new pathway through River Hook has been signed and the work will be starting soon.  The new path will run through the preserve following the route of the existing path, with some improvements and also to include eight parking spaces on the North Midland Avenue side of the preserve.  

You may have observed the garage attached to the caretaker’s cottage was taken down and there is a collection of black grates near the stone carriage house (pictured) that will be used for the new path.  The grates will hold red stone gravel which will be a permeable and safe surface for walkers and bike riders.  It is anticipated that the preserve will continue to be open during the path construction although there may be parts of the path that may not be accessible during this time.  We will keep you updated on the progress of the new pathway.

The pathway construction is made possible by the following grants that the village was able to secure, for which we are grateful.  

$100,000 - Hudson River Valley Greenway Connecting Trail Grant
$75,000 - DASNY Grant, with the assistance of Sen. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick
$50,000 - DASNY Grant, with the assistance of Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski

Pictured in first photo:  

Standing:  Emily Stelman (RCSC), Richard Otero (RCSC), Ken Zebrowski, Antonio Delgado, Karen Tarapata (Upper Nyack Mayor), Mike Nolan (Upper Nyack Code Enforcement officer), Gabriella D'Amico (RCSC), Ethan Lee (RCSC), Connor Goranson (RCSC), Sasha Fuller (RCSC)

Kneeling:  Emily Rooney (RCSC), Sheryl LeRoy (President, Friends of River Hook), Yajaira Ramos (RCSC).

Thanks to Andrea Swenson for the photo.