by Bill Batson When we turn on the faucet or flush the toilet, the water always flows. We may not know the exact source, or where the mains and pipes are buried, but we can […]
Author: Bill Batson
Bill Batson is an artist, writer and activist. He has worked for non profits, labor unions, and
government in New York State as an organizer writer and public relations specialist.
Nyack Sketch Log: St. Philip’s A.M.E Zion Church
by Bill Batson Two years before Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as president, St. Philip’s A.M.E. Zion Church was founded in 1859 by abolitionist John W Towt. Today, the term abolitionist is considered a badge of […]
Nyack Sketch Log: Pilgrim Baptist Church
by Bill Batson Pilgrim Baptist Church has found a safe harbor at the corner of High Avenue and North Franklin Street for the last 51 years. The building has multiple slanted roofs and high arched […]
Nyack Sketch Log: Edward Hopper Mania
by Bill Batson The building in Haverstraw that was the subject of Edward Hopper’s 1925 painting “House by the Railroad” still stands proud. The haunting depiction of the three story house by Hopper came to […]
Nyack Sketch Log: Our Green House
by Bill Batson The man who built this house, with labor coerced from slaves, laid the foundation for the village we occupy. Since his death in 1842, John Green’s house has had many owners and […]
Nyack Sketch Log: Couch Court
by Bill Batson Not every beautiful old house in Nyack merits its own historic marker. For other properties, the traditional historic marker is not a loud enough shout out. Clearly, there are many addresses that […]
Nyack Sketch Log: Fellowship of Reconcilliation
by Bill Batson This is the house where Martin Luther King would have slept. Were it not for an assassin in Memphis in 1968, our nation’s Nobel Peace Prize winning champion of nonviolence would have […]
Nyack Sketch Log: Vincent’s Ear
by Bill Batson Until recently, painters in Nyack were second-class artisans. Nyack’s musicians could fine-tune their instruments at Long Island Drum Center. Local writers could always haunt the stacks at Pickwick Book Shop. Our thespians […]
Nyack Sketch Log: Warts and All
by Bill Batson In 1884, Nyack, NY was a bustling river community and the commercial heart of Rockland County. This sketch is from a widely circulated map made by L. R Burleigh in that year […]
Nyack Sketch Log: Village Hall
December 28, 2011 by Bill Batson Nyack will inaugurate its 37th mayor on Saturday, December 31 at 12n. The smooth transition of government, from Nyack’s current mayor, Richard Kavesh, to new mayor Jen Laird White, is […]
