Holiday Inn Drive to Be Renamed for Former Mt. Kisco Mayor Reilly
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The votes have been tabulated in Mount Kisco’s street naming contest and the road that has been known as Holiday Inn Drive will get a new name in honor of the village’s late former mayor Patricia Reilly.
More than 1,800 respondents participated and 55 percent of the vote went to Reilly, who died in late November at 91 years old. She served as mayor for four years, from 1999 to 2003, and was a village trustee for six years immediately prior to that. Reilly also served multiple Mount Kisco committees and organizations throughout her life.
Finishing a distant second with 22 percent was Mel Berger, a former pharmacy owner who founded the Mount Kisco Drug and Alcohol Prevention Council and helped usher in the Drug Court for the village.
Other names that were on the ballot during online voting in December were Peter Chinni, a celebrated sculptor and painter who lived in the village; Lenni-Lenape, the indigenous people who inhabited the area before being forced off their land in the early 18th century; Quetzal, a symbol of the nation of Guatemala (many of Mount Kisco’s immigrants are Guatemalan); and Sutton’s Row, a neighborhood in the northern end of the village by Carpenter Avenue and Preston Way, which was claimed for urban renewal in the 1960s.
Known as Holiday Inn for decades, parent company Roedel Companies, the New Hampshire-based hotel owner, operator and developer, rebranded the facility as a new, boutique hotel associated with the Tapestry by Hilton brand and renamed it Hotel MTK. Local officials decided that a new name for the street would be appropriate.
Mayor Gina Picinich said a ceremony and dedication will be scheduled once a new street sign is made.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
