Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 12, 2011

La Stazione is a restaurant and former train station in the village of New Paltz in Ulster County, New York. After a lengthy public debate over whether to place New Paltz's Wallkill Valley Railroad station to the east or west of the Wallkill River, the station was built in 1870 on the east bank, within the village. The station was robbed in 1880 by four men who were immediately arrested and brought back to the depot, where they were sent to jail by way of the railroad. The station burned down in 1907 and was rebuilt later that year. Passenger service along the line ceased in 1937, and by 1958 the station was completely closed and sold off. The building was in such a state of disrepair by the 1980s that it was almost demolished. It was renovated in 1988 and used as a real estate office. In 1999 it became an Italian restaurant, and served as the setting for a scene in a 2008 mob film. It was the first of two railroad stations constructed in the town of New Paltz, and is the only former Wallkill Valley station standing at its original location.