Clarkstown, New York, United States

🇺🇸 Clarkstown is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States. The town is on the eastern border of the county, located north of the town of Orangetown, east of the town of Ramapo, south of the town of Haverstraw, and west of the Hudson River. The community of New City, the county seat of Rockland County, is also the seat of town government and of the Clarkstown Police Department, the county sheriff's police office, and the county correctional facility. New City makes up about 41.47% of the town's population.

In 2008, Clarkstown became one of 600 municipalities nation-wide to sign the United States Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 7 percent below the 1990 levels by 2012.

History The town of Clarkstown was created in 1791 from the town of Haverstraw in Orange County, before Rockland County was formed.

Geography The Hudson River defines the eastern border of the town, which is opposite the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 46.9 square miles (121 km²), of which 38.5 square miles (100 km²) is land and 8.4 square miles (22 km²) (17.87%) is water.

The New York State Thruway (Interstate 87/Interstate 287) intersects the Palisades Interstate Parkway in the town.

Public transportation Clarkstown Mini-Trans is the provider of local mass transportation in Clarkstown. It has five bus routes: • Route A- Nanuet Mall to Lakewood Drive • Route B- Nanuet Mall to Zukor Park • Route C- Nanuet Mall to South Mountain Road • Route D- Nanuet Mall to Palisades Center Mall • Route E- Nanuet Mall to Ridge Road

Additionally, Transport of Rockland provides local mass transportation. Routes 59, 91, 92, 93, and 97 serve the town.

Commuter transportation is provided by New Jersey Transit's Pascack Valley Line at Nanuet, with service to Hoboken and connecting service to New York Penn Station. Tappan ZEExpress, operated by Transport of Rockland provides bus service from the Palisades Center in West Nyack and the Hudson Link bus in Central Nyack to the Tarrytown train station and the White Plains TransCenter. In addition, Rockland Coaches provides express service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City from Park-and-Ride and other pickup locations in New City, Bardonia, West Nyack, and Nanuet via Route 49 and 49J, and local service to New York from New City, Valley Cottage, and Upper Nyack on Routes 9A, 9T, and 20.

Education The town of Clarkstown is served by several school districts. The majority of the town is served by the Clarkstown Central School District, which educates students in New City, Bardonia, Congers, and West Nyack. The village of Upper Nyack as well as the hamlets of Valley Cottage and Central Nyack are served by the Nyack Public Schools, while the Hamlet of Nanuet is served by the Nanuet Union Free School District. A small portion on the western town border is served by the East Ramapo Central School District.

High schools located in the town include Clarkstown South High School in West Nyack, Clarkstown North High School in New City, Nyack Senior High School in Upper Nyack, and Nanuet Senior High School in Nanuet. • Clarkstown Central School District ◦ In 2015 U.S. News & World Report ranked Clarkstown North Senior High School with a Silver award as the 135 Best High School in New York State and 1,329 nationally ◦ In 2017 U.S. News & World Report ranked Clarkstown South Senior High School with a Silver award as the 116 Best High School in New York State and 1,219 nationally. ◦ In 2017 U.S. News & World Report ranked Clarkstown North Senior High School with a Silver award as the 117 Best High School in New York State and 1,224 nationally. ◦ In 2018, ranked 78 Best School Districts in Clarkstown by Niche's.

Communities • Bardonia – A hamlet east of Spring Valley. • Brownsell Corners – A hamlet in the north part of the town, now considered a part of New City. • Centenary – A hamlet near the north town line, now the north-easternmost side of New City. • Central Nyack – A hamlet on the south town line. • Congers – A hamlet in the eastern part of the town. • Lake DeForest – A long lake with a north–south orientation. • High Tor State Park – A state park along the northern town line. • Germonds – A location south of New City. • Hook Mountain State Park – A state park in the eastern part of the town. • Lake Lucille – A location in the northern part of the town. • Mount Ivy – A hamlet on the northern town line. • Nanuet – A hamlet. • New City – A hamlet that is the county seat. ◦ New City Condominiums– A neighborhood near the centre of New City. ◦ New City Park – A community in South New City. • Nyack Beach State Park – A state park near the Hudson River. • Oakbrook – A hamlet east of Spring Valley • Rockland Lake – A hamlet located west of a lake of the same name. • Rockland Lake State Park – A state park in the eastern part of the town. • Spring Valley – A village, the eastern portion of which is within the town. • Upper Nyack – A village north of Nyack. • Valley Cottage – A hamlet in the eastern part of the town. • West Nyack – A hamlet west of Nyack village.

Rankings CNN Money • In 2008, CNNMoney.com named Clarkstown the 71st best small "city" to live in America. • In 2010, CNNMoney.com named Clarkstown the 41st best small "city" to live in America, which was the highest such ranking in New York. • In 2012, CNNMoney.com named Clarkstown the 35th best small "city" to live in America. • In 2014, CNNMoney.com named Clarkstown the 7th best small "city" to live in America. • In 2016, CNNMoney.com named Clarkstown the 7th best small "city" to live in America. • In 2019, CNNMoney.com named Clarkstown the 91st best small "city" to live in America. • In 2021, CNNMoney.com named Clarkstown the 49th best small "city" to live in America.

Going Green Clarkstown has taken steps towards "going green" by conducting energy audits, purchasing Energy Star office equipment and using green cleaning products in town facilities. Other steps included: • 2005 – Purchasing 10% of the energy used by town government from wind and solar sources. • 2006 – Passing a tree preservation law. • 2007 – Purchasing hybrid vehicles and smaller cars. • 2008 – Installing energy-efficient lighting (LED) at its parks and recreation building with sensors that automatically turn off lights when no motion is detected. • 2012- Solar Field installed on capped Town Landfill (Dedicated in 2014). It is the first Solar Field on a capped landfill in New York State. Proposed by then Councilman, George Hoehmann. • 2013- Town participated in the NYSDEC Climate Smart Communities program in developing resiliency and climate action plans. • 2016- Town purchases street lights from Orange and Rockland Utilities and begins converting to LED (Conversion completed in 2018).

Climate Action and Sustainability Planning - Training and Outreach • Beginning in 2014, Town Planners, along with representatives from other Town Departments, attended an initial training workshop held by the consulting firm of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB), who is being funded by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation specifically to help communities attain their goals as Climate Smart Communities. Town Planners participated in a series of workshops with VHB through February 2015 to begin the process of identifying ways to reduce the Town's greenhouse gas emissions. • In addition, the Clarkstown Planning Department, along with other Town Departments, participated in the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program. This is a separate initiative funded by the New York State Department of State to aid in the development of resilient and sustainable communities. As part of this New York Rising Program the consulting firm AKRF, Inc. worked with the Town to identify areas of the Town which are vulnerable to storm damage and to formulate a plan and provide funding to address these issues. • Participation in these initiatives and the products generated will serve as the foundations of the Climate Action and Sustainability Plan, which will be incorporated into the first update of the Town's Comprehensive Plan, Clarkstown 2020. Additionally, workshops were held throughout the Town's hamlets to begin gathering input and formulate direction for the Clarkstown 2020 update.