Our Work in Sleepy Hollow

• Introduction
• History
• Developer Plans
• Traffic Issues
• Density Issues
• Community Issues
• Environmental Issues
• Parks Issues
• Hudson Access Issues
• Pocantico Issues
• Quotes

A Rich History

Located in a landscape immortalized by Washington Irving in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” the site of the GM plant once was a harbor called Slapershaven – Sleepers’ Haven. The Pocantico River, a major tributary on the lower Hudson River, flowed into it. At high tide, sloops could sail up the Pocantico to the gristmill at Philipsburg Manor, which has been reconstructed.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the harbor was gradually filled in. The site became home to one of the nation’s first automobile assembly plants in 1899. GM purchased the facility in 1924. Shortly after, they rerouted the Pocantico.

Historic view of the harbor at the mouth of the Pocantico River.

GM shut down the plant in 1996. Following the closure, Scenic Hudson, along with village leaders and the organization Historic Hudson Valley, undertook a three-year planning process that engaged the local community in shaping a vision for developing the riverfront site. It culminated with a proposed model featuring four goals:

1. Allowing people to connect with the Hudson River through a “green crescent” of interconnected parks and trails.
2. A neighborhood that functions as an extension of the lower village.
3. A commercial district integrated into the existing village.
4. Restoring habitat along the Pocantico River and creating a second branch along the river’s original course.

Scenic Hudson remains committed to these goals.