View of the Ramapo River as it washes over Sloats Dam in Sloatsburg, NY, with Mill Pond’s higher flat surface behind the roiled white water.

The Village of Sloatsburg has an industrial and commercial history going back to the mid-1700 Dutch settlers that included Stephen Sloat, who built Sloat’s Tavern. That original structure is still in existence at the rear section of the current Sloat House.

Mostly, the manufacturing history of the area centers on the power provided by the Ramapo River. Continue Reading

The day of the long shadow is here. Winter Solstice. The celebrated shortest day of the year, where sunlight skims low over the sky in the northern hemisphere, the earth’s axis teeters away from the sun and into the longest night and winter we go. Continue Reading

Tuxedo has many good things. The whole casino process revealed the many good people engaged with their community — those who are concerned and care about the future of Tuxedo. Following is a letter from Tuxedo Chamber of Commerce President Bill Sweet that briefly reviews the casino process and chamber position while also looking at the community engagement as opportunity to continue to build a better Tuxedo. Continue Reading

The New York Gaming Commission’s Facility Location Board rejected any Orange County sites, leaving Tuxedo to forge it’s own economic future.

The possibility of a casino in Orange County was always a long shot. Wednesday’s decision by the New York Gaming Facility Location Board to exclude Orange County from any casino development was confirmation of those odds. Continue Reading

The outcry from local residents over placement of a recent parolee was apparently heard loud and clear. The Rockland County Times reported Tuesday morning, December 16, that a level 2 sex offender slated to start life after prison in a Sloatsburg neighborhood filled with children is “expected to be removed today and placed in a holding facility” while another location is found for him. Continue Reading

There’s a cursed and coveted stretch of Rt. 17 that runs through Sloatsburg, along the Ramapo River water gap, stretching past Tuxedo Park, through Southfields, past Arden, and ending near Harriman. The route is surrounded by New York state park lands, mostly by 46,000 acres of Harriman State Park to the east northeast and some 21,000 acres of Sterling Forest State Park to the west. Bear Mountain State Park and U.S. Military Academy federal forest reserves further northeast add an additional 20,000 plus acres of green space. Continue Reading

Local hiker and archaeologist Ed Lenik has spent many a day sifting through the layered evidence of human history in the Ramapo Mountains, a search that includes the general northern New Jersey, southeastern New York regions. His investigations have detected patterns that bear witness to Indians in the Ramapos. Continue Reading

Creamer construction vehicles along Rt. 17 in north Sloatsburg to the Tuxedo line, maneuvering big metals bodies in and around traffic lately. The subcontractor is busy installing an upgraded United Water New York water line along the corridor, from near Post Road in Sloatsburg to Tuxedo Manor Apartments. Continue Reading

Casual school bus stop talk erupted onto social media Friday morning in Sloatsburg. The topic of discussion was the discovery of a level 2 sex offender possibly relocating somewhere in the neighborhood. Continue Reading

This past year has seen a few big changes for the Tuxedo business community — the Genting casino proposal, the movement of Tuxedo Farms towards breaking ground and local elections, to name just a few. Continue Reading