Hidden HastingsLena Rubin

For me, Hastings ­ the town I’ve lived in for close to 13 years but stillknow very little about ­ has three components, three identities. Hastings’identity as “hipsturbia,” penned by the February 2013 article in the Times, hasbeen a little overblown. Visitors to Hastings from Williamsburg can indeedfind gluten­free cupcakes here, but they might also be surprised to bump upagainst some decidedly un­hipster history. Across the street from the French­named bicycle shop and the ambiently­lit yoga studio is family­owned Arturo’sBarber Shop, where the bantering barbers keep watch over a slice of older,more humble, Hastings. And at the Center Restaurant, the waitresses mightraise an eyebrow at you if you ask for your waffles without gluten or yourmilkshake without dairy. Walking down Main Street is only one way toglimpse the patchwork of old and new that makes up Hastings life, of its blue­collar, Anaconda­copper­era past mixed with its proximity to urbangentrification and a shift toward a distinctly new type of culture.

And of course this duality is laid out upon a third framework ofsuburbia. The suburbs are a singularly American concept ­ in Americanmovies, music, and novels they bespeak monotony, homogeneity, and from theteenager’s point of view, something to escape from. I’ve never found Hastingsto match up exactly with the stereotype of American suburbia. But bydefinition, 12 miles north of Manhattan, that’s exactly what it is. At the sametime, it’s a place unaffected by corporate franchises, where deer often show upon your doorstep, so it’s easy to forget how close you are to a metropolis. I amfascinated by the way these three identities of Hastings manifest themselvesvisually and culturally. Over the past few weeks, I’ve begun to explore thisquestion, and here is what I have found so far.

Ever Rest

To visit the home of the late Hastings resident and artist JasperFrancis Cropsey, you first have to know that it exists. The property, calledEver Rest, is tucked away behind a gate on Washington Ave. It is not opento the public unless you call or email to schedule a tour; often you must doso a week inadvance. But it’s well worth it. Inside the pale yellow house,enveloped by gardens, are high ceilings, dusty books and aging furniture,the smell of history, and paintings! Everywhere! Cropsey, who was mainlyself taught, created over 2400 works of art between the ages of 19 and 75.Born in Staten Island, Cropsey was trained in architecture as a boy.Architectural sketches were what sparked his interest in the fine arts. Hewas elected to the National Academy of Design in 1844. After marrying hiswife, he spent several years travelling in Europe, opened a studio back inNew York City, and retired to Hastings, to a house where he could paint theHudson (in fact, the house is turned backwards, away from the street, so thefront porch looks out onto the river).

In a glass case in the drawing room, where he and his wife Mariahentertained, you can see his watercolor and oil paints, as well as brushes andpalette. The paintings displayed around the house depict mainly Hastingsfrom 1885, when Cropsey moved here, until his death in 1900. his scenes ofthe Palisades are especially beautiful. Anthony Speiser, my tour guide andthe director of the Cropsey Foundation in Hastings, tells me that despite hisremarkable talent for landscapes, Cropsey was “not great at portraits, and heknew it.” Anthony points out a somewhat disproportionate depiction of oneof Cropsey’s daughters. But for bringing the gift of the arts to Hastings, aswell as a pretty cool slice of history, you’re willing to forgive him.

At the Memorial Day Parade, which I attended this year for thefirst time, there are very few traces of hipsturbia in sight. Instead,there is a procession down Main Street: volunteer firemen,policemen, the mayor waving from his car, girl and boy Scouts, theHastings Mothers' Club. A elderly veteran sells me an Americanflag pin for a dollar. Kids eat red Italian ice and stick out their redtongues. There is concentrated, pure patriotism, a rare sight inHastings. For the day, this is not Hastings, this is real small­townAmerica.

Zinsser Community Gardens

“East of Broadway’s Babel and bordered by Edgar’s Lane in Hastings onHudson the land lies open… quilted by over 30 gardens,” reads an article in a1966 volume of the Hastings News. Since the beginning of the 20th century,the patch of land beneath what is now the Zinsser baseball field has been ahaven for fresh fruits and vegetables grown by Hastings residents. DuringWorld War I, Colonel Frederick G. Zinsser owned a chemical plant on theHastings on Hudson waterfront. He gifted plots of land on what is nowZinsser Park to the families of the men who worked at there, in the traditionof Victory Gardens gardens in residential areas which served to reducepressure on the public food supply as well as boosting community spirit andmorale. When the Zinsser family sold the property in 1965 and the parkbecame public, the gardens were available to whomever could claim them.

A century after they were first given to the village, the gardens are beingmore than well taken care of. In fact, “the land is in such demand that somegardeners make provisions in their wills to pass along their piece to children orgrandchildren,'' said the Hastings Recreation Supervisor, Raymond M. Gomes,quoted in a 1990 New York Times article.

Each family’s plot is marked with a name, generally on a cheery hand­painted sign. Some have decorative windchimes or lawn chairs inside. Thefenced off plots create small alleyways that you can walk through from onegarden to another, sometimes crossing small bridges over streams. It’s like avery small, very quiet, self sustained city. On a chilly morning earlier thismonth, a young man tending his plants explained that he hadn’t had much luckyet, but that “things really start to bloom” in late summer. “If you look around,you’ll see people have already done well,” he said, a tad ruefully, “I’ve seen somereally nice tomatoes.” I wish him luck. The sky above the gardens was overcast,so I think he found it.

The Marble Quarry

In the late 1930s, a philanthropist named Arthur C. Langmuirpurchased a parcel of land in Hastings from the Anaconda Wire and Cablecompany. His aim was to take what was already a functioning marble quarryand give it a dual purpose as a green area, a place of natural refuge.According to a May 1985 issue of the Hastings Historian, he “conceived ofthe idea after seeing the quarry gardens at Buttes Chamont in Paris… wheregaping holes had been transformed into places of natural beauty.” Heassembled a team; a 1936 photograph of “the Quarry Gang” shows a groupof young workers in crewcuts, brandishing shovels. Langmuir importedexotic trees from abroad and created a pond that was available forswimming, as well as walking trails. And the quarry continued to provideHastings with industry, producing what was known as White WestchesterMarble.

As this industry declined later in the 20th century, and after Langmuirdied the area located off of the Croton Aqueduct, about a block off of whatis now Washington Avenue, became repurposed as essentially a dumpingground for the village’s trash. In 1977, the Village Conservation commissionrecommended that the area be repurposed into a park “once its capacity forrefuse is reached.” It was officially closed from dumping in 2002, yet work torepurpose it has stalled. Currently, it’s populated by weeds and empty beerbottles and little else. Though the bridge bears some impressive graffiti, it’sa shame that what was once a thriving park in Hastings now has little tooffer the town.

As of late, a group of citizens, who call themselves the Quarry StudyCommittee, has taken preliminary measures toward restoring the quarry.Hastings resident, and novelist, Christine Lehner says, “we are trying tostart a nonprofit soon… to restore the quarry to its natural origins.” Lehnerhas a strong interest in and passion for the Aqueduct trail system, whichprovides “a link from Croton all the way to the Bronx,” and she believes thatit would be a great benefit to Hastings both to restore the quarry and “tomake it part of the trailway system in order to keep people connected.”

This is Christopher Stephens, the owner of riverrun bookstore for21 years and counting. He has been in Hastings since 1975 and haswitnessed quite a bit of change. More activity in and around town­ more people working within Hastings, rather than commuting."It was nice to get rid of those miserable buildings by the river,"he says ­ referring to the industrial eyesores that marked Hastings'shift into the 21st century. The store's location, more than a littlehike up Washington Ave, provides a view down the hill to the river­ hence its name. I asked Stephens what his favorite place inHastings was. "Besides here?" he asked, as he raised an eye browand gestured to the piles of new, used, and collectors' books yousee above.

All text, photographs, and illustrations© Lena Rubin, May­June 2014