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FOCUS ON: Harrison, NY
Harrison is a coterminous town-village located in affluent Westchester County, New York, approximately 22 miles northeast of Manhattan.
The population is approximately 29,000 according to United States Census Bureau estimates.
Harrison hosts a bustling 19th century village center near the train station to corporate office parks, college campuses and mansions overlooking one of the most famous golf courses in the nation
Harrison is known for its country clubs and sprawling mansions, where the average income is $857,300.
Harrison has long been in many ways a tale of two – or maybe even three – towns.
The southeastern part of town (and the northwestern Silver Lake neighborhood near White Plains) are suburban areas with shops, offices, services and a mix of single-family homes, condos, townhouses and rentals.
Meanwhile, much of the northern part of Harrison, such as the hamlet of Purchase, is more rural in nature and characterized by grand homes (including more than a few true mansions) on large properties.
Harrison includes the hamlets of Purchase and West Harrison
Purchase, which is home to about 5,400 residents, has been home to power brokers and celebrities.
The average income in Purchase, a neighborhood in Harrison, New York, is $857,300.
That's more than twice the average income of Scarsdale, New York, the richest town on the East Coast.
Harrison, New York, is home to the sixth-richest zip code in the US, according to Bloomberg.
The Harrison train station is about 35 minutes from New York City on the Metro North.
The majority of restaurants in the downtown area are Italian restaurants, a result of the town's significant Italian immigrant population that came to Harrison when the railroad was built in 1848.
Many of them bought plots of land to farm in nearby Brentwood and Silver Lake.
Harrison is defined more by its residential neighborhoods than by its downtown
The Old Oaks Country Club spans 220 acres and includes an 80,000-square-foot clubhouse with a ballroom, a pool area, a dining room, a grill room, two outdoor terraces, an outdoor fountain garden, and an arbor garden.
The club also has an 18-hole golf course that's hosted the USGA US Open Qualifying Tournament, 10 tennis courts, an Olympic-size swimming pool, 16 resident suites, card rooms, and massage facilities.
The Westchester Country Club, ringed by gracious homes overlooking the greenery, is among the most famous in the country, having hosted the PGA tour dozens of times, most recently for the Buick Classic and Barclays Classic. Other links in the town include Brae Burn Golf Course and the Blind Brook Country Club.
Harrison also has a number of large office parks and corporate headquarters, which help keep taxes low for homeowners. MasterCard, Nestle, IBM, Texaco and Morgan Stanley are among the companies that have had significant facilities.
Interstate 95 and the Hutchinson River Parkway and I-287 all go through Harrison, providing easy drives to White Plains, Greenwich, Stamford and New Rochelle – as well as New York City.
Harrison is home to three colleges. The oldest, Manhattanville College, located along Purchase Street, is attended by 2,700 liberal arts students and is characterized by its rugged Gothic architecture.
In 2008, Fordham University opened its Westchester campus in West Harrison on 32 landscaped acres with a stream and pond.
The State University of New York – Purchase College is attended by 4,000 students, many of whom are focusing on performing arts.
The Neuberger Museum of Art is located on the campus and the school’s large auditorium hosts concerts, plays, movies and other presentations open to the public.
Directly across the street from SUNY Purchase is one of Harrison’s – indeed, the entire region’s – most unlikely treasures: PepsiCo’s corporate headquarters, which is surrounded by a world-class sculpture garden and arboretum.
Open to the public free of charge year-round, PepsiCo’s grounds are beautifully landscaped.
The Harrison Newswire provides the latest community news written by award-winning reporters, columnists and editors.
