Letter to the Editor: Village is Unique

You will find that the Village of Brewster is unique. It is a walkable community with about 600 buildings and about 2,200 residents (on the books) that does not have an equal in Putnam or Northern Westchester. The nearest comparison for structures and population could be someplace like Ridgefield, but obviously the economic difference is polar.

For this reason, I suggest that you view future stories about the village through that glass. Everyone knows everyone. Store owners help one another. Most residents are on a first name basis with the mayor, clerk and Department of Public Works staff. It is a real community — self-contained — but not isolated.

Brewster has always been that way. Despite everyone’s desire to make it look like Katonah or Bedford, it has never been and could never be like them. It is the “Hub of the Harlem Valley” with [Interstates] 84, 684, [Routes] 22, 202 and 6 nearby or actually in the village and it has a railroad station whose name is a household word in the Northeast and beyond. It was home to the Borden Factory, the Iron Miners, the Circus people, the dam builders and the Railroad workers. Laborers, immigrants, blue-collar workers throughout its history. It was never a draw for white-collar workers in sufficient numbers to change the complexion of the village.

The people who want it to look like Katonah are latecomers and are like the people who move near airports and then complain about the noise. Some political opportunists have tried to make an issue of the immigrant population but the history of Brewster since 1848 could be written on the head of a pin if not for its immigrants. I do not condone illegal immigration but find it laughable that were are still dealing with color, race or national origin in 2011.

You picked the most interesting area in the region for your chapter of Patch. Enjoy it.