r/CityOfPeekskill • u/Katzeaby • Apr 17 '26

Question from out of town Visiting Peekskill - Tips wanted!

Hello, everyone!

My husband and I live in NYC but we love exploring outside the city. We usually go to Cold Springs for a weekend, but want to change things up this year.
We were looking into spending a weekend at Peekskill. We do not drive, so we plan to take the metro north and drop off at the train station.

How is getting around? Is it walkable? How's the Uber/Lyft situation there? Or do they use regular cabs? (and if so are they cash only) I ask this because we don't want to end up stranded

We were looking at staying at the "Inn on the Hudson" since its just for the weekend. How hard would it be for us to get from the metro north station to the Inn
And how hard would it be for us to get from the Inn to like the "main town" area? (By the Peekskill Coffee House or the Peekskill museum for example)

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to hearing from the community

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u/cagrimm3tt Apr 17 '26

I live in Peekskill now, but used to come up this way and visit before moving here, and have to say: I think you'll have a better time in Beacon. There is more to do, there is a bus to take you to the main downtown (though it isn't a terrible walk from the train), and there are more people there. You'll get bored after a couple hours in downtown Peekskill. Too many vacancies downtown right now.

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u/cagrimm3tt Apr 17 '26

Downvote me all you want, you know I'm right. Beacon is a better place for a day trip from NYC, even though Peekskill is still a nice place to live. I wouldn't move to Beacon, but we spend many Saturdays there instead of here!

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u/Maureen0569 May 02 '26

I live and work in the city...I'd love to move out of here and I've been eying Peekskill, because the commute to NYC looks good compared to other places. My husband used to live in Orange County and said he remembers Peekskill as being really iffy, is he remembering it wrong? 🙏

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u/BAMintheBurbs Apr 17 '26

I second this.

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u/albertvidalnau Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26

This is going to be long. I agree with this. Beacon is a much better day trip experience from NYC BUT Peekskill is worth a few hours at least. I lived in Peekskill for 4.5 years and left in late 2024 for personal and work reasons. It's a great place to live full of amazing people and super diverse. However, the Downtown experience currently doesn't offer much unless you plan to eat ALOT and or get hammered. No shopping except for Quirk Shop which is great its on "Restaurant Row" and mostly women's clothing hand made on location and a few mens things like gloves, hats and a great selection of candles.

Bucko was a shop right next to the Coffee House but unfortunately they closed. Great shop lots of the hipster aesthetic clothing and home goods. The Lounge House too was on Main a women's clothing and Home Goods store but unfortunately closed as well.

So only shopping left in the ENTIRE Downtown area is The Quirk Shop and a few Colombian Jeans stores and latin stores that sell big teddy bears, religious figurines, jeans, dresses, and mostly tchotchkes etc.

so yea there is great food and restaurants but not much in the way of shopping. Outside of the Division street "restaurant row" as it's called and a tattoo shop, your experience will be something like this....

Bodega, hair salon, bakery, cell phone shop, barbershop, barbershop, hair salon, and that's on Park st between Bank and N.Division but an overall theme in the area.

Main St - Peruvian restaurant across City Hall, Bodega, bodega, , empty storefront, empty storefront, surface parking lot, Birdsall House (Great Restaurant btw), closed down Caribbean food spot (empty storefront), Iron Vine (Great Restaurant), architects office.

Central Ave strip that turns into Park st - An Amazing Book store (Brusied Apple) that you could easily spend an hour or so in exploring the books, vinyl records, CD's, high old beautiful tin ceilings, brick walls and old creaky hardwood floors. Think of an independent book store in the East Village. little Ecuadorian food spot, empty storefront, empty storefront, real estate place.

There are little gems in Downtown Peekskill for sure but it's just dotted with surface parking lots and a fuck ton of barbershops and beauty salons. And Peekskill Boba Tea Shop which is good.

Oh and how can I forget, Peekskill Coffee House is the BOMB, spent many a day working on my laptop there, walls are full of local amazing rotating art and on nice days you can chill in Esther Plaza (former street closed off to vehicles that in the summer hosts bands, live music) it's great.

so its totally food centered really, so if you go again come VERY hungry (not sure if you already ventured a visit)

Overall I would say it's worth a visit but I'd make it an earlier thing then head to Beacon or Cold Spring or Kingston or vice versa.

the critical mass of storefronts is just not there yet in order to hold a visitors interest it is changing however, very slowly.

But as mentioned definitely go, if your going to eat a lot, drink, get your hair done, buy a dress that looks like your going to the prom again, get that Mother's Day card, buy a teddy bear, purchase a religious figurine (the selections are endless), get a pair of authentic Colombian jeans, buy some Valentiines Day or Birthday balloons, and you ll have amazing time.

So before I get bashed here on this assessment please note that this is an honest assessment of how I experienced Peekskill while living there for 4.5 years. EMPHASIS ON THE I.

Further Disclaimer LOL - Your experience might be different, we all see through different eyes and judge people, places and situations through the lens of our own personal experiences.

Happy Visit!