About 150 people attended the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway Centennial Celebration on July 14 in the Ossie Davis Theatre at the New Rochelle Public Library.
The New York, Westchester & Boston Railway opened to the public on May 29, 1912, stretching 21 miles from White Plains in suburban Westchester County to Harlem River Terminal in the Bronx. The line lasted for 25 years before shutting down in 1937.
Organizations that participated in the event included the Office of Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, Friends of the Highbrook High Line, New Haven, Railroad Historical & Technical Association and the Urban Transit Club.
George Oros, Astorino's executive chief of staff, and county Legislator Sheila Marcotte, R-Tuckahoe, and Otto Vondrak, event organizer, also presented a proclamation from the county naming Saturday, July 14, 2012 as New York, Westchester & Boston Railway Centennial Celebration Day.
The Friends of the Highbrook Highline also gave a presentation on their idea to transform =the former NYW&B Railway in Pelham into a walkable greenspace that is open to the community.
A special exhibit featuring old photographs of the railroad is currently in the lobby of the New Rochelle library. More information about the event is available here.
