By Richard Magat

Editor's note:  It is a delight to welcome back former Bronxville resident Richard Magat as a columnist for MyhometownBronxville. His new beat is the Manhattan scene, where he now lives.

Apr. 15, 2015:  After a medically related absence of four years, I have returned to New York--not Bronxville, but Manhattan. However, thanks to the kindness of MyhometownBronxville editor Marcia Lee, the knot is being retied. She has invited me to write a column, and I have accepted (the only condition is that I use a clunky title instead of my full name).

Since I previously wrote some 400 articles for the publication, it is a joy to return to it. It is especially pleasing because it follows a tradition of interesting columns for MyhometownBronxville--the nostalgic boyhood reminiscences of the late Max McGrath, the rich historical recollections of John Corry, a local gift adding to the pleasure of his four books of American history, and, especially, the charming, venturesome travelogues of Adrienne Smith.

Thanks to the labors and acumen of Frieda Riggs, Sally Quale, Marilynn Hill, and others of the Bronxville history committee and Bronxville historian Eloise Morgan, the history of the village and the Town of Eastchester have been amply recorded.

South of the village, oversights on Bronxville are lacking. For example, the voluminous (1,550-page) Yale Encyclopedia of New York City carries an entry for Bronxville (page 302), but the text is nowhere to be found. We are more fortunate when it comes to public transportation. Bronxville is an important stop on Metro-North Railroad.

This column will carry notes on Manhattan through the eyes of someone who is actually a new resident. So it is appropriate to note that one of the great bargains of these times is that a roundtrip senior fare from Grand Central Terminal is only $10.50. The culturally inclined but frugal should heed the reminder that admission to The Metropolitan Museum of Art is suggested at $25, but in fact, as little as $1 will admit you. Not so lucky at other art palaces along Museum Mile. The Guggenheim Museum, for example, will want your $25.

Lest Bronxville residents need any reminders of Manhattan, for the last five years, the owners of the eyesore Morgan Manhattan Storage building at 100 Pondfield Road has been jousting with village officials about plans to convert the hulk into condominiums.

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Pictured here:  Street sign in Bronxville pointing to New York City. 

Photo by N. Bower