The last of the fall leaves along the Hudson River.
Taken with a Fuji X-E1 and Fuji XF 35mm f1.4 R
A Walk in Sleepy Hollow – The Last of the Fall Colors
A Walk in Sleepy Hollow – Kathryn Wasserman Davis River Walk Center
Scenic Hudson spearheaded this collaborative project to transform the dilapidated bathhouse at Kingsland Point Park, built in 1926 and for decades a popular destination for community gatherings, into a center for river-based education and recreation on the county’s planned 51-mile River Walk. Named for philanthropist Kathryn W. Davis, the center hosts educational and arts programming that reaches over 2,000 children annually.
According to her New York Times Obituary:
“Kathryn Wasserman Davis, who contributed tens of millions of dollars to cleaning the Hudson River and promoting peace through an organization she founded when she was 100, died on Tuesday at her home in Hobe Sound, Fla. She was 106.
Her death was confirmed by her grandson Christopher Davis.
Mrs. Davis donated millions to Scenic Hudson, a group that works to clean the river and its environs, after taking up kayaking in her 90s near her home in Tarrytown, N.Y.
In 2007, when she turned 100, she founded Davis Projects for Peace, which awards $10,000 grants to humanitarian endeavors around the world initiated by college students.
About 600 proposals from students of the 90 schools associated with the Davis United World College Scholars Program have been financed so far. This year’s projects include an attempt to provide solar-powered lamps to an impoverished county in China.
For her efforts Mrs. Davis was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service.
Mrs. Davis was also a benefactor of higher education, giving to Ivy League universities like Harvard and Columbia and particularly to Wellesley College, her undergraduate alma mater, where she created the Davis Museum and Cultural Center.
Kathryn Stix Wasserman was born in Philadelphia on Feb. 25, 1907. She received a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley, in Massachusetts, a master’s in international relations from Columbia University and a doctorate from the University of Geneva in Switzerland.
A lifelong globetrotter and a Russophile since her first visit to the Caucasus Mountains in 1929, she met the insurance investment magnate Shelby Cullom Davis on a train to Geneva in 1930. They were married on Jan. 4, 1932. Mr. Davis died in 1994.
Mrs. Davis is survived by a daughter, Diana Davis Spencer; a son, Shelby; eight grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.
She also owned a home in Northeast Harbor, Me., and supported environmental charities there like the Maine Coast Heritage Trust.”
Taken with a Fuji X-E1 and Fuji XF 35mm f1.4 R
A Walk in Sleepy Hollow – Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse
Another restoration – this time of the iconic Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse. The major renovation started after the 4th of July weekend in 2022. The project will restore the lighthouse, stabilize the structure and prevent further deterioration. Work consists of repairs and repainting to the exterior cast iron, replacement of windows and doors, repair of cracks in the cellar, cleaning and re-pointing of the foundation masonry, restoration of the interior plaster & painting finishes and repairs to and restoration of all the wood floors. The work will also include reconstruction of the intermediate landing between the bridge and gangway, a new security gate on the mainland and new electric and exterior lighting. This is part of Westchester County’s $3.4 million capital project. The facility is expected to be closed for at least 10 months.
Taken with a Fuji X-E1 and Fuji XF 35mm f1.4 R
A Walk in Sleepy Hollow – An Eagle
It now stands outside the Philipse Manor Metro North Station, but it was once one of 11 that graced the historic building’s monumental clock towers for 12 years at 42nd Street and Park Avenue.
In 1910, as the station began renovations to become the Grand Central Terminal building we are all familiar with today, the huge cast iron eagles were removed and dispersed throughout the region. One of these eagles was obtained by the Philipse Manor Company, landing at the station by 1911.
The eagle was itself restored in its present location in 2019.
For some pictures of the restoration and more on the history of the eagle see here:
Taken with a Fuji X-E1 and Fuji XF 35mm f1.4 R
A Pair of Pumpkins
I came across these cheery looking guys outside a local eatery.
Taken with a Sony A7IV and Rokinon/Samyang AF 24-70 f2.8 FE