All events are free to the public unless otherwise noted.
All events subject to change, check back for updates and more info.
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Senior Discount Thursdays!
View list of participating stores and restaurants in the Village
Shop Local Guide
Shop Hastings First!
View list of retail businesses in our downtown.
Free 15 Minute Parking
Beginning January 2024, and ongoing, there will be free 15 Minute Parking in the downtown via the Pay Stations and the Park Mobile App.
Support Our Downtown By Sending A Digital Gift Card
Downtown Dollar$ can be spent at many of your favorite retailers, restaurants, and services in Hastings. Use the gift card at any of the participating businesses in the Village – there is truly something for everyone! More info. Become a participating business.
Contact: Barbara Prisament, Hastings Downtown Advocate.
Author & Poet Bios
Monique Avakian is a NY-based performance poet and writer known for her creative spirit, playfulness and jazzy rhythms. Her imagery, characters and settings are often surreal in nature, with deeper meanings rooted in traditional metaphor. Monique’s varied body of work can be found on SoundCloud, YouTube, at local art exhibits, and in various publications.
John Evans is a poet, mystic, and dreamer, part-time adjunct professor of religion and self-published author of several poetry collections. John is currently studying to be a pastor and is the founder of a YouTube channel and podcast dedicated to the pursuit of faith and reason. John presently works in the Westchester County area with his wife, Samantha, a lifelong artist, as they continue their ministry of life, love, and: romance.
Beth Fonfrias is a member of several poetry collectives, including DownRiver Poets and has read with them and alone, at times accompanied by a jazz pianist, at various venues, celebrations, and festivals throughout Westchester. Beth leads memoir and poetry writing workshops, and her visual art has been included in group shows, most recently at The Masters School. She lives in Hastings-on-Hudson with her husband.
Melanie Hoopes is a writer/director whose credits include Six Feet: A Play About What’s Between Us (RiverArts), Kindness Committee (RiverArts), Lethal Lit (IHeartRadio, EEP), One Giant Leap: The Apollo Moon Landing 50 Years On (New York Times), Bloodline (Netflix) and the musical Murderbirds! She is the host and producer of Pod-ette, the podcast companion to the literary magazine -ette. Melanie is the writer/director of The Loneliness Cure which she created as a 2024 Senior Fellow at Fairfield University. She is the drummer with The GoGo’s tribute band, Hot Flash.
Melanie’s piece is an excerpt from her play The Loneliness Cure which was presented on April 9th at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts in Fairfield, Ct.
James Howe is a longtime Rivertowns resident and an even longer-time writer. Most known for his many children’s books – from Bunnicula to The Misfits and I Wish I Were a Butterfly – he has also written poetry and, in the past ten years, has co-written and performed songs with his music and life partner, Mark Davis, under the band name Old Dogs New Tricks.
On the night of our event, I will be reading poetry – some by others, some of my own – and looking at the parallels and connections between the two. How are we inspired by the writers we read? How do we inspire our readers in turn? And how do we turn ideas into poetry and sometimes into song?
Birds in Art is an annual juried exhibition hosted by the Leigh Yawkee Woodson Art Museum in Wasau, WI. The 60 works displayed were culled from over 1,000 entries presented by artists from all over the world. The exhibition, generously lent by LYWAM, meets the Foundation’s goal of presenting beautiful representational art, in keeping with the spirit of Jasper Cropsey and the Hudson River School.
March 26 – May 16, 2024, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, no appointment necessary from 12 pm till 4 pm. Curated by Adelia Rasines, NCF Executive Director Newington-Cropsey Foundation, 25 Cropsey Lane, Hastings-on Hudson, NY