Clintons' Hometown May Change its Name

CHAPPAQUA, NY — Town officials want to change the town's name to Chappaqua from New Castle, and are asking residents for input.

In his email Wednesday morning, Town Supervisor Rob Greenstein said officials want to be able to promote the town, and that's hard to do when it is a set of lines on a map that encompass all or parts of communities with their own names: Chappaqua, Millwood, Mount Kisco, Ossining and Bedford.

New Castle doesn't even have its own zipcode — people who live in New Castle have zip codes for addresses in Chappaqua, Millwood, Mount Kisco, Ossining and Bedford.

"This would essentially allow us to promote Chappaqua, which is more well-known than New Castle," Greenstein said. "While certainly those in the Chappaqua zip code would benefit from the promotion of their mailing address - and certain zip codes will always fetch higher values - this is about unification. All residents would have more of a connection to Chappaqua - the name on our train station and nationally respected school system - two of the strongest draws to our area. This would also reduce confusion."

What kind of confusion?

Well, take Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He says he lives in Mount Kisco. And in fact, that's his mailing address and where he votes. But it's the part of the Mount Kisco zip code that's in New Castle. Which makes him a New Castle resident in point of fact — a fact that exercised the New York Times and other media outlets in 2011. (If the name change happens, he'd still have a Mount Kisco mailing address and polling place, though his roads, street lights, water, sewer, police, etc would be taken care of by Chappaqua.)

It's all part of the complex local system of government in these parts, by which everyone lives in overlapping but separate school systems, fire districts, water districts, sewer districts, villages, cities or towns.

In the case of Mount Kisco, that's literal: Mount Kisco is legally a village and a town (separate state rules). Or take the town of Ossining, which includes the village of Ossining, the village of Briarcliff Manor, most of the Ossining and Briarcliff school districts (but not all) and an unincorporated area known to locals as the "town-outside."

Right now Chappaqua is six things: a school district, a Census designation as a hamlet, a train stop on the Metro-North Harlem line, a downtown, and a zip code. And what a zip code: One of the wealthiest in the country, it's got name recognition indeed. And it does often get called a town, by folks doing lists like Time magazine's 2014 article on the 10 Richest Towns.

And, of course, international fame as the home of Hillary and Bill Clinton, one a former president of the United States and the other who lost the 2016 election for President with a higher vote count but lower Electoral College count than her opponent Donald Trump (who has a home in Bedford.)

Here's what the Town Supervisor had to say Wednesday morning:

We’re asking residents for feedback on changing the town’s name to Chappaqua in hopes of reducing confusion, making the municipality more identifiable and the ability to promote Chappaqua. Please keep in mind if a name change would take place, mailing addresses for the numerous zip codes in New Castle would remain the same. For example, the zip codes for Chappaqua, Millwood, Mount Kisco, Ossining and Bedford would remain the same but they would be considered hamlets of the Town of Chappaqua, instead of the Town of New Castle. Those who feel a special connection to Millwood & Ossining, for example, would retain that connection. The Town of New Castle would simply change to the Town of Chappaqua. This would essentially allow us to promote Chappaqua, which is more well-known than New Castle, without alienating people who live in Millwood and Mount Kisco and Ossining and Bedford and Yorktown. The town's lack of name recognition is compounded by the fact that New Castle does not have a zip code. Nor does the Town of New Castle have a hamlet or village with that same name within it like so many other Towns. For example, the Town of Greenwich includes Greenwich. The Town of Yorktown includes Yorktown Heights. The Town of Scarsdale includes the Village of Scarsdale. The Town of Ossining includes the Village of Ossining. While certainly those in the Chappaqua zip code would benefit from the promotion of their mailing address - and certain zip codes will always fetch higher values - this is about unification. All residents would have more of a connection to Chappaqua - the name on our train station and nationally respected school system - two of the strongest draws to our area. This would also reduce confusion. Not only confusion with North Castle but most residents of New Castle have grown accustomed to the response "where" when telling people they live in New Castle. Most end up saying just Chappaqua or Chappaqua Schools. There is precedent. In the 1990s, North Tarrytown become Sleepy Hollow and it has been seen as a huge success. This is merely an idea for discussion. We are simply asking for input. It’s obviously a very big change which would only be done hearing from as many residents as possible. And, IMO, only if overwhelming support! Even with overwhelming support we would need State legislature approval. Please send feedback to TownBoard@MyNewCastle.org<mailto:TownBoard@MyNewCastle.org>