HAVERSTRAW, N.Y. — Town of Haverstraw Supervisor Howard Phillips said on the Rockland News livestream this afternoon that on early Tuesday morning, there was a late-night CSX freight incident along the West Shore rail line again underscored a long-running concern in North Rockland: what happens when rail traffic cuts off access through densely populated neighborhoods.
Speaking with Rockland News on March 10, Phillips said two freight cars separated from the rest of a CSX train shortly after midnight, blocking Westside Avenue and New Main Street for more than an hour. He said the incident occurred roughly between 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., when traffic was light, and did not escalate into a fire, spill or mass-casualty emergency. According to Phillips, local police, firefighters and emergency personnel responded quickly and the disruption was contained without a larger public-safety disaster.
Even so, the incident revived a familiar fear for village and town officials: that a serious rail accident could trap residents, delay emergency response, or force an evacuation with limited routes out. The Town has repeatedly emphasized the importance of emergency preparedness around the CSX corridor, and local agencies conducted a large-scale derailment drill in Haverstraw and West Haverstraw in June 2025 to prepare for exactly that type of scenario.
Phillips said the recently built bridge connection near Westside Avenue and Tilcon helped lessen the impact of this week’s disruption, calling it a critical piece of infrastructure if residents ever need to move out of the area quickly. He also noted that emergency logistics in North Rockland have improved since the ambulance corps relocated to Route 9W, away from the rail crossing bottleneck.
While Phillips described Tuesday’s event as limited, it lands in a community with a clear memory of other rail-related scares. In February 2023, a tractor-trailer became stuck at a Haverstraw crossing and was struck by a CSX train, prompting renewed scrutiny of rail safety in the area and calls from Sen. Charles Schumer for CSX to address dangerous crossings in Rockland County. In July 2025, a CSX train in Haverstraw also struck utility poles, contributing to downed power lines, a brushfire and major traffic backups near Route 9W and Short Clove Road. A 2018 fatal pedestrian strike near New Main Street also highlighted the dangers along the corridor.
When Rockland News host Tom Ossa asked Phillips if CSX contributes back to the communities they affect – Phillips was blunt in his criticism of the railroad, arguing that CSX profits heavily from the freight it moves through riverfront communities while giving too little back to the municipalities that absorb the risk.
CSX is a major freight railroad and remains a large publicly traded corporation that appears in Fortune’s U.S. rankings; in 2025, outside reporting placed it at No. 198 on the Fortune 500, while the company also highlighted recognition in Fortune’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” transportation rankings.
Several communities in the United States that have suffered catastrophic accidents, including several which resulted in numerous fatalities, may think otherwise.
For Phillips, the broader issue is not only safety, but geography. The West Shore line runs through a compact riverfront area where crossings, local roads and access routes are limited. That has long shaped emergency planning in Haverstraw, particularly because the town and village must think in worst-case terms even when an incident, like Tuesday’s, ends without injuries or hazardous release.
While You’re Here: Marriages, Upcoming Events and Activities in the Town of Haverstraw
Yet the interview was not only about rail risk. Phillips and town staff also used the conversation to sketch out a busy spring and summer calendar, from clerk’s office services to recreation programs and major community events.
At Town Hall, the clerk’s office is reminding landscapers that permits are being processed for the season, with applications available through the clerk’s office. The office also continues to handle marriage licenses, one of the routine but visible services residents rely on. The Town of Haverstraw clerk’s office lists marriage licenses among its core functions and states that both applicants must appear in person, with a current listed fee of $40.
Phillips said Town Clerk Raquel Ventura has already officiated about 20 marriages this year, a detail he offered as a sign of steady activity at Town Hall and of the small but meaningful local milestones that keep municipal government connected to residents’ daily lives.
Summer programming is also beginning to take shape. Town officials said seasonal classes are expected to run from June through August, with offerings that include taekwondo, Zumba, tai chi, country line dancing and yoga, alongside senior-focused resident classes on weekends. The town’s youth and recreation programming has become an increasingly visible part of Haverstraw’s identity, and the town’s website continues to publish seasonal event schedules and youth programming information.
That larger quality-of-life push is perhaps most visible in parks and recreation, where Phillips said the town is nearing a series of openings at its newer athletic and family recreation areas. He said the public should soon see the skate park, new playground equipment and long-awaited pickleball courts opening at the town’s new recreation complex, possibly first through a soft opening followed by a later ribbon-cutting.
He framed those projects as a point of fiscal pride, saying the town has constructed the improvements without bonding the cost, a message consistent with his broader argument that local government must avoid passing long-term debt to taxpayers whenever possible. Phillips said that philosophy extends across departments, from golf-course equipment and park operations to highway purchases and accessibility improvements at Town Hall and the police station.
Golf remains one of the town’s flagship amenities. Registration at the Philip J. Rotella Memorial Golf Course began March 1, according to town officials, with resident and non-resident options available, including frequent-player cards, adult passes and senior passes. The town’s parks information page lists the course’s 18 holes, driving range and Lynch’s on the Green restaurant and bar among its featured facilities. The course’s event calendar also reflects an active 2026 season.
Phillips praised golf pro Michael Laudien and course staff, saying the town hopes to open the course by late March or before April if weather cooperates. He also highlighted youth clinics, lessons and tournament activity as part of an effort to keep the course not just playable, but central to town life.
Kevin Lynch Being Honored
Lynch’s on the Green, meanwhile, received its own recognition during the conversation. Phillips noted that Kevin Lynch was being honored this week at a St. Patrick’s event at the Elks, describing him as one of several local business figures whose community contributions often happen quietly and behind the scenes. In Haverstraw, where public life often overlaps with family businesses, restaurants and civic groups, those acknowledgments carry political and cultural weight.
Phillips also pointed to the town’s cultural diversity as one of its defining strengths, especially in the village and riverfront neighborhoods. He described Haverstraw as a continuing gateway community for immigrants and said that tradition remains visible in its neighborhoods, restaurants and festivals. He specifically highlighted a strong Latin American presence and previewed a summer Latin celebration at Bowline as well as the village’s Latin parade and festival. He also mentioned the village’s “Dancing Under the Stars” series and other warm-weather events that bring residents into public spaces.
That emphasis on culture is not incidental. Haverstraw’s identity has long been tied to successive immigrant communities, and Phillips clearly sees that legacy as an asset rather than a talking point. In his telling, the same place that worries about blocked crossings and freight safety is also a place where new Americans continue to build businesses, raise families and shape civic life.
250th Anniversary Celebration Plans
The next marker on the calendar, Phillips said, is the town’s Fourth of July celebration at Bowline Point Park, currently scheduled for July 1 with a July 2 rain date. The town’s riverfront assets — including Bowline, the marina, the golf course, restaurant destinations and mountain parkland such as Cheesecote — remain central to the way officials market Haverstraw both to residents and visitors. Town materials list Bowline Point Park, Cheesecote Mountain Park and the Rotella Golf Course among the municipality’s featured recreational draws.
For now, though, the immediate takeaway from Tuesday is simpler: a late-night rail incident ended without catastrophe, but it did not end without a warning.
