Information about Montebello, New York

Montebello, New York
Seal
Motto:
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Rockland
Area
- Village	4.4 sq mi (11.3 km)
- Land	4.4 sq mi (11.3 km)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km)
Elevation	318 ft (97 m)
Population (2000)
- Village	3,688
- Density	845.1/sq mi (326.3/km)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	10901
Area code(s)	845
FIPS code	36-48090
GNIS feature ID	0979939

Montebello is a village in Rockland County, New York, United States. The population was 3,688 at the 2000 census.

The Village of Montebello is in the Town of Ramapo.

Geography

Montebello is located at (41.127595, -74.119196)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 11.3 km² (4.4 mi²), all land.

The road system within the Village totals 20.98 miles. Of this, 1.97 miles are State roads, 6.23 miles of County Roads and 12.78 miles of Village Roads. The major arteries include State Route 202, the NYS Thruway (Exit 14B is within the Village) and County roads including Airmont, Hemion, Montebello (portion), Spook Rock and Viola Roads, and Grandview Avenue and Dunnigan Drive.

Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 3,688 people, 1,163 households, and 1,023 families residing in the village. The population density was 326.6/km² (845.1/mi²). There were 1,182 housing units at an average density of 104.7/km² (270.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 92.79% White, 2.74% African American, 0.11% Native American, 2.68% Asian, 0.81% from other races, and 0.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.96% of the population.

There were 1,163 households out of which 49.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 81.7% were married couples living together, 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.0% were non-families. 9.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.14 and the average family size was 3.36.

In the village the population was spread out with 32.1% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.6 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $116,600, and the median income for a family was $114,890. Males had a median income of $87,058 versus $41,250 for females. The per capita income for the village was $44,098. About 2.4% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.3% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Government

The duties of the Mayor are defined in the NYS Village Law and similar to those of a chief executive. The Mayor has the power to provide for the enforcement of all local laws. The Mayor presides over the meetings of the Board of Trustees. The Mayor has the power to appoint all Village employees and non-elected board and commission members, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees. The Mayor also executes all contracts in the name of the Village.

The Board of Trustees has the power to manage all village property and finances. This power extends to setting tax rates and fee schedules that generate revenue for the Village as well as authorizing expenditures for all municipal purposes. The Board of Trustees is also empowered to enact local laws for the safety, health, comfort and general welfare of the residents of the Village and for the preservation and protection of public works such as roads, street lighting and public buildings.

• Mayor- Jeffrey S. Oppenheim
• Deputy Mayor- Lance Millman
• Trustees- Steven A. Sorrillo, Stacy Carridi, Marc Citrin

Tourism

History

• The early history of Montebello far exceeds the formal boundaries of the incorporated Village today. The rolling hills and fertile soil in the Ramapo Valley provided a quite unassuming way of life for the early pioneering families. A small collection of farms and mills dotted the countryside and were connected by dirt paths and rugged roadways. That was all about to change with the coming of the iron rails and the trains that would ride them. In neighboring Suffern, the Erie Railroad began operating in 1841, and with it, exposed the area to sights and sounds never imagined. Suffern has become an important and busy station on the main line of the Erie Railroad. New Yorkers, in search of cool, quite retreat to relieve the stress of their urban lifestyles, filled the passenger trains bounds in summer for the surrounding rural regions. Relatively isolated prior to the 1860’s, Suffern served as a welcome mat for the upstate Erie traveler. Twenty trains a day, loaded with seasonal tourists, stopped at the impressive Victorian depot. Wordsoon spread among the travelers that “romantic scenery, fascinating beauty and rich land” could be found at the “pleasant summer resort”. Suffern played host to the traveling public, whether accepting the hospitality offered by the resort hotels and boarding houses or just switching trains. The list of guests, visitors and part-time residents who were attracted to Suffern’s rural charm included the names of many families from New York’s affluent “upper crust”. Some came as seasonal vacationers, closing to rent an estate, while others bought property from the abundant amount of undeveloped land. Picturesque rolling hills and vast wooded lands guarded by the Ramapo Mountains provided a rustic setting for the development of elegant country estates. One such estate was that of wealthy New York financier Thomas Fortune Ryan, in August 1987, the Ryan’s purchased the former Groesbeck mansion which has been built in the 1860’s. From the hilltop, the estate has a commanding view of the Ramapo Mountains. The Ryan’s called their estate “Montebello”. Within three years, they had the elegant frame dwelling torn down and replaced with a large brick and stone mansion at the cost of $600,000. The new summer home contained such amenities as a two- lane bowling alley, and electric elevator, a private chapel, greenhouse, 13 fireplaces and in all, over forty-four rooms. The estate comprises of 1,000 acres and has a working farm. (Not including the 5 smaller “mansions” the Ryan’s built for their sons in the area, some of which are still standing today). Aside from a fashionable home on Fifth Avenue, the Ryan’s maintained homes in Washington, D.C. and a second home in Livingston, Virginia, all reflecting the wealth of one of America’s most prosperous and devoutly religious Irish Catholic families. Thomas Fortune Ryan’s riches were in vast contrast with his humble beginnings in rural Nelson County, Virginia. Orphaned at age nine, Ryan would eventually become the tenth wealthiest man in the nation. After leaving his native state is 1868, he traveled to Baltimore and found a job in the dry goods business of John S. Barry, a highly successful entrepreneur. It was at this time that Ryan met Ida M. Barry, the boss’s daughter, whom he later married. Using his wife’s wealth as a foundation on which to build his own. Ryan launched his business career. Upon moving to New York, he engaged in the stock market trade and at age 23 became the youngest man ever to purchase a seat on the New York State Stock Exchange. From there he amassed millions in urban transit, railroads, tobacco, insurance, banking rubber, diamonds, and even the Thompson submachine gun. The Ryan’s were as generous to philanthropies as they were rich. It has been estimated that Mrs. Ryan gave $20 million dollars to various charities and endowments across the country. Most of these were affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church; however, there were also sizable donations to nonsectarian institutions as well. By 1905 it was reported that Mrs. Ryan’s munificence covered the building of “at least one hundred new chapels, schools, churches, hospitals, homes for Sisters of Charity and homes for the aged and infirmed”. Mrs. Ryan displayed a special fondness for her new neighbors by contributing equipment to the newly formed Suffern Fire Department. She also built a new church and established a girl’s school and a seminary in Suffern, among other things. Shortly after the turn of the 20th century, she turned her attention to the health needs of the community and started Good Samaritan Hospital. After Mrs. Ryan’s death in 1917, the family divided up the estate and sold the main mansion in 1921 to Edward Swann, New York City District Attorney. After a brief period of ownership (several months), Swann sold the property to the Archdiocese of New York. They established a retreat site for St. Joseph’s College and Seminary at the mansion. In 1944, Montebello was sold to Suffern resident Gustav Mayer. Among some of the plans the Mayer family had for the property, one idea was to develop a country club. That never materialized and the vacant mansion fell victim to vandals. The cooper mining giant Phelps Dodge Corp. bought the dilapidated mansion in 1951 and used it as a corporate records headquarters for the next 31 years. After a relocation move, Phelps Dodge Corp sold the mansion for $1.6 million to Gary Goldberg, president of the investment/financial planning firm which bears his name. After a year of extensive renovation, Montebello had yet another life, becoming a unique office park with turn-of-the- century elegance, bridging the past with the future.

Historical Markers

• Bayard Lane, Route 202. “Turning off the Haverstraw Rd, almost opposite the house of Senator Royal S. Copeland, into a dirt avenue, one is faced by a waste- land of scrub oak and sassafras with a lonely shack near the entrance.” This is how a visitor described the Bayard Lane community, a small “ Utopia” home- stead project, made up of a plucky group of self sufficient, self-sustaining colonists in 1936. Beyond the initial appearance, lay the successful homestead project, the brainchild of Ralph Borsodi, nationally known author, economist and philosopher. It was his vision to develop a domestic lifestyle that was productive, independent and economically practical for the New York City commuter. Borsodi, a wiry, shock- haired little man who wore horn-rimmed glasses and paid “little attention to his clothes”, began his new style of country living, later labeled as “agrarianism for commuters”in 1919. He along with his wife and two sons moved from New York City and rented a small unimproved farm- house near Suffern. While Borsodi commuted to work in the city, they began their initial family experiments. Within a 15 year period, he and his family, tested their theories and dreams of self-subsistence and economic freedom while enjoying the beauty of nature. Authoring several books on economics, Borsodi’s work, This Ugly Civiization, published in 1929, brought him national attention. Four years later, his best selling book, Flight from the City appeared as the country was mired in the depths of the Depression. Firing the imagination of struggling families, many with low paying inner city jobs and an aimless future, the book described a way to seek out a good agrarian lifestyle and graphically detailed his own family’s experiences and accomplishments at homesteading in Suffern. In 1935, Borsodi launched Bayard Lane, a small experimental cooperative community on a rolling unimproved tract of forty acres at the foot of the Ramapo Mountains. The property was acquired by the Independence Foundation Inc., a nonprofit cooperative and self-governing group of which Borsodi was a trustee. The other members were Samuel D. Dodge, Clarence E. Pickett, Dr. Harold Rugg, Beveridge C. Dunlop, W. Van Alan Clark, Mrs. Elizabeth Macdonald, Mrs. William Sargent Ladd and Dr. Warren Wilson. They divided the estate into one and two acre homesteads occupied by individual families. The homes were owned individually, the land cooperatively. The Foundation indentured the land to the homeowner through a corporation representing them. Fourteen families who knew Borsodi or who had heard of his project were willing to try the experiment after those interested in the idea had been “philosophically initiated the previous January”The New York Times reported. Ground was broken for the first house (Marquart residence, #14 Bayard Lane) on June 23, 1935. Using the Ernest Flagg method of construction, they built attractive, economical, sturdy homes of native fieldstone. Each house had all the modern conveniences of the day. It was said, they “will be standing at least a hundred years after they are paid for.” Homes could be constructed by various building craft guilds under a special arrangement with the Independence Foundation. A professional staff would provide architects, estimates, record keeping and construction. The benefits to the homeowners were considerable. They could do as much of the work themselves, calling in help whenever needed. The Foundation would also offer loan contracts. To prevent substandard, unattractive buildings, construction plans were reviewed by a committee. The School of Living, was literally and figuratively the centerpiece of Borsodi’s experiment in homesteading, headquartered at #21 Bayard Lane in 1938. Dedicated on Independence Day to the “economic independence of the American people,”the School of Living was to develop research and promote the Borsodi philosophy of balanced and healthy living in which the home and the land were productive instruments. The school taught the essentials of do-it- yourself agrarianism, including caning, poultry raising, animal husbandry, masonry, carpentry, use of tools and household equipment. Borsodi’s “Bayard Lane Utopia”appeared to be a great idea on paper, and initially it appeared to be successful and was prominently featured in a variety of national publications. But as the United States entered the Second World War, the economy shifted and society began to change. A new wave of patriotism swept the country, leading Bayard Lane residents to distance themselves from Borsodi’s self-sufficient principles and cooperative living. Eventually, Borsodi resigned from the Foundation, and in time, many of the original families living in this small enclave moved away. Today, the area retains its historic charm and character. In 1992, two historical markers were erected to recount the legacy left by the nearly forgotten experimental community whose new style of country living received national attention in the 1930's, and gave hope and inspiration to struggling families of the Depression.
• Cobblestone Farm, Viola Road & Cobblestone Farm Court. A notable landmark in the Village of Montebello is Cobblestone Farm. The setting for this magnificent estate is an attractive 35 acres of well groomed land on Viola Road. It was once the home of White Laboratories founder and vice president Henry von L. Meyer Sr. In 1907, Mr. Meyer carefully chose 200 acres from the abundant, rural Ramapo landscape, for the creation of an elegant county estate and working farm. Among the rolling hills, century-old trees, beautiful mountain vistas, he carved “one of the model showplaces in Rockland County”, as reported by “The New York Times”. Part of this extensive property today is dotted with private homes as well as the site of Suffern High School. The farm’s centerpiece was a cobblestone barn/carriage house, built with the stones cleared from the fields, hence the name Cobblestone Farm. Handsome stone walls outlined the estate’s boundaries. Additional outbuildings were constructed to form an attractive ensemble of farm buildings, including a massive timberframe diary barn with caretaker’s cottage. Several ponds were formed and one-third of the acreage was put under cultivation. Thousands of vegetables and flowering plants were raised and donated to local charities and hospitals. The estate’s owner was a descendant of an old Colonial family from Long Island. His cousin, George von L. Meyer, was Secretary of the Navy under President Theodore Roosevelt and served as an ambassador to several countries. Henry von L. Meyer was a prominent businessman and after a number of years in the paper manu- facturing business, he entered the drug manufacturing field and became vice president of Health Products Company in New York City. He later founded White Laboratories in Newark, NJ which manufactured many nationally known drug products such as Feenamint, Aspergum and a number of cod liver oil concentrates. After moving to the Suffern area, Mr. Meyer became connected locally with a number of leading business institutions. He was a chief stockholder in the Lafayette Theatre, the Ramapo Valley Independent newspaper, Ramapo Cider & Vinegar Company, and a vice president in the Suffern National Bank. Henry Meyer and his wife Laura Hard Meyer had two children, Henry von L. Meyer Jr. and Sarah Meyer. The family was well known for their philanthropic interest in the county. For many years they were involved in the State Charities Aid Association, Rockland Volunteer Aid Society, the Boy Scouts and were founding members of the Rockland County Conservation Association. But perhaps their greatest charity work was associated with the Rockland County Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Ardent supporters to the society, the Meyers donated thousands of dollars annually and worked actively for the organization, including erecting a branch shelter at their farm to care for homeless animals.
• Montebello, 75 Montebello Road
• Johnson Farmhouse, Viola Road
• Montebello Park, 253 Spook Rock Road,
• School of Living - 21 Bayard Lane

Landmarks and places of Interest

• Montebello Park, 253 Spook Rock Road

Recreational Facilities

Two major recreational facilities owned by the Town of Ramapo, the Spook Rock Golf Course and the Spook Rock Pool, are located within the Village. The County’s Kakiat Park is also within the Village.

External links

• Village of Montebello official site
• * Maps and aerial photos for Coordinates:
• Maps from , Google Maps, Live Search Maps, Yahoo! Maps, or MapQuest
• Topographic maps from TopoZone or TerraServer-USA

	•  • [ e] Municipalities and communities of Rockland County, New York County seat: New City
Towns	Clarkstown | Haverstraw | Orangetown | Ramapo | Stony Point
Villages	Airmont | Chestnut Ridge | Grand View-on-Hudson | Haverstraw | Hillburn | Kaser | Montebello | New Hempstead | New Square | Nyack | Piermont | Pomona | Sloatsburg | South Nyack | Spring Valley | Suffern | Upper Nyack | Wesley Hills | West Haverstraw
Communities and CDPs	Bardonia | Blauvelt | Central Nyack | Congers | Garnerville | Grassy Point | Hillcrest | Jones Point | Ladentown | Monsey | Mount Ivy | Nanuet | New City | Orangeburg | Palisades | Pearl River | Sparkill | Stony Point | Tappan | Thiells | Tomkins Cove | Valley Cottage | Viola | West Nyack