Wednesday, December 31, 2025 | It's a wrap Nyack! 2025 Year in Review

As 2025 draws to a close, we thought it would be a good moment to pause, look back, and reflect on the year that was in Nyack. From moments that shaped our village to stories that sparked conversation, we’ve revisited the past year and chosen what we believe were the five most important Nyack stories of 2025.

These are our picks—but we know everyone’s perspective is different. If you have stories you think belong on the list, head over to the Village of Nyack Facebook Page and let us know which moments stood out to you.

JR

1. Nyack Wins the $4.5M NY Forward Grant

In March, the Governor announced that Nyack had won the super-competitive $4.5M NY Forward grant, kicking off a six-month process in which the entire community participated in proposing and reviewing a series of proposals to continue to revitalize Nyack’s downtown. 

Ultimately, our Local Planning Committee recommended about a dozen programs, including:

•   A new indoor/outdoor fast casual restaurant in the old River Club space in the Nyack Marina.
• New decorative streetlights for all of Broadway (like the ones on Main Street).
•  A new HVAC system for the Angel Nyack, along with enhancements for nonprofits like the Edward Hopper House, Nyack Center, Elmwood Playhouse, and the John Green House.

Those and others have all been submitted to the state for its review, and we will find out what gets funded in the spring. Then the real work begins!

2. The Nyack Plaza Fire - and the Community Response

On June 3, Nyack was rocked by two horrific fires, including a devastating fire at the Nyack Plaza Building on Depew Avenue, which displaced over a dozen families that lost not just their homes but ultimately most of their personal possessions.

That same day, though, we saw a remarkable and immediate outpouring of support from the community, which started with the overwhelming response by our brave Nyack Fire Department Volunteers, supplemented by over 20 different fire companies from throughout the area. The response continued with an emergency HQ set up within an hour by the Village at the Senior Center to identify and reach out to all the affected families, and then an impromptu dinner for them and first responders set up by the Nyack Center and the Pride Center.

Over the next few months, the Nyack community really showed their solidarity with their neighbors. Nyack NAACP President Nicole Hines led a fundraising effort that raised over $90,0000 in the next few months, which helped providing housing and replace possessions for all the families. Over the next few months, members of our community worked tirelessly to find replacement housing for all the affected families, a group that included Nicole Hines, Bishop Ron Stringfield of St. Johns Deliverance, representatives of the Village, and volunteer agents at Howard Hanna Rand Realty’s Nyack office (who worked for the families for free). 

And, of course, this all culminated an another major fundraiser, this time the Music to Mend concert at The Angel Nyack organized by Maureen’s Jazz Cellar’s Brianne Higgins and David Budway, along with Susan Wilmink and the Angel Board and about 20 wonderful performers who donated their time to help raise funds for our families. 

We are all immensely grateful to them, and to everyone, for what they did to help the families recover from this terrible incident. #NyackStrong. 

3. Emergence of The Angel Nyack

This is going to shock you – 2025 was the first year that the Angel Nyack was in operation as a full-time performance space. I know that seems crazy, because The Angel has quickly become a vital and indispensable Nyack institution featuring dozens of wonderful events just in this first full year of operation. But The Angel Nyack was founded only a few years ago by Susan Wilmink, Thomas Schneck, and a hard-working Board of Directors, and it only really became operational this past year.

But what a year! The Angel has already become the home for a number of community programs that have become part of the tapestry of Nyack, including the holiday pop-up Maker Markets, the spring Arts & Crafts Makers Market event, the Rockland Pride Chorus, the monthly “Dreaming Place” musical event, the monthly Ecstatic Dance event, some of the Phoenix Festival performances, the Rockland Ukelele Orchestra, the inspiring events from Jeffrey Friedberg and his Music for Life program , and the launching of “Voices on the Hudson” – a folks/roots music series.

But even more, The Angel featured some of the most seminal Nyack events of 2025:

·        The Music to Mend concert to raise money for our Plaza families.

·        The Projector Faro fundraiser led by Broadway composer, performer, and local resident Jason Robert Brown.

·        The super-spooky Halloween-night screening of the silent film Phantom of the Opera with accompaniment on the amazing Angel organ.

·        A series of brilliant Arts Rock events from Elliott Forrest and his team, including the Music of Carole King by Alice Leon and a Conversation with John Turturro.

Nyack has been blessed with so many wonderful performance spaces, including our beloved Nyack Center, and it’s just amazing that we had room for another beautiful cultural institution. Congrats to everyone involved, and thank you for what you brought to our community. 

4. Downtown Resurgence

The Nyack downtown is always going to be a “work-in-progress,” because we’re always going to see new businesses open and, unfortunately, some existing businesses leave us. That’s just the nature of the retail and restaurant business. But we did have a bit of a post-COVID downturn in 2023-24, leading to some concerns about the long-term prospects for our downtown.

But 2025 was a great year for our downtown, with a number of terrific new businesses opening, including three new restaurants, an acclaimed new bread shop and café, a bike shop, a new deli, and a kids play care operation. 

Here’s an unofficial list of new businesses in Nyack, and forgive me if I missed anyone:

•  Louie’s Next Door. A sophisticated but friendly wine bar and restaurant founded by DPNB’s Tony Scotto and Louiedell Gargantiel Scotto next door to their beloved pasta shop and restaurant.
•  Kantina Kita. A sister restaurant to Kantina in Sparkill, this time with a focus on Asian street food featuring dumplings, hand rolls -- and more recently Korean fried chicken and ramen!
• Olar Meu. A new addition to the “Olar” regional franchise, featuring amazing Spanish cuisine (including authentic paella) in a large comfortable space along Main Street.
• We Love Bread Cafe. Another amazing bakery and café for Nyack, with the most wonderful Brazilian cheese rolls, sourdough, and other sweets.
•  Colladolive Bike Shop. Finally, we get a bike shop in Nyack for both new bikes and repairs, as well as sports wear, located right on North Broadway.
• Jay’s Deli. A full-service deli and sandwich shop in SoBro featuring quality comfort food, much of it “with a Spanish twist.”
• Peas Playcare. A magnificent new kids’ play space right behind Village Hall that features a half-dozen dedicated rooms of run, including an indoor gymnasium with a full-size slide. 
•  Maraj Lounge. A sophisticated new Asian fusion lounge that just opened in the old “Joe and Joe’s” space, and has already built some positive buzz online. 

Yes, we still have too many dark storefronts, but I can tell you that many of those are already in the planning stage for new projects, including new concept eatery called “Pips” coming from an established and successful Manhattan restauranteur, coming this Spring into the old Sunday’s space. So stay tuned!

Finally, we wanted to take a moment to remember some of the iconic Nyackers that we lost this past year, people who made an indelible mark on our community and whose contributions will continue to live on.