Halloween season underway in Sleepy Hollow; officials urge visitors to take the train
Officials are encouraging everyone to take the train or public transportation.
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Tourism season in Sleepy Hollow is in full swing.
“We started the Thursday before Labor Day, so we’re not crazed, and it was crazed immediately. It's amazing how far-reaching this story is," said Janine Nicol, of Headless Horseman Gifts.
Mix that story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," with social media and you get a lot of visitors to this beloved village.
“An increase in attendance to events, an increase in events that are Halloween or spooky kind of inspired," said Lucia Ballas-Traynor, who is the executive director of the Sleepy Hollow Tarrytown Chamber of Commerce.
In fact, News 12 reported in 2024 about the number of visitors at a street fair, bringing major traffic jams and congestion to the area.
“We went from about 6,000/8,000 attendance to 20,000 to 25,000 in attendance in 2024," said Ballas-Traynor.
Since then, officials with the chamber and village have been working to make things go smoother for everyone.
“There's a lot of preparation that are going on all year round. Really the heavy lifting is done by our village staff. Our village administrator, Sleepy Hollow Police Department, DPW and our parks department work really, really hard this time of year to make sure everything is ready, that we have contingencies. This year, when we took office in December, we also formed a tourism task force to try to think of things we could do better," said Village of Sleepy Hollow Mayor Marjorie Hsu.
Officials are encouraging everyone to take the train or public transportation, if possible. There are also e‑bikeshare options.
Local business owners told News 12 that this time of year is really big for them.
"This foot traffic has really made these businesses sustainable," Ballas-Traynor told News 12.
