Category Archives: Rockland County

Hit-making studio legend recalls Springsteen’s breakthrough recordings

Brooks Arthur, the engineer behind hit records by Carole King, Neil Diamond, Janis Ian, and the Shangri-Las, was the founder of 914 Sound Studios. Photo by Betsy Hammer

‘The record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance!’

The early recordings that would one day be part of a catalog that would earn Bruce Springsteen $550 million were captured in a music studio in an abandoned garage in suburban New York – not Asbury Park.

Drivers: Can you give us 3 feet?

‘ve been buzzed, berated, beeped and barked at by passing motorists (and their dogs). Told to get the *%&@ up onto the sidewalk or the bike path. I don’t carry a tape measure with me when I ride, and yeah, I know everybody’s driving SUVs named after huge ships and mountains. But passing a 3-foot passing distance law – and actually enforcing it – definitely gets the point across: Share. The. Road. New York’s latest effort to follow the lead of 35 other states is mired in Albany politics, as usual. How many more years will it take to make this happen?

Saluting the man who launched Nyack’s bicycling craze

Jim Skelley started Nyack Bicycle Outfitters in 1973, long before the village became a destination for cyclists and tourists.

Bicycle Man: A two-wheel love affair

“When I ride a bicycle, it feels like my problems disappear,” says Alan Snel.