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The Port Chester Blog Of Record

The Port Chester Blog Of Record - Brain Harrod Editor / Publisher

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Archive Port Chester Business Wire 2006 October

Website Of The Month

Capitol Theatre
149 Westchester Avenue
Port Chester, NY 10573

Except for the Lamb-designed Proctor's New Rochelle, the Capitol is probably the most beautiful movie-vaudeville palace ever built in Westchester County. The auditorium, with its domed ceiling, sidewall boxes and draped archways, is very similar to the one that Lamb designed for the Fox Savoy in Brooklyn, which was built around the same time. Ironically, the Capitol, which opened under indie ownership in August, 1926, was acquired by William Fox in 1929, with management shifting to Skouras Theatres after his bankruptcy.
When Skouras closed the Capitol in 1966, music promoter Howard Stein took over and converted it into a rock palace. Crowds came from three states to attend the star-studded concerts, causing such havoc in Port Chester that the city government finally stopped them in 1971 by adopting a 1:00 AM curfew on live entertainment. Heavily damaged and plundered during the Stein regime, the Capitol became a XXX movie house before shutting down in 1976.
Seven years later, entrepeneur Marvin Ravikoff purchased the Capitol and began renovations while trying to find a format for running it. Stage plays and concerts proved unsuccessful, so the Capitol is now a catering and special-events facility. The upstairs seating has been retained, but the orchestra floor is now open space for dining, dancing, and trade shows. The stage can still be used when needed.
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Archive Port Chester Business Wire 2006 September

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Chester,_New_York

Port Chester is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population is 27,867, according to the 2000 census, however, a July 1, 2002 Census estimate puts the village's population at 27,949. As a village, it is located in the Town of Rye.
Port Chester has a Metro North railroad station

Geography

Port Chester is located at 41°0′18″N, 73°40′8″W (41.005099, -73.668822)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 6.4 km² (2.5 mi²). 6.1 km² (2.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (5.22%) is water.

History

See Also:The History of the Town of Rye

Sawpit

In 1660, three settlers from "Greenwidge:" (later known as Greenwich, Connecticut) Thomas Stedwell, John Coe, and Peter Disbrow arranged to buy Manursing Island and the land near the Byram River from the Mohegan Indians. The land near the Byram River is now Port Chester. The Village was originally known as Saw Pit for the saw pits which were in use during the time. Logs were cut in holes in the ground for wood to be used for shipbuilding. The name of Sawpit was used for the first time in 1732. It eventually outgrew this name and became Port Chester by incorporating as a village in 1868. When Port Chester was first incorporated as a Village, it was considered a major seaport.

In 1665, Sawpit was claimed by both New York and Connecticut. However, the land was given back to the New York Colony by Connecticut in 1683. This struggle over the ownership of Sawpit continued for almost 105 years. In 1788, the Legislature of New York ruled that Sawpit was a part of the Town of Rye in New York.

Early Transportation in the Village

Travel is considered very dangerous as it was in the early years of Sawpit. Good roads are hard to find that exist today, the Boston Post Road, King Street, and Grace Church Streets are some of the migration paths in the Sawpit/Town of Rye settlement. Most roads, however, only consist of rough dirt, which makes transportation via water very important. The local waterways, the Byram River and the Long Island Sound were very important to the growth and development of Sawpit/Port Chester. Because of the closeness to these waterways, early residents took part in boat building, farming, and shell fishing.

Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 27,867 people, 9,531 households, and 6,376 families residing in the village. The population density was 4,559.1/km² (11,824.7/mi²). There were 9,772 housing units at an average density of 1,598.7/km² (4,146.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 60.70% White, 6.99% African American, 0.40% Native American, 2.06% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 22.98% from other races, and 6.83% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 46.23% of the population.
There were 9,531 households out of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were non-families. 26.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.89 and the average family size was 3.44.

In the village the population was spread out with 22.5% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 35.2% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 102.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.6 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $45,381, and the median income for a family was $51,025. Males had a median income of $32,848 versus $32,461 for females. The per capita income for the village was $21,131. About 10.1% of families and 13.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.3% of those under age 18 and 12.6% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Port Chester is a notable community in Southern Westchester because of its huge amounts of Latino immigrants. This is significant because the surrounding towns, Rye, Harrison, Mamaroneck, and especially Greenwich, Connecticut are known for high-income Caucasian populations. Greenwich, which directly borders Port Chester to the east, is one of the wealithiest municipalities in the United States. Mostly thanks to blue-collar business, Port Chester has become a significant commercial center in recent years. Business grew considerably with the opening of a Costco branch and "The Waterfront", a large shopping center and movie theater on Main Street and Westchester Avenue. The Waterfront Complex was projected to be a major economic improvement for downtown Port Chester that has been in the works since 1982, when the Industrial Development Agency began planning for the redevelopment of this area. Unfortunately for Port Chester's economy, this development of the downtown area would not take place for almost another 20 years.

Notable residents

Jon Alpert, reporter and documentary filmmaker
Andre Roy, NHL player
David Telesco, Professional light-heavyweight boxer and sanitation worker
Anthony Hill, Semi-pro bicyclist
Elliot del Borgo, American composer
Meaghan Francella, LPGA player
Arnold Diaz, Reporter and Consumer Investigator for Fox 5 News NY
Bruce Fonseca, Semi-Professional Race Car Driver

Trivia

Port Chester was home to world record holder Peter J. Vita. Peter holds the world record for the longest working career as a barber. He died on January 7, 2004.

The Lifesavers Company operated a factory in Port Chester from 1920 until 1984. The building is one of Port Chester's most prominent landmarks.

Port Chester was home to the first Caldor department store.

Port Chester is home to the world famous Pat's Hubba Hubba restaurant.

Port Chester is the home town of Ed Sullivan. He went to Port Chester High School and raised his family here.

Port Chester's Capitol Theatre is a national landmark, which was a 1920s movie theatre and hosted live music for decades, including the Grateful Dead, Phish, The Rolling Stones, Jane's Addiction, Ice T's Body Count, Pink Floyd, Parliament/Funkadelic, Edgar Winter, David Bowie, The Allman Brothers, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Chicago, Black Sabbath, and the first NY performance by The Dictators.

Port Chester's name comes from it being the eastern port of Westchester. Some of its other names included Saw Pit/Saw Pit Landing/Sawpits (for its lumber operations) and Haseco, the original Native American name for the village, which meant "grown too long and gotten woody."

The Abendroth Brothers foundry was one of the largest industries in latter day Port Chester. It was large enough to have its own locomotive. Although it seems strange nowadays, Port Chester had many industrial companies.

Port Chester is the home of Marvel Mystery Oil. Although the brand was sold in the 1990s to DAP/RPM, it was based in Port Chester until that time. Their building still stands, with the Marvel signs intact.

Techno musician Moby got his start in Port Chester and neighboring Greenwich, CT. He played frequently at the Adee Street club "The Beat".

Port Chester was the terminus on one branch of the original Westchester railroad, the New York, Westchester and Boston, from 1906-1946.

US Route 1 (aka The Boston Post Road) runs directly though Port Chester in the form of Main Street. It is also parallel to I-95 and I-287 ends in Port Chester. Westchester Avenue also ends in Port Chester.

Port Chester's port history appears in some interesting places. Near the corner of Main Street and Westchester Avenue, there is an old bank building. In front of it and embedded in the sidewalk to this day are brass hand-set letters which read "Steamship Tickets."

External Links

Port Chester official website
Port Chester Rye Brook Chamber of Commerce website
InTown Westchester Magazine
The Journal News, the local newspaper
New York town sued over Hispanic voter rights-Reuters
The Town of Rye Official Website
Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 41.005099° -73.668822°
Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
Topographic map from TopoZone
Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

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Archive Port Chester Business Wire 2006 August

Website Of The Month
Your Port Chester Snapshot
This website is for the residents of Port Chester, New York. Here, you will find links to news stories, editorials, weather conditions, movie listings, TV schedules, restaurants, and other information about our Village. You will also find a message board where you are encouraged to share your ideas, opinions and questions about anything pertaining to Port Chester or this website. Feel free to stop by the message board, even if it is just to say Hi.

Make Your Port Chester Snapshot your preferred homepage, and stay up to date on life in Port Chester every time you surf the internet. New sections will be added to this site soon, including: Area Garage/Tag Sales, Lost & Found Pets, Classified Ads (posted for free), and Local Employment Opportunities (posted for a nominal fee). If you see anything you feel should be changed on this site or have an idea for a new section, please contact the Webmaster.
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