By JEFF MORRIS
The Bedford Town Board received an update on Bedford Hills vibrancy and downtown improvement grant implementation from Recreation and Parks Superintendent Chris Soi, Bedford Promoter Laurie Hilliard, and Director of Planning Jesica Youngblood.
At the Oct. 1 work session, Soi said his department continues to make efforts to expand use of the Bedford Hills train station as a site for new programs, special events and activities. He gave a summary of 2023-24 programs and events that took place at the train station, highlighting some taking place for the first time: the Holiday Market in December 2023, the Spring Art Sale in May, and the Art Crawl that will take place Saturday, Oct. 19.
The Art Crawl is a large townwide art event with artists and activities scheduled for all three hamlet business districts. It will include approximately 30 artists at the Bedford Hills train station and parking lot, and will include live music and food trucks serving seasonal treats.
For her part, Hilliard observed that the view when looking out from the train station toward Depot Plaza, is much better now than it was last year.
“You are going to see stores that are looking open, new, and inviting,” she said.
Rock n’ Rescue has been a wonderful addition to the community, she noted of a nonprofit animal adoption outfit.
“They are business minded, they are community minded, they are sponsoring events,” she said, and looking to be involved.
She noted the organization had rented out space to the much anticipated Batch Cookies ‘n Cream, which she hoped will be open in time for the Art Crawl.
Other new businesses Hilliard cited include Shepherd + Co, “a lovely new gift shop” with a young woman business owner who is promoting it well; Café 117, from the same people as the Bazodee’s food truck, has moved onto Route 117 at the bottom of the brick WorkHouse building; Hair Edit, a recently opened beauty salon; and Nolvi’s Market, which has expanded and is filling out the round corner space.
Hilliard also noted Floral Petals of Westchester has moved from a small location into a much more prominent space.
“It’s good to know we have some of the longstanding names in the town that are still here, and we have some new young entrepreneurs. They’re all very eager." — Laurie Hilliard
“Their windows look great, it’s very inviting,” she said. “I talk to them regularly, they’re all on board to try and take advantage of some of the foot traffic events, to have things outside and try to attract people to come inside.”
Another relocated business is Devereaux Tile & Bath, which has moved from downtown over to Route 117.
Finally, she said, Country Willow, one of the anchor stores in the area, has just gone through a massive rebranding and their official reopening as Willow Furniture & Design is Friday.
“It’s good to know we have some of the longstanding names in the town that are still here, and we have some new young entrepreneurs, and I think it bodes well for next year,” Hilliard said. “They’re all very eager.”
Hilliard reviewed efforts to grow the business community, including a “Growing Business in Bedford Hills” event intended to foster a united business group in the hamlet and identify leaders for a future business organization. Such a group has now been started: the Bedford Hills Business Association, which has developed a logo, branded itself with “Discover Bedford Hills,” and had a presence at Tri-Festa.
BHBA is on Instagram, has a Gmail account, uses Mailchimp for email blasts, and has regular meetings, with follow-up notes published in English and Spanish. “The talent is there,” said Hilliard, and with the town’s continued support, “they’ll go far.”
The upcoming Art Crawl, said Hilliard, will involve some of the Bedford Hills businesses, and there will be an Art of the Station promotion to serve as an equivalent to the Katonah Art Stroll and Bedford Village’s Art of the Village.
“There’s a lot of excitement,” she said.
Town board member Tom Catoliato asked if anything was known about the Little Cabin sandwich shop that had recently closed. Hilliard said it had been difficult to get every business to come to the BHBA meetings, but she had called to try to find out what had happened since she learned about it.
Supervisor Ellen Calves noted the previous owner of that location had a lot of trouble finding staff.
“I know these small businesses are trying so hard to make it,” Calves said. “It’s a lot for them to also try to form a business association, so Laurie’s help has been tremendous.”
In the next part of the presentation, Youngblood talked about the town’s efforts, working with the MTA, to develop a request for proposals to lease a portion of the town’s part of the train station to a tenant for economic development purposes. She said they are looking toward making exterior improvements, including a new roof, insulation, painting, and carpentry work, with one goal to stop heat loss and make the building much more comfortable.
“At the end of the day,” Youngblood said, “we really feel like the Bedford Hills train station can act as a commercial and community anchor that’s going to tie into those placemaking activities that are already going on, are currently planned, and those that are envisioned for the future.”
Youngblood said they are anticipating an RFP release by the end of the year, though that depends on the MTA’s schedule.
In future programs and plans, Youngblood said the downtown improvement grant is now in the implementation phase. The three priority projects the county had supported are a façade improvement program, a wayfinding signage program, and a pilot for a “station green.”
The façade improvement program would be done in collaboration with the Bedford promoter and the town finance department, to determine eligible reimbursements, which may include such things as painting, brick and carpentry work, awnings, signage and lighting. A draft is done, Youngblood said; they’re working on refining it and doing a technical review, and hopefully a launch by the end of the year.
Wayfinding signage would embody three types: gateway, directional and parking. A lot of the program complements work the town has already done on parking lot improvements, Youngblood said; they are now looking to get quotes and do the final designs, and make purchases by the end of the year.
Perhaps the most exciting program, said Youngblood, is the station green, which is really taking the opportunity to reenvision what could be in front of the train station.
“This would occur primarily on town property,” she said, “and would be really done in conjunction with a leasable tenant portion, and/or any events that the town sponsors or other community groups sponsor.”
Starting off as a pilot program, they would hope to build on success, build momentum, and make longer term improvements.
“It’s about providing a location where community could gather,” she said, “a space that would be welcoming and inviting.”
Again, she said, they are hoping to get things going by the end of the year. Calves added they would like to try to launch with an event in the spring.