“Tarrytown, N. Y.—Mosquitoes in Cortlandt street, North Tarrytown have become gasoline drunkards and are terrorizing the town.” Nyack Evening Star, November 23, 1911 Imagine if you will, a flying menace. A tiny insect of prolific numbers, small enough to slip into any house, stealthy enough to land on your person without being noticed. Imagine the mayhem if that abundant pest were the common mosquito and it developed a taste for gasoline, turning itself into a flying Molotov cocktail. On October 15, 1911 James Brady of Cortlandt Street became the first victim of the North Tarrytown plague of exploding mosquitoes. News articles are mixed on the source of the gasoline, with…

In the world of mythical creatures, the Loch Ness monster is king of the hill–a superstar of international fame at the center of a multimillion dollar tourism industry. Nessie has staying power, too, with the beastie first sighted by St. Columba around 564 CE. Here in New York State we have a few aquatic monsters of our own. The eastern side of the state has Champ (or Champy, depending who’s telling the tale) the gentle giant of Lake Champlain. The village of Perry in the western end of the state boasts the Silver Lake Sea Serpent. Here in Sleepy Hollow Country we’ve had our own rash of monster sightings in…