Perfect storm brewing for Sleepy Hollow
An eponymous and hot new TV show, a $60,000 state grant and the most evocative and perfect of holidays ”“ Halloween. Call it a winning trifecta for the village of Sleepy Hollow.
Drawing on its historic ties to the legend of Sleepy Hollow and embracing American author Washington Irving”™s tales about the Headless Horseman and Ichabod Crane, times are anything but sleepy for businesses.
Tourism has ramped up since the days when the municipality was known as North Tarrytown, before forward-thinking lawmakers in 1996 made the name change.
“Who wants to be called ”˜North”™ anything?” asked Anthony Giaccio, Sleepy Hollow village manager.
Giaccio explained that after General Motors Corp. moved out of the village in 1999, it took 4,000 jobs and left the village”™s economy and businesses in a state of disarray.
“GM was paying 50 percent of the taxes,” Giaccio said. “It used to be the life source of our village.”
Since 2002, General Motors has been looking to sell its vacant 96-acre site to a developer who can “get the property back on the village”™s tax roll,” Giaccio said.
Businesses have slowly begun to recover as the village turned to creative strategies to help businesses generate more revenue. Tourism was the diamond in the rough, which helped business entrepreneur Jeannie Galgano get back on her feet after she abandoned her brick-and-mortar gift shop in Tarrytown. Now she runs her gift shop at the base of the Old Dutch Church property on North Broadway rent free.
“Business has been excellent,” Galgano said. “We”™re 40 percent ahead of last year, which is a noticeable increase. Business is starting as early as September, when it usually started in October.”
Galgano, who arranges her Headless Horseman gift shop on two long tables with a small tent overhead, sells items ranging from pewter statues to hoodies. She said the knitted caps with the Sleepy Hollow logo are the newest additions to her pop-up shop, and they”™ve been “selling quickly as soon as the cold weather hit.”
Neighboring businesses have experienced an increase in sales throughout the Halloween season. One business owner at a pizza parlor on Beekman Avenue said Halloween plays an integral role in the success of her business. She added that she began decorating her storefront with Halloween ornaments months in advance.
“Halloween really helps our business because a lot of tourists come here from different towns and states,” said Kate Guzman-Kastrati, co-owner of Hollywood North Pizza. “We”™re hoping this season it will continue to move our business along.”
Historic Hudson Valley is the nonprofit group that owns and operates three of the attractions visitors seek during the Halloween season including Horseman”™s Hollow at Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow, the Sunnyside Home of Washington Irving in Tarrytown and the Great Jack O”™Lantern Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson.
Rob Schweitzer, director of marketing for the Historic Hudson Valley, said each year the number of visitors for these three events have grown significantly. The Great Jack O”™Lantern Blaze, the village”™s largest pumpkin-carving event that began in 2005, has drawn 18,000 visitors over eight nights last year. This year, the village is on track to top 100,000 visitors over 25 nights. The Horseman”™s Hollow, the village”™s haunted maze which started in 2010, generated 16,000 visitors over 11 nights last year. This year, the event could draw at least 20,000 visitors over 13 nights, Schweitzer said. Sunnyside hosts myriad daytime programs ranging from celebrations with magicians and puppets to re-enactments of the legend of Sleepy Hollow through displaying objects in the manor that relate to the stories written by Washington Irving.
One of the most popular tours operated independently of the Historic Hudson Valley group includes the Old Dutch Church, built in 1685, which was constructed from fieldstone and flat, yellow bricks from Holland. The Old Dutch Burying Ground, which is the cemetery surrounding the church is about three acres wide. It holds regular funeral services throughout the year and opens up to the public for tours around Halloween. New this year, the Old Dutch Church will bring in 48 5.5-ton bells forged in the Netherlands, which visitors can play from a keyboard set up at the base of the bell tower.
Tourism in Sleepy Hollow will continue to draw new businesses and developers in the area, said John Sardy, executive director of the Sleepy Hollow Tarrytown Chamber of Commerce
“The brand is exploding,” said Sardy, noting the increased membership of businesses on the Sleepy Hollow Tarrytown Chamber of Commerce. “We”™re attracting new businesses from Ossining, Mount Kisco and Elmsford. The tourism is going to foster real estate. New construction for real estate is tremendous with high-end condos and homes coming in. They”™re building right on the Hudson River front.”