What’s New in Pleasantville?
Pleasantville Astrology opens for business on February 1st 2024.
My office is on the second floor, suite 131
Pleasantville is a very fine town in mid-Westchester, north of New York City. It has a great transport link in the shape of the Metro North (Harlem Line) railway and it takes a manageable fifty minutes to get to Grand Central with its zodiacal ceiling. So is it a dormitory town for commuters working the city? Some.
But Pleasantville has it’s own vibe, its own virtues. Leading the way (in my opinion) is the Jacob Burns Film Center. The Burns has a creative programming policy, they show the most interesting of the latest commercial releases and they combine that with quasi-obscure indie movie from international sources. There are quiet dramas, niche documentaries, quirky comedies, and if you’re a member you get free popcorn on a Wednesday.
It could have gone another way … The property now occupied by the Burns was being eyed by a chain clothing store, and the word is that the popular vote would have gone that way, but a single elected representative stuck out and stuck up for film art. And the town is better for it. Why so?
Well not only does it supply interesting fare, but it makes the town a destination. Wheeler Avenue has one of every kind of restaurant Asian fusion (Actually 2 of them), a Pizza place one of three in the wider municipality with one more on the way, a hispanic deli, a trattoria, a micro brewery, a steak house, a fish and chips shop (alas now closed; I cried; it’s a British thing), and more delis sprinkled around corners, a sushi place, a Southern kitchen, a meld of French and Indian (You don’t believe it? Catch a train up here and I’ll show you). But there’s more.
Of the seven emporiums selling alcoholic refreshment there is one advanced establishment which serves Irish Whiskey aged in Guinness casks (think of it!?!).
And there are four denominations amongst the churches, plus a synagogue, oh five if you count the Korean place now closed which has turned its grounds into a community garden. At the Presbyterian they host a FREE chamber music performance from top-notch musicians, four times a year.
There are three or four dry cleaners, a gym, two nails salons, a car dealership, only three national chains (Dunkin', Starbucks, 7/11 ) and they nestle, a real live coffee shop where you can borrow a book, or take it home, and leave one for someone else. There is a farmer’s market every week. Fresh fish, all kinds of produce, cheeses to sample on friendly plates, bakers, Tibetan steamed dumplings. Yes a vegan food-to-go spot too, where you can get wheatgrass shots. They have a bicycle shop here, and there are dentists and psychologists should you need them.
Pleasantville Community Television produces an eclectic mix of local small screen stuff. There’s a pool. And don’t forget the Norman Rockwell type diner, glistening in chrome and marble in Memorial Plaza. A car mechanic. An opportunity shop. There’s more … Jean Jaques still here after three generations, makes amazing quiches. You can buy lottery tickets at one of the four gas stations; I only ever do when the jackpot reaches nine figures.
One town down the track, the aptly named Valhalla boasts a magnificently landscaped cemetery of several hundred acres with a pond and ornamental trees. Al Hirschfeld’s last remains rest there, as do Danny Kaye’s.
One town over towards the three thousand acres of semi-wild managed woodland that is the Rockefeller Preserve is the village of Pocantico Hills where the Union Church (a denomination we do not have here) boasts half a dozen stained glass windows by Chagall, with a Rose Window by Matisse. The Preserve itself was a sanctuary during the lockdown, we walked there in all seasons. At Pocantico there is an internationally known restaurant called Stone Barns - it wasn’t known to me, and when I asked if there was a table for two for lunch, the charming lady on the door told me booking for lunch were running on a six month waiting list.
If ever there was a town which lives up to it’s name it’s this one. Pleasantville. I remember reading about Smallville where Superman came from (after Krypton) when I was a boy in England. Now I wonder if the super-hero equivalent here is the lady who runs one of the last physical bookshops in the county. It’s just not the same buying online is it? All kinds of goods and services are available here in Pleasantville. There was a dojo where I did T’ai Chi. Sadly it fell out of service in the lockdown. But the town is thriving. A new apartment building with 70 or more deluxe places with deluxe rents has just opened for business.
Amidst all this great variety and interest and life. Was there an astrologer available?
There is now.
