95 Beekman Ave.
(north side)
Van Tassel Apt. Bldg.
1979 (Westchester Co. Historical Society)
Mrs. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller named the
"Van Tassel Apts." after "Katrina Van Tas-
sel," Washington Irving's literary character.
For some reason, Irving dropped the final L
in Van Tassell, the original family name.
R. S. Van Tassell, for one (a cattleman
out west), refused to follow Irving's lead.
To this day, his steadfastness lives on in
the name of his namesake town: Van
Tassell, Wyoming.
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The Rockefeller family–the financier of the
complex–thoroughly embraced the Dutch
angle; in fact, the bricks used to build it
were reportedly imported all the way from
Holland! How about those Beekman Ave.
storefronts lined up along its south side
(which–in one photo caption–is curiously
referred to as the rear of the complex)?
I once counted eight sidewalk storefronts.
That is some prime real estate!
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Lately, stores such as these have occupied
those spaces: "Beekman 99-Cents-Plus,"
"Edible Arrangements," "Gentlemen's Tailor
Shop," and "Hudson River Acupuncture."
After reading a few such names on store-
fronts, an old-school Tarrytowner might
reflect: "Remember, Sleepy Hollow is no
longer North Tarrytown–actually, it seems
more like 'NO' Tarrytown."
1979 (Westchester Co. Historical Society)
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Please note that all of the present
businesses have dropped the words Van
Tassel from their names. What was the
"Van Tassel Pharmacy" is now replaced
by the "Sleepy Hollow Pharmacy" (in
between, there was indeed the "LeMac
Pharmacy"). Besides the druggist, each
one of these past businesses began its
name with the words "Van Tassel": the
Barbershop, Beauty Parlor, Cleaners-
Tailor, Food Center-Market, & Jewelers;
with the last–but not the least–being
the Wine & Liquor Store.
_____
Maybe the apartment simply told them
to stop using its name, or maybe the V.T.
brand just stopped selling–like it used
to! For the record, when the Van Tassel
Cleaners moved to 135 Wildey St. in
Tarrytown, it did retain the V.T. designa-
tion in its name. All such stores (whether
modern-day, or one of these other places,
back in the day) share this same address:
95 Beekman Ave.. It is also the address
of all Van Tassel Apartment dwellers.
_____
Perhaps this would have been a better
plan: why didn't the V.T. just ask for its
own ZIP code?!
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