Residents, Businesses Create Yorktown Trail Committee

From The Yorktown Trail Committee

The economic benefits of promoting Yorktown’s walking, hiking and biking trails will be the focus of a newly formed Yorktown Trail Town Committee, a partnership of local residents and business owners, according to an announcement by Susan Siegel, a candidate for the vacant seat on the Town Board.

The group’s mission will be to promote Yorktown as a destination for day trippers and, once in or passing through Yorktown, let them know where there are places to rest, eat and shop.

The concept of using Yorktown’s extensive network of trails to promote economic development draws on the experience of other towns in New York and elsewhere that have realized quantifiable economic benefits by promoting their existing network of trails.

“One of the critical components of economic development is strengthening the existing commercial base in our hamlets,” Siegel said. “And in Yorktown, that can be done by promoting one of our unique assets -- our trails. Our trails can be a vehicle for bringing shoppers into our hamlets as well as encouraging new businesses to locate in Yorktown.”

Studies of other trail towns have shown that day trippers passing through a town often will spend four times as much as a local user will spend. A 2014 study involving the Erieway Canal Trail reported that day trippers generated $26.37 per day per visit on average and that 39% of all sales from day tripper and overnight visitors came from restaurants and bars.

“Yorktown has an incredible array of trails for walking, hiking, cycling and mountain biking that can attract people to visit Yorktown”, said Jane Daniels, co-author of Walkable Westchester, a guide to more than 600 miles of hiking trails in 200 Westchester parks and a member of the new committee. “We already have the trails. They’re an integral part of our community. Now we just have to promote them and let users know what services and goods are available to them as they pass through Yorktown.”

Other initial members of the committee include Mark Linehan, a hiker and cyclist who leads bicycle rides for the Westchester Cycle Club, Jonathan Nettelfield, who is involved professionally in marketing Walkway Over the Hudson, Robert Giordano, founder of the Yorktown Small Business Association, Tom Walsh owner of Yorktown Cycles, Justin Fagan, owner of the Trailside Café and JJs Scoophouse and Charles Crosby, manager of Turco’s.

Siegel, who helped bring the group together said she will work with the committee in an advisory capacity. The committee is independent of her election campaign.

Daniels said she knows first-hand what it’s like to want to stop for a bite to eat and the uncertainty of not knowing what’s available if you’re not familiar with the location. “Think of the non-Yorktown residents who hike up Turkey Mountain off Route 118, a popular destination for hikers,” she said “Other than a formal restaurant with limited hours, there’s no other place to eat in the immediate vicinity of the park. But, there are lots of places less than one mile away, she said. “We need to let visitors know about these places. There’s no question that trails have a significant potential for generating revenue for our local businesses.”

According to Daniels, of all the communities along the popular North County Trailway, Yorktown Heights offers the most and widest array of places to eat and other services. And, she added, they’re right by the trailway.

The Yorktown Trail Committee will be holding its first meeting on Monday, September 29, at 7pm at the Trailside Café, 1807 Commerce Street, Yorktown Heights. Residents and business owners interested in joining the committee are encouraged to contact Siegel at bookhunterpress@verizon.net.