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Originally Posted by ckhthankgod
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Is Port Jervis up next?
Restaurants, a new museum and outdoor escapes: How Port Jervis is becoming a destination:
https://www.recordonline.com/story/n...town-nletter01
From the article: "Walled off in all directions by the Delaware and Neversink Rivers and the Shawangunk Mountains, Port Jervis can feel like a world away from the rest of Orange County − like the antithesis of more urban-feeling Middletown and Newburgh.
“I mean, when you hit the top of the mountain and you look down over here, it often has this heavy mist and it sort of looks like Brigadoon,” said Port Jervis native William Schill. “And when the mist is not there, it sort of looks like the valley of the Jolly Green Giant.”
There was a time, Schill said, many decades ago when everything you could ever need was right in Port Jervis. The railroad industry was booming and many residents held manufacturing jobs at one of the numerous factories located inside Port Jervis’ borders. After work, locals could grab dinner at one of the city’s many restaurants, unwind with a beer at a local bar, or pick up some supplies at one of the innumerable small businesses located downtown.
But sometime during the second half of the twentieth century, something changed.
When Route 84 cut through the town, the Galleria at Crystal Run opened up, the railroad shut down and the past shifted into the present, Schill said. Port Jervis − in many ways − got left behind.
“The town just went to sleep,” he said and paused thoughtfully. “But now, it's starting to wake up.”
Schill smiled.
Today, this former factory town is embracing its storied past and encouraging a new crop of tourists and day trippers to explore the city's abundant outdoor recreation, support the various shops and restaurants downtown, and even visit the new train museum, which celebrates the industry that put Port Jervis on the map more than a century ago. And a $10 million revitalization grant, city officials said, might be the capstone of a years long effort to make Port Jervis a true destination.
Outdoor recreation saves struggling downtown
During his childhood in the '80s, said Dejay Birtch, 45, downtown Port Jervis was thriving.
“This town was the place to go,” he said, standing inside his store Action Bikes and Outdoor on Front Street. “Everybody that wanted to go shopping actually came here. Your JCPenney, Sears and everything was on Front Street and up Pike Street."
But things took a turn for the worse in the '90s when the Galleria at Crystal Run opened in Middletown, Birtch recalled. The city slowly began to feel like a ghost town as everyone flocked to Middletown, where they could access a variety of stores without ever stepping foot outside.
Over the years, Birtch acknowledged, numerous other factors contributed to the city's downfall: the recession, the opioid epidemic, manufacturing jobs moving overseas.
In 1994, Birtch moved away for several years, but he said he regularly returned to Port Jervis to visit family and friends. It was emotional to see the downtown reduced to a whisper of its former self.
“I can remember a certain time I came back and everything was boarded up on this street and Pike Street and it was just horrible,” he said, shaking his head. “There were maybe one or two businesses. Other than that, it was broken windows, boarded-up (storefronts), and people − I'm sure on drugs − passed out in the doorways. It was really shady and, like, just not my hometown. My hometown was gone.”
Mike Ward, a resident who is active in the community, said he and his wife were aware of the city's struggling reputation when they moved in from New York City in 2005, but nonetheless, they were attracted to the natural beauty and quiet.
"It really wasn’t as bad as the news made it out to be,” Ward said. “The biggest issue I think in this town was that the town didn't think about giving residents the things they needed to be entertained. I'm not talking about movies or things like that. I’m talking about recreation: Go out and ride a bike. No one rode a bike here 15 years ago. Now so many do!”
Every day, it seems, there are more things to do in Port Jervis, Ward said.
"Crime is down because entertainment is up," he said and gestured around him. "Once everyone sees this is really happening and that there's lots of things to entertain yourself − just wait, this is really only the start."
Ward, who is the president of the Port Jervis Outdoor Club, noted that recent investment in the city's outdoor tourism industry has helped bring tourists downtown.
"There's so much land that could be utilized for recreation, and so we've got our 50 miles of hiking and biking trails up here. We've got the pump track down at Riverside Park, and we're now under construction for a Disc Golf course," he said. "Our trails really increase the foot traffic into Port Jervis. Restaurants downtown recognize it and appreciate it."
Maria Mann, a city council member and the owner of The Gun Lady, a gun and gift shop on Front Street, said she's seen an enormous improvement in the downtown economy and atmosphere since the city and private groups began investing in and advertising Port Jervis' outdoor attractions.
"There's so much to do here, and a lot of it's free," Mann said. "People have families with kids, and it gets expensive to do activities. But here you can walk the trails. I like to be outdoors, and here there is the pump track, kayaking, tubing and fishing− that's real popular."
At Action Bikes and Outdoors, Birtch said he has encountered more and more people visiting Port Jervis for the outdoor attractions every year since he opened in 2019.
"People are learning about the trail systems here and how awesome they are. So you have people coming from further and further for the trail system. People are coming from hours and hours away," he said, adding that he was involved in one mountain biking event which drew tourists from 17 states. "Then they learn about all the other cool stuff going on in town from the hiking, the bird watching, the rivers."
Port Jervis encourages tourists and newcomers
Gordon Graff, the owner of the downtown art gallery and event venue UpFront Exhibition space, said he was delighted to see so many people downtown during the summer of 2022. There hasn't been a busier season in recent memory, he said.
"I feel like there is so much more energy," Graff said. "I opened in 2008, and there was a lot of potential. Slowly but surely, more businesses are opening."
The Port Jervis Tourism Committee has been working to capitalize on the new flow of tourists coming into the city and attract even more by hosting large-scale events and festivals throughout the year, said the committee's president, Laura Meyer.
"The fall foliage is priceless and the one we've held for the longest," she said, noting that the 2023 fall foliage festival in September will mark its 30th anniversary. "It's all downtown and we have over 150 vendors and just take over the whole downtown. We go up to City Hall and there's bands, there's petting zoos, there's lots of, lots of food. Everybody looks forward to that. And those events are free for people to attend."
As the city has grown in popularity, Meyer said, more and more small businesses have seen the downtown's potential and decided to open on Front and Pike Streets.
Foundry 42, a coffee, antique and gift shop, was one of the first new and "trendy" businesses to take a chance and open downtown in 2016, Meyer and others said.
Port Jervis was a different place back when Foundry 42 owner Cooper Boone opened up shop at 42 Front St., according to Boone's business partner Renee Meola.
"He will attribute a lot of (his decision to open a store in Port Jervis) to a sort of gut feeling," she said. "You just kind of know, and a place calls to you so you just have to try. He just knew this was going to work, and people didn't believe it. People said he was crazy."
In 2016, downtown Port Jervis was struggling and numerous storefronts were vacant. But Meola said Boone saw a homey, rustic town with a train line coming in from the city. There was potential, she said.
"Not to mention, having a place for people to meet is really, really central," she said, explaining that there wasn't a comparable business in town. "I think that was Cooper's whole thing: connecting people and providing a place for people to get together. And coffee becomes a part of that."
Since Foundry 42 opened in 2016, numerous new businesses have followed suit: Fogwood and Fig, Fox N Hare Brewing, Awakenings, 3 Ninja's Express, Breathless Raw Live Juice Bar and more.
Longstanding business owners welcome change
Legacy business owners welcome these new and trendy businesses, said Darryl McKeeby, 48, whose family has owned the Erie Hotel & Restaurant, the Trackside Manor and the Erie Tiki Bar for almost 30 years.
“It’s good. More businesses bring me more business," he said with a laugh. “I've spent my whole life here. I've got so much going on and I enjoy this business. We are lucky to always be busy, but it's been nice having new faces all the time. It's great to see that.”
Wandering through downtown Port Jervis can feel like being transported back in time, McKeeby said. Storefront facades, their brick often weathered and chapped, are packed closely together. Restaurants embrace a rustic feel, and just beyond the downtown, hills and mountains loom large.
“It does have a kind of old Western feel to it,” he said and nodded toward the saloon-like décor inside the Erie Restaurant. “And really, this used to be a real party town. There were 20-, 30-something bars downtown back when the train was booming.”
McKeeby still runs the family businesses alongside his brothers John and JD Brink.
The "old Western" and "blue-collar" feel of the city, Schill − the Port Jervis native who recounted the city's history − said, can predominantly be attributed to the railroad industry, which fueled Port Jervis' economy for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. But the railroad's demise, he said, contributed to its fall.
He hopes that same railroad can breathe new life into the city.
For more than a decade, Schill said, it's been his dream to transform the abandoned railroad tracks, now rusted with age, into a tourist destination. In May 2022, that dream was realized when the Port Jervis Transportation History Center opened its doors to the public for the first time.
"It's overwhelming to see it all coming together," he said last year, standing inside one of the boxcars he helped transform into a museum exhibit. "I didn't realize what an undertaking it was. It was just a fantasy, you know? But it feels like all of a sudden, we have this box car − 70 feet in length, 10 feet wide − and we filled it with stuff we've been collecting in the community."
The museum came together through the work of the Tristate Railway Preservation Society and Operation Toy Train.
"It's a wonderful, wonderful adventure. It brings back nostalgia to the older group. And I think the younger group was sort of interested to see it and to learn what it was like. Hopefully, it'll catch on and be a destination," Schill said.
Birtch said he never thought much about the city's railroad history growing up, but the opening of the museum has opened his eyes to the significance of the industry.
"I've always been like, 'Yeah, trains are cool.' But like, holy crap! There's like a ton of people that are, like, cuckoo crazy about trains. Which is awesome! We've all got our thing, and now Port Jervis has that."
Ward, who was heavily involved in the opening of the museum and bought some of the train cars now on display, said he's also been amazed by the number of people interested in the railroad museum.
"I work down here every day, seven days a week," he said. "What amazes me is the number of people that stop by to talk. They are people that worked on the railroad or train fanatics. There are a lot of people interested in trains."
In addition to the cars purchased by Ward, several train cars were donated by CSX Transportation.
"I wanted to make sure we established something for Port Jervis that would stay in Port Jervis," Ward said. "There have been so many false promises over the past four decades of making something happen here."
A financial boost for downtown Port Jervis
City officials are hoping to expand on the recent growth using $10 million that the state recently awarded Port Jervis through its Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which is intended to boost economies by transforming downtowns into vibrant neighborhoods.
"With this award, the city of Port Jervis will begin a new chapter toward revitalizing its downtown and growing its local economy as a scenic destination for community members and visitors alike," Hochul said in a news release.
Mayor Kelly Decker issued a statement in which he said the award "will certainly change, for the better, this old canal and railroad city into a place that will draw visitors and increase tourism." He called it "the icing on the cake" for years of efforts to improve the city.
"Once struggling for its survival, our little city on the banks of the Delaware (River) has made leaps and bounds of improvements," Decker's statement continued.
In an emailed statement, Decker said the $10 million is currently being managed by the state-appointed local planning committee which, over the course of the next seven months, will determine how the money will be spent.
According to the Port Jervis' grant application, which Decker said will serve as a guide for the local planning committee, some of the projects the city could spend the money on include: the construction of two free-standing public restrooms, a redesign of the area between the train station and downtown so it is safer and easier for pedestrians, the construction of a 36-unit apartment complex, an increase in the amount of signage downtown which would direct tourists to various landmarks and the installation of electric vehicle chargers.
Tourists and locals
Mark Wright, an artist from the Bronx, moved to Port Jervis in 2020 to escape the chaos of New York City.
"Compared to the Bronx, it's much more quiet and relaxing. It's a slower pace. I like it," he said. "I'm a city boy, so it's a different change. This is change."
Wright said he was unaware of Port Jervis' past struggles and has felt safe since moving to Port Jervis. While he knows drugs are a problem (like in many places), he said he doesn't think the issue really makes it downtown.
"I don't really hear anything, anything like that. It's not visible like it was in (New York City)," he said.
Emilie Padnick and David Chavez, a couple from Patchogue, were sitting outside Gio’s Restaurant on Front Street one Friday evening in August with their pitbull Trike.
“I'm pregnant, so there's not much we could do, and it's my birthday,” Padnick said. “But we found this really cool Airbnb in Cuddebackville. It’s really quirky and weird. … So we are spending a few days, eating at restaurants, kayaking on the Delaware. I want to go to some of the shops.”
Neither Padnick nor Chavez has ever been to Port Jervis, Padnick said, and their first impression was positive.
“It's really cute. It looks up-and-coming,” Padnick said.
Rachel and Wesley Price, both 26, said they stopped in Port Jervis on their way up from Alexandria, Virginia, to Portland, Maine.
“We were looking for something along the way, and we found Fox N Hare and it was just kind of like, 'Yeah, this is definitely up our alley,'” Rachel Price said. “I would say our first impression is that this is the kind of downtown area that I like. I grew up in Fredericksburg, Virginia. And so this feels a lot like the area that I grew up around. It looks like ... it has a lot of culture and a lot of character that you may not find in larger areas."
Wesley Price added, "Yeah, we like hidden gems and small towns with a strip like this that feels historical, and like I can't get that somewhere else."
It's been refreshing, locals said, to see empty storefronts finally filled and new faces wandering the downtown.
"It's alive now. The downtown is alive, and uptown, too," Meyer said, smiling. "There's all these new businesses, each with their own flavor and character. It's bustling on the weekends. It's nice to see some life breathed back into the city. It needed it, and it feels good. I hope we can retain it and keep it going."
Sitting at the bar at the Fox N Hare, friends Veronica Valiente and Cody McCann said the downtown is nearly unrecognizable from the one they grew up with.
"We see a lot more faces that we don't know, like even just sitting here, we're like, 'Who are these people?'" Valiente joked and motioned around the bar. "There are a lot more businesses and a lot more people from other towns that come every year. Ten years ago, they probably never would have come."
McCann said he feels like his hometown is on the map for the first time in a long time.
"It's nicer, and it's much safer," he said. "Now, you are starting to see more and more people migrating here."
For Schill, it's emotional to see outsiders begin to appreciate the beauty and history of the city which shaped him.
"Port Jervis is just a fabulous town," he said. "When you come up over that mountain and down into this valley, you change. You just feel it's an altogether different situation."
As new vegan restaurants and juice bars and breweries open up, Schill said, Port Jervis is certainly not the same blue-collar city of his youth, but it still prides itself in that history. Schill hopes the future brings even more changes and downtown Port Jervis continues to evolve. Eventually, Schill hopes the city will become one of the most popular weekend destinations in the county.
“There's an awful lot of places starting to open up, and we're very happy that they're here,” Schill said. “We're all waiting, you know? It's like we're just sitting here waiting for this to happen.”
I think given its location and proximity to the Catskills as well, it is a place to keep an eye on it terms of becoming more "popular".
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