City Historian John Curran touts recent as well as seasoned yore. “Former governor and Peekskill mayor George Pataki is a Peekskill High grad. So is NBA star Elton Brand, who rose from humble beginnings at the Dunbar Heights Housing Projects. He’s currently on the LA Clippers. Actor Mel Gibson lived here till he was 12.”
Curran runs the Peekskill Museum, quartered in one of the city’s many “painted lady” Victorians. The former Herrick House is a sensibly majestic, multigabled specimen of 1870’s elegance. Inside is a wealth of Victorian and Revolutionary War exhibits, including an original redcoat of a British soldier captured on Drum Hill that is eerily still bright-as-new.
Arlene Daigle is a sculptor and longtime Peekskill resident who has lived both on the waterfront and downtown. She summed up the city’s arduous journey as she sat in front of Bruised Apple Books. “In a way there’s chaos because so many things have been broken and need to be fixed here,” Daigle says. “There is no right way to do things, and the many points of view will have to be channeled. There is no right way to do things, and the many points of view will have to be channeled. This includes the movement to decommission Indian Point in the next couple of years. We’re in for a lot of noise!”
RESOURCES
BeanRunner Café www.beanrunnercafe.com
The Birdsall House www.birdsallhouse.net
Bruised Apple Books www.bruisedapplebooks.com
City of Peekskill www.ci.peekskill.ny.us
Division Street Grill www.divisionstreetgrill.com
Driftwood Studio Gallery (914) 788-4650
Flat Iron Galllery www.flatiron.qpg.com
Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art www.hvcca.org
Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce www.hvgatewaychamber.com
Paramount Center for the Arts www.paramountcenter.org
Peekskill Artist Lofts www.peekskillartlofts.com
Peekskill BID www.downtownpeekskill.com
Peekskill Brewery www.thepeekskillbrewery.com
Peekskill Coffeehouse www.peekskillcoffee.tumblr.com
Peekskill Museum www.peekskillmuseum.org
Ruben’s Mexican Cafe www.rubensmexicancafe.com
Side Effects/NY www.side-effectsny.com
