Tuckahoe Trolley to Begin Running in Next Few Weeks

It's been close to 75 years since the last trolley rolled through Tuckahoe, but that's about to change in the coming weeks.

The Generoso Pope Foundation, Senator Jeff Klein and the Village of Tuckahoe are hammering out the final details for a trolley that will travel through the Village and ideally link the business districts of Tuckahoe, Bronxville and Eastchester.

"We're looking to service everyone," said David Pope, president of the who noted that the trolley would be particularly helpful to seniors and youth in the area. 

Tuckahoe Mayor John Fitzpatrick echoed his sentiment.

"We felt it would be able to move some of our seniors around," he said, as well as some of the youth. "We're in favor of trying to make sure that people have an opportunity to shop locally."

But this isn't the first time Tuckahoe has had a trolley. According to Phil White, a former Village mayor and member of the Tuckahoe Historical Society, at one point a trolley, whose service ended around 1936, ran from Tuckahoe all the way to the middle of Yonkers.

The new trolley will be a way to help preserve that historical, nostalgic atmosphere in the Town and Villages.

"We're trying to bring back the community feel and let the community really enjoy it," Pope said.

According to Pope, the trolley, which has already been purchased, should arrive within the next couple of weeks and hopefully start running in less than a month.

"We put a lot of time and effort into the design," said Pope of the trolley, which he described as having mahogany wood and nostalgic details. Run on low-emission diesel fuel, it will also have air-conditioning and heat.

The idea first came to Pope while he was vacationing in New Jersey. "People were jumping on it, jumping off it," he explained of seeing a trolley, "I said, it's such a great idea."

Pope pitched the idea to Senator Klein and the Village, who both got on board.

The route, schedules and cost have yet to be officially determined, but Pope and Mayor Fitzpatrick are talking with community leaders, including Mayor Mary Marvin in Bronxville whom they met with last week, to determine the best way to bring about the service.

Purchase and operation of the trolley is through funding from Senator Klein's office and the Pope Foundation, while the Village will own it and insure it, according to Fitzpatrick.

And according to Pope, once it's up and running, community input will also help shape the future of the trolley routes and offerings.

"We're doing it for the community," he said, "Depending on what they demand, things might change and adjust."