What's good in White Plains?
April 12, 2017 8:50 AM Subscribe
I'll be in White Plains, NY the first weekend in May. What are some interesting things to do, see, or eat in that area? I'll have a car available. I don't especially want to go into NYC.
I'll be visiting family that weekend; said family has a toddler and an infant, so things that are kid-friendly would be great. I've been to New York several times, and for this trip I'd like to focus on places outside the city. FWIW, I like bookstores, interesting markets/grocery stores, science-y stuff, and historical stuff.
I'll be visiting family that weekend; said family has a toddler and an infant, so things that are kid-friendly would be great. I've been to New York several times, and for this trip I'd like to focus on places outside the city. FWIW, I like bookstores, interesting markets/grocery stores, science-y stuff, and historical stuff.
Ok. People who are from this area always look at me puzzled when I say this, but when I was driving to NYC from Boston one time, I pulled off the highway to eat because of a sign and I wound up in Stew Leonards. It is definitely an interesting market/grocery store - I've never seen anything like it. It's kind of like if you went to an Ikea that was a grocery store but it was also an amusement park and also from an episode of Mad Men? I fell in loooove with it.
posted by pazazygeek at 9:14 AM on April 12, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by pazazygeek at 9:14 AM on April 12, 2017 [4 favorites]
Best answer: The Untermyer Garden Conservatory in Yonkers is free.
posted by plastic_animals at 9:19 AM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by plastic_animals at 9:19 AM on April 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Frankly, I've never found much of interest in White Plains per se.
The historical interest is mostly along the Hudson River a few miles to the west. I did find this site listing a lot of the local museums, not all of which are near the river, and not all of which are colonial or revolutionary history.
posted by SemiSalt at 9:31 AM on April 12, 2017
The historical interest is mostly along the Hudson River a few miles to the west. I did find this site listing a lot of the local museums, not all of which are near the river, and not all of which are colonial or revolutionary history.
posted by SemiSalt at 9:31 AM on April 12, 2017
I am not sure how much time you have, but I would seriously consider heading up over the Bear Mountain Bridge to visit West Point. Or, in the alternative head up to Cold Spring which is just across from West Point but on the east side of the river. Great little shops, ice cream!, park by the river and can go to Boscobel.
In White Plains, not sure if the little ones are joining you for all meals, but I have always enjoyed Sam's of Gedney Way just off of Mamaroneck Ave on Gedney Way (natch).
I also love strolling on the North County Trailway. If you are going hiking, I think this is the park that Hillary was spotted in the woods.
My kids loved going to Teatown when they were young. Great nature preserve. Extremely kid friendly. Lots of outdoor fun for kids.
posted by AugustWest at 10:00 AM on April 12, 2017
In White Plains, not sure if the little ones are joining you for all meals, but I have always enjoyed Sam's of Gedney Way just off of Mamaroneck Ave on Gedney Way (natch).
I also love strolling on the North County Trailway. If you are going hiking, I think this is the park that Hillary was spotted in the woods.
My kids loved going to Teatown when they were young. Great nature preserve. Extremely kid friendly. Lots of outdoor fun for kids.
posted by AugustWest at 10:00 AM on April 12, 2017
The Katonah Museum of Art is not too far away, and Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a nice place to see a concert - the grounds are beautiful, though probably not worth paying for an admission ticket if you're not going for a show. The house tour is pretty neat too.
posted by moonmilk at 10:28 AM on April 12, 2017
posted by moonmilk at 10:28 AM on April 12, 2017
Kensico Dam in nearby Valhalla is cool to walk around on a nice day, and there's a playground there for the little ones.
Science Barge is a floating urban farm that is docked on the Hudson River at Yonkers.
At Union Church of Pocantico Hills, you can see stained glass windows by Matisse and Chagall.
posted by xo at 10:28 AM on April 12, 2017
Science Barge is a floating urban farm that is docked on the Hudson River at Yonkers.
At Union Church of Pocantico Hills, you can see stained glass windows by Matisse and Chagall.
posted by xo at 10:28 AM on April 12, 2017
Agree on Katonah, Stew Leonards .
Kykuit for the Rockefellers, and Sleepy Hollow if you're interested in Hudson Valley history.
Hudson River Museum in Yonkers.
If you mean Manhattan as New York City you'd like to avoid, Wave Hill is in the northern Bronx and easily driveable without feeling like the city.
posted by TravellingCari at 10:43 AM on April 12, 2017
Kykuit for the Rockefellers, and Sleepy Hollow if you're interested in Hudson Valley history.
Hudson River Museum in Yonkers.
If you mean Manhattan as New York City you'd like to avoid, Wave Hill is in the northern Bronx and easily driveable without feeling like the city.
posted by TravellingCari at 10:43 AM on April 12, 2017
The Hudson River Museum in Yonkers has a substantial planetarium. It's about a half hour drive from White Plains. An easy, kid-friendly day could be: Musem/planetarium; short ride up Route 9 to Untermyer's; then another short ride to the adjacent village of Hastings-on-Hudson which has a small walkable downtown with interesting shops (including two bookstores).
For food stop at Palisade Pizza in Yonkers after the museum if you want pizza, otherwise there are several options in Hastings (I liked Taiim Falafel Shack).
posted by mikepop at 11:00 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
For food stop at Palisade Pizza in Yonkers after the museum if you want pizza, otherwise there are several options in Hastings (I liked Taiim Falafel Shack).
posted by mikepop at 11:00 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
The first weekend in May happens to be when the White Plains Performing Arts Center has their production of Urinetown. It's part of their conservatory program of actors in 7th through 12th grade.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 11:03 AM on April 12, 2017
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 11:03 AM on April 12, 2017
I'd link to Untermyer Gardens but people have already beaten me to it. I'll just add that the several thousand tulips we planted in the fall will likely be at peak bloom. The cherry trees are also likely to be going strong.
May 6-7 is also Yonkers Arts Weekend which includes a fashion show in the gardens. The designers in past years have used the gardens well - models will walk throughout the gardens letting the audience get a much closer look at the fashion and if you're a bad amateur photographer like me, you can take photos of professional models who will pose for you.
I'll also second the Hudson River Museum.
Palisade Pizza isn't my favorite in that part of Yonkers, I'd personally go for A & V Pizza which is a takeout joint on a residential street. You could pick up a sausage and broccoli rabe pizza or a chicken scap pizza and eat it in the gardens.
A good number of the rivertowns have playgrounds on the Hudson River - so a nice place to take the toddler to a playground and the infant for a stroller ride.
posted by sciencegeek at 3:39 PM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
May 6-7 is also Yonkers Arts Weekend which includes a fashion show in the gardens. The designers in past years have used the gardens well - models will walk throughout the gardens letting the audience get a much closer look at the fashion and if you're a bad amateur photographer like me, you can take photos of professional models who will pose for you.
I'll also second the Hudson River Museum.
Palisade Pizza isn't my favorite in that part of Yonkers, I'd personally go for A & V Pizza which is a takeout joint on a residential street. You could pick up a sausage and broccoli rabe pizza or a chicken scap pizza and eat it in the gardens.
A good number of the rivertowns have playgrounds on the Hudson River - so a nice place to take the toddler to a playground and the infant for a stroller ride.
posted by sciencegeek at 3:39 PM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's on the edge of Manhattan, but I can't recommend the Cloisters enough - a medieval art museum housed in a medieval abbey brought over from Europe, surrounded by beautiful grounds. It's a magical place and I have great childhood memories of my first trip there.
Other wonderful, world class institutions nearby include the NY Botanic Garden and the Bronx Zoo. Any of these are great for both kids and adults, and really not at all like a day trip to NYC.
posted by veery at 7:23 PM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Other wonderful, world class institutions nearby include the NY Botanic Garden and the Bronx Zoo. Any of these are great for both kids and adults, and really not at all like a day trip to NYC.
posted by veery at 7:23 PM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
You could come to Sleepy Hollow (about 20 minutes from White Plains) and visit the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Walk around the burying ground at the Old Dutch Church — the 15th oldest building in New York State, per Wikipedia — and then walk up the hill to pay your respects to Washington irving himself. I also get a kick out of the fact that Samuel Gompers is buried just a short distance from Andrew Carnegie, so Gompers can keep an eye on him. A fun way to see the cemetery is to buy a ticket for a nighttime tour, which entitles you to wander around the cemetery with a tour guide in the dark, your path lit only by kerosene lanterns.
While you're here you can check out Kykuit, the old Rockefeller mansion, if you're into that kind of thing. Don't miss the underground art gallery, including a bunch of big Picasso tapestries — not a great collection, imo, but kind of fascinating just the same.
That may or may not be kid friendly, depending on how you feel about just walking around outdoors with the kids. While you're in the area — and I'll stump for it just since I know it well — you could come to Tarrytown (just about a mile away) for food. There's a place on Main Street called Bibillé that makes a nice bi bim bap variant in a bowl — meat or mushrooms over rice, topped with a mountain of fresh vegetables. And The Taco Project is an OK upscale taco place if you're not too hungry. (The best restaurant in town, other than the legendary Blue Hill at Stone Barns, is probably The Twisted Oak, but it's not cheap.) Across the street from Bibillé is Coffee Labs, a fine dog-friendly coffee roaster, and there are a few galleries and antique shops up and down the two-block business district. Tarrytown is kid-friendly in general, and there's a toy store that could be fun for kids. Also, Lucinda Williams is playing a show in town on that Friday night, 5/5, and Roger McGuinn is here on Saturday. Just sayin.
There's a decent little bookstore in Pleasantville, NY, but probably not worth going out of your way for. I don't know what to recommend in White Plains proper. There is a big H-Mart Korean grocery, if you don't have a good Asian grocer in your area, and I've picked up some yummy stuff at Yaranush, a smaller Mediterranean/Middle Eastern grocer. Both of those stores are on Central Avenue. A little ways down the road in Yonkers is Frank Pepe, which is a chain now but still makes a good pie in the New Haven style. They're famous for clam pies, but everything is pretty good. (I know you've done the city, but New Haven pizza is different from classic New York pie and is worth experiencing if you're any kind of pizza connoisseur.)
If you do feel like heading into the Bronx, it's an easy trip from White Plains and I'd recommend hitting Arthur Avenue, which is an Italian shopping district not far from the Bronx Zoo. You can get fantastic prosciutto and mozzarella and all the stuff you'd expect to find in those shops in Little Italy, but you don't have to brave downtown Manhattan to do it. You would want to check out the Arthur Avenue Market, in particular, though some of the nearby storefronts are equally great -- and if it were me I'd consider hitting up Lloyd's on the way back north for carrot cake.
posted by Mothlight at 10:52 PM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
While you're here you can check out Kykuit, the old Rockefeller mansion, if you're into that kind of thing. Don't miss the underground art gallery, including a bunch of big Picasso tapestries — not a great collection, imo, but kind of fascinating just the same.
That may or may not be kid friendly, depending on how you feel about just walking around outdoors with the kids. While you're in the area — and I'll stump for it just since I know it well — you could come to Tarrytown (just about a mile away) for food. There's a place on Main Street called Bibillé that makes a nice bi bim bap variant in a bowl — meat or mushrooms over rice, topped with a mountain of fresh vegetables. And The Taco Project is an OK upscale taco place if you're not too hungry. (The best restaurant in town, other than the legendary Blue Hill at Stone Barns, is probably The Twisted Oak, but it's not cheap.) Across the street from Bibillé is Coffee Labs, a fine dog-friendly coffee roaster, and there are a few galleries and antique shops up and down the two-block business district. Tarrytown is kid-friendly in general, and there's a toy store that could be fun for kids. Also, Lucinda Williams is playing a show in town on that Friday night, 5/5, and Roger McGuinn is here on Saturday. Just sayin.
There's a decent little bookstore in Pleasantville, NY, but probably not worth going out of your way for. I don't know what to recommend in White Plains proper. There is a big H-Mart Korean grocery, if you don't have a good Asian grocer in your area, and I've picked up some yummy stuff at Yaranush, a smaller Mediterranean/Middle Eastern grocer. Both of those stores are on Central Avenue. A little ways down the road in Yonkers is Frank Pepe, which is a chain now but still makes a good pie in the New Haven style. They're famous for clam pies, but everything is pretty good. (I know you've done the city, but New Haven pizza is different from classic New York pie and is worth experiencing if you're any kind of pizza connoisseur.)
If you do feel like heading into the Bronx, it's an easy trip from White Plains and I'd recommend hitting Arthur Avenue, which is an Italian shopping district not far from the Bronx Zoo. You can get fantastic prosciutto and mozzarella and all the stuff you'd expect to find in those shops in Little Italy, but you don't have to brave downtown Manhattan to do it. You would want to check out the Arthur Avenue Market, in particular, though some of the nearby storefronts are equally great -- and if it were me I'd consider hitting up Lloyd's on the way back north for carrot cake.
posted by Mothlight at 10:52 PM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I've marked as best answer the thing we actually did: the Untermeyer Gardens. My relatives had never heard of them, and we had a nice afternoon checking them out. There are actually quite a few things suggested here that they'd never heard of, so I know we'll be referring to this question often. (I am definitely checking out Stew Leonards next time I'm in town!) Thanks, y'all!
posted by Janta at 8:02 AM on May 9, 2017
posted by Janta at 8:02 AM on May 9, 2017
Just wanted to chime in late here and thank the other posters too. I live in the area and got some great recommendations myself including going to see Lucinda Williams last week in Tarrytown (great show!), the bookstore in P'ville and the Hudson River museum. Mothlight's food recs are terrific too!
posted by AugustWest at 1:27 PM on May 9, 2017
posted by AugustWest at 1:27 PM on May 9, 2017
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posted by JimN2TAW at 8:57 AM on April 12, 2017 [1 favorite]