Editing Valhalla, New York (section)

== History ==
{{expand section |information on the hamlet’s settlement and more actual history of the community|date=May 2024}}

=== Kensico Cemetery ===
{{Main|Kensico Cemetery}}
[[File:The Lake at Kensico Cemetery.JPG|thumb|right|Kensico Cemetery]]

The [[Kensico Cemetery]] was founded in 1889 in Valhalla at a time when many of the cemeteries in the city of [[New York City|New York]] were filling up, and several rural cemeteries were founded near the railroads that served the metropolis. Initially {{convert|250|acre|ha}} in size, the cemetery was expanded to {{convert|600|acre|km2}} in 1905, but reduced to {{convert|460|acre|km2}} in 1912, when a portion of its land was sold to the neighboring [[Gate of Heaven Cemetery]].

The Kensico Cemetery is the final resting place of numerous famous people, including legendary [[New York Yankees]] star [[Lou Gehrig]]; virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor [[Sergei Rachmaninoff]]; the author [[Ayn Rand]]; and [[NBC]] founder [[David Sarnoff]]. It was also, after [[Suicide of Danny Chen|his suicide]], the final resting place of Pvt. Danny Chen.

Valhalla and neighboring Hawthorne are fairly densely packed with cemeteries, albeit not as densely as [[Colma, California|Colma]], [[California]].

=== Recent events ===
On July 12, 2006, the [[2006 Westchester County tornado|Westchester tornado]], an [[Fujita scale|F2]] event, touched down in nearby [[Hawthorne, New York|Hawthorne]] and proceeded to move into Valhalla, causing much destruction in the Stonegate section of the community. This was one of the strongest [[tornado]]es the area had ever seen, as tornadoes of this magnitude are mostly in the [[Midwest]]. Power lines were knocked down, and hundreds of trees were uprooted. There were no deaths, but much of Valhalla changed as a result.{{how|date=May 2024}}

On September 11, 2006, ''[[The Rising (memorial)|The Rising]]'' memorial to [[September 11 attacks|September 11]] victims was dedicated at the [[Kensico Dam]] by Westchester County and the Westchester County September 11 Memorial Committee. ''The Rising'' honors the 109 county residents who were killed in the terrorist attacks.

In July 2007, Valhalla hosted the opening ceremony of the 2007 [[Empire State Games]]. The ceremony was held at the Kensico Dam honoring the athletes and their families and was attended by Governor [[Eliot Spitzer]] among other politicians. [[ESPN]]'s [[Jeremy Schaap]] was a keynote speaker.

On February 3, 2015, in the [[Valhalla train crash]], a [[Metro-North]] train crashed into a Mercedes-Benz SUV<ref>{{cite news |last=Santora |first=Marc |last2=Flegenheimer |first2=Matt |url=http://nyti.ms/1EFSFeV |title=Investigation Underway in Metro-North Train Crash |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 4, 2015 |access-date=February 4, 2015 }}</ref> that was stuck on the tracks at Commerce Street near the [[Taconic State Parkway]]. The crash caused six deaths and 15 injuries, including seven seriously injured.<ref name="Reuters">{{cite news |last1=Trott |first1=Bill |last2=Heavey |first2=Susan |title=Cuomo says death toll in commuter train accident revised to six |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-newyork-train-idUSKBN0L801U20150204 |publisher=[[Reuters]]|access-date=August 17, 2017|date=February 4, 2015}}</ref>