News & Events

#IrvingtonIsEveryone

Fall 2020 | News 12

The Irvington is Everyone project: A community initiative, designed to promote diversity and inclusion in a positive welcoming way. #portraitsofirvington #irvingtoniseveryone

Photo from interview with Panacea Rivertowns

Squint Optometry Interview with Panacea Rivertowns

Spring 2017 | Instagram

Panacea Rivertowns promotes local female small business owners by highlighting them and their many "cure-alls." We were delighted to be their first interview! You can read the interview here and follow them on Facebook.


  • GoSu
  • Sambal
  • Suzannes
  • My Sherry and More
  • La Chinita Poblana
  • Doctor Mac
  • Chutney Masala
  • Red Barn Bakery
  • Brzaar
  • Westchester Apothecary

The 'new kids' in town!

July 2017

We're loving our new neighbors!


  • Revenge Barbecue
  • GoSu
  • Sambal
  • Suzannes
  • My Sherry and More
  • La Chinita Poblana

MIDO Eyewear Show!

March 2011 | Milan, Italy

MIDO is the leading international fair for the eyewear industry, a unique annual event where new products are showcased and SQUINT was there! Wish we could have brought you with us, but we did take photos to share! Everything from the factories that make the frames, the show itself and a little bit of what there is to enjoy in Milan, Italy.


irvington riverfront

Irvington Rated the Best Place to Live in Westchester County!

October 2010 | Westchester Magazine

Westchester Magazine rated Irvington the BEST place to live Westchester County. Of course we've known it all along! Click here to read the article and why we're their top pick!


irvington riverfront

Irvington Town Hall Theater

www.irvingtontheater.com

Home to the Clocktower Players theater company, concerts/live music, great theater productions, the recently restored Irvington Town Hall Theater has been touted as "a jewel of a theater on the Hudson" by Robert Sherman of the NY Times and "acoustically superb" by Lou Cevetillo, Opera Critic, Gannett Newspapers. Visit www.irvingtontheater.com for a calendar of events.


spelling bee

The Friends of the Irvington Libary's Spelling Bee

www.friendsoftheirvingtonlibrary.org

The Friends of the Irvington Public Library's Annual Spelling Bee is a favorite winter-time community event, featuring teams composed of local residents. This fundraiser for the Irvington Public Library also features dancing bees, mop-headed judges & great raffle prizes. Visit the Friends of the Irvington Library website to learn more about this and other community events like the ever-popular Book Sale.


river arts

RiverArts - Hastings, NY

www.riverarts.org

Riverarts is a community-based non-profit arts organization. Through its popular community events and arts education programs, River Arts strives to heighten awareness of our shared human experience and facilitate its expression through the arts. Visit www.riverarts.org for more information.


all shorts irvington film festival

"As iFF" Film Series

Irvington Town Hall Theater

AS iFF" is a festival that celebrates short films projected on the big screen. Entries are curated and judged not only by an esteemed jury of film professionals, but by those in attendance that vote for their overall favorite.

www.asiffestival.com/

vegetables

Irvington Farmers Market

Irvington Main Street School

Featuring locally grown produce, artisanal cheeses & breads, healthy & delicious prepared foods, wines made in the Hudson Valley, storytelling hour & other activities for children, live music....and much more!!

www.irvmkt.org

rivertowns guide

Rivertowns Guide

Rivertowns Guide

A great resource for all things local!

www.rivertownsguide.org

  • opening celebration 1
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It was a grand opening!

Friday, Sept. 11, 2009

Click through slideshow at left for photos from our Opening celebration. Thanks to all who came to help celebrate!


Debra and Ken Bernstein

The Rivertowns Enterprise

August 14, 2009

If you're considering new glasses or contacts, and also happen to be seeking legal counsel, then the perfect business to meet both needs has opened on 68 Main Street.

Debra Bernstein, a licensed optometrist, is the principal behind Squint Optometry. Her husband, Ken Bernstein, helps run the business while operating his eponymous law office in the back.

The couple's unusual business pairing was foremost a means to spend more time close to their Irvington home. "Being on Main Street is the only way to work full time and still be home for my kids," Debra Bernstein said.

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The couple have two daughters - Drew, age 13, and Nina, age 10 - and and 8-year-old son, Cole, who informed everyone on the Enterprise's recent visit just how close the business is the family's home on North Eckar Street: "109 steps."

Having two businesses inside one storefront is possible because of the relatively large and unusually versatile space they occupy. Formerly the offices of an interior designer, the 800-square-foot space is divided into a retail eyewear and sitting area, a semi-private eye examination room, and separate offices for the two businesses.

After working for the last 16 years for various optometrists, Bernstein felt the timing was right to strike out on her own. She became a licensed optometrist in 1993 at the New England College of Optometry, and as a doctor of optometry (an O.D.) she can prescribe glasses and contact lenses and diagnose and treat particular eye diseases. At Squint Optometry, she will also help customers or patients pick out their eyeglasses frames.

"It's different than a regular store with a counter and a salesperson behind it," she said. "I want the store to be warm and inviting." Upon walking through the front door, customers are confronted by a bust of Michelangelo's David wearing a pairing of glasses, which Bernstein said she changes daily.

The couple moved in and began building store inventory in early July. About one week ago they took down the 'Coming Soon' sign and officially opened for business. Along with prescription eyewear, Squint Optometry will also sell non-prescription sunglasses and "ready readers," which are high-quality reading glasses. The couple estimate that the price range for frames is between $65 and $350.

Despite the scary nature of new business ownership today, Debra Bernstein is sanguine about the prospects of doing business on Main Street and believes that local residents are also. "I think people remain optomistic even in this economy," she said. "People just desparately want Main Street to be successful." The couple have lived in the village for 12 years.

Around the same time Debra Bernstein was contemplating her own business similar thoughts were simmering for her husband. Ken Bernstein is downsizing his corporate life, leaving the Manhattan law firm where he has been partner for the last 10 years in order to be close to home and have greater freedom. "I think the quality of life is better working for a smaller company," he said, "and working locally is gratifying." Bernstein, a graduate of the Columbia University Law School, will continue to specialize in intellectual property and general business law, but said he is capable of focusing his services to "take on whatever are the local needs of the village."

Bernstein has been chair of the Irvington Business Improvement Committee (IBIC) since it formed in February. This coalition of 16 Irvington residents confer periodically to propose ways to boost the village's commercial vitality. Recently the committee has proposed a measure to allow merchants to sell goods on the sidewalk of Main Street, an activity that is currently prohibited in the village. Bernstein said the public can weigh in on this topic when it is addressed at a village board meeting this Monday, Aug. 17.

The IBIC is also working with the recreation department to permit a kayaking vendor to operate off of the Irvington waterfront. "I think Irvington needs a more diverse mix of businesses," Ken Bernstein said. His wife agrees. "I think people want Main Street to be a place where they can do multiple things at the same time," she said.

Business hours for Squint Optometry are Tuesday, 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., Wednesday, 11 a.m.- 7 p.m., and Thursday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. While the business is closed Sunday and Monday, Bernstein said she will make appointments for eye examinations on these days, or after hours in the evenings. Call 231-7557 for appointments or other questions for visit squintoptometry.com.

Ken Bernstein, attorney-at-law will not have regular office hours, but is flexible and can meet with clients seven days a week. He can be reached at 231-7556 or by visiting kbernstein.com

Reprinted with kind permission of the Rivertowns Enterprise Journal