Our newest stretch of RiverWalk waterfront got its official blessing Wednesday. Because of the media attention surrounding the ribbon-cutting, the first people we came across on the walkway Thursday were first-timers, basking in the beautiful surroundings on this blue-sky day. 

Patch simply asked what brought these folks to the walkway and what they thought of it. 

Ray Fagan, of Tarrytown, works for the Washington Irving Boat Club

"I just read about it in the paper today, so I thought I'd take a walk and check it out. They did a beautiful job on it. It's going good because things are getting done."

Jon Manning, 21, of Yonkers, sales associate

"It's actually my first time over here. We took the 13 bus and walked down this way; we knew the river was somewhere to the right. I like it. You get to see the water, the bridge, the city, the Palisades, the lighthouse, New Jersey on the other side. I've been reading some of the [RiverWalk] signs. And I'm trying to figure out why there's a Shell sign there [at the Tarrytown Marina]."

Jean and David Kyff, of Yonkers, retired 

[We catch her and her husband David, a retired Coast Guard buoy tender, pointing at a bird in a tree, listening to its song.]

Jean: "That is not a native bird... We usually bike but we read about this which encouraged us to walk here. It's just wonderful! It has to be connected; if we could just get to the lighthouse! We learned from the signs how in 1807 the Fulton Steamship came up the river and then in just a 50-year span, there was the Erie Canal, a trainline."

David: "So much progress in such a short time... If it takes us 20 years to do a walkway, we're not doing as well as we used to."