About 40 neighbors near the Nyacks and Piermont went for a slow & social, bike ride, Rolling By The River, on Sunday June 2. The event was produced by the Rockland Bicycling Club, and promoted by the Village of Nyack Recreation Department, Upper Nyack, Piermont and Nyack News And Views. Special thanks to event sponsors R2M Realty, Hartell’s Deli and Velo Bistro & Wine Bar for the “after party” ice cream social at the Edward Hopper House Museum and Study Center. Upper Nyack Mayor Karen Tarapata talks about plans for the village’s Riverhook Park.

Special thanks to Upper Nyack Mayor Karen Tarapata, who hosted a brief stop at Riverhook, the former sheep farm near Nyack Beach State Park which the village is turning into a park, and Village of Nyack Trustee Maria Lorenzini, who helped to check in participants at the start of the ride.Despite predictions of threatening weather, it was a beautiful day for a bicycle ride. And it’s always a great day for ice cream, so it’s safe to say a fine time was had by all!

Slow rolls are frequent events across the state and the country in places like Syracuse and Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, Worcester, Oshkosh -- and Piermont, NY. Events like Slow Rolls were one of the many recommendations in the 2018 Greater Nyack Bike Walk Master Plan (BikeWalkGreaterNyack.com), a six month project funded by the New NY Bridge Community Benefits Fund, studying bike and pedestrian behavior in the Nyack river villages and hamlets in the Nyack School District.

This article originally appeared on NyackNewsAndViews.com.

The Greenbush Rd / Rt 303 Bypass officially opened with a ribbon cutting on July 13 attended by RBC members, NYS Senator David Carlucci, Rockland County Legislator Harriet Cornell, Orangetown Supervisor Chris Day and former supervisor and project champion Andy Stewart. Senator David Carlucci secured the $125,000 in state funding necessary for the project to be completed.

RBC President Mike Hays represented the club speaking about the need to create more bike/ped infrastructure. The 1/4 mile path parallels Rt 303 near the site of a fatal crash with a tractor trailer that killed cyclist Robert Carl Pinckert in 2003.