November was a Busy Month in the Village

This month my column will be sort of a summary of our AroundBabylon Facebook page with highlights from the past few weeks. 

November is actually not one of the busiest months in the village, though not as quiet as the deep winter can be, either.

The bustle of school opening activities that makes September fly by has eased, and the merchants are preparing for their big December holiday shopping season. Still, there are a few items of note.

Probably the biggest story in the business district in the past few weeks is that the Bohlsen Restaurant Group has started actually working on the old Bank of New York building, where they are putting in a major Asian fusion restaurant.

So far it's been gutted and cleaned out, and they have had their final hearing with the village boards. Their plans are quite breathtaking, and the finished product should be gorgeous.

They apparently started the public hearing by withdrawing their request for outside 'garden' seating after their own review of the impact of the loss of parking spaces and other considerations. It's too bad in a way, as eating outside is a terrific treat and very popular. Still, I will not second-guess one of the most successful restaurant families in the area.

Also in the business district, a new seafood restaurant, Blue Chill, has taken over where the Thai eatery was on Deer Park Avenue.

Dunkin Donuts has applied to open a shop on Railroad Avenue in the former Pisces Cafe'. Not one but two collectible and bric-a-brac stores opened: one on East Main Street next to the bike shop, and the other on West Main where the pilates studio just moved out. A chiropractor also moved in to the pilates space.

On a sadder note, Babylon Paint and Hardware closed, becoming the latest victim of the poor economy and cutthroat competition.

Bob Norman is active in the village and hopes to do some auctions in the store while looking for a tenant, so the story is not quite over. But still, sad to see them go. Also, Rising Dragon, next to Don Ricardo's is 'closed for renovations' but I don't see much renovating going on.

There was also a brief rumor during November that Snooki of the TV show Jersey Shore was looking at buying a house in the village, but that quickly passed and nothing more has been heard.

That's some of what happened. As for what's coming up, don't forget the Chamber of Commerce Night of Holiday Shopping happening tomorrow Friday, December 3. The festivities kick off at 5 p.m.

Another piece of news that we reported on was the opening of Babylon Village Patch! Judy has been doing a great job meeting folks all over the village and reporting local news, with help from some local folk. And the footing was laid in front of the Livingston Center (former Library building) for the Village Fountain.

As an aside, I would like to thank Tony Werner for posting lots of videos of local events at our site. As I have said before, it's everybody who makes our Facebook page fun, not just me.