A Cold Afternoon Inspires a Hot Idea
One cold Wednesday afternoon in late February Gabriel Brodbar sat in his car at the Monticello bus station waiting for his wife to arrive. They had purchased a home in Downsville and would often travel there from the city separately, with Gabe arriving by car and his wife following later by bus. As he waited he passed the time by watching cars pull in to pick up their passengers and noticed among the vehicles a couple of Land Rovers and a Maserati.
When bus finally arrived it was sold out and completely packed, which was unexpected as it was a non-peak time of year, day and departure. The people coming off the bus looked miserable, and that the bus itself looked pretty dirty. It struck him that there was a clear need for easy transportation to the Catskills, as well as an opportunity to do something a bit more elegant then what was offered by Greyhound. And on that fateful day in February the idea for Catskill Carriage was born.
This is Gabe with one of his buses!
From Brooklyn to the Catskills
Gabe is a born and bred Brooklynite who spent his childhood summers with his family in the Borscht Belt, so he has a very close personal connection to the area. Entrepreneurship is a huge part of every aspect of his life. In addition to Catskill Carriage, Gabe heads up the Social Entrepreneurship Program at NYU where he helps create the next generation of change-making entrepreneurs. While he loves his work in the city his ultimate goal is to get as close to being full time in the Catskills as possible, although his wife will take some convincing (she is from Grahamsville and is very much enjoying her city lifestyle).
Grab your gear, hop on the bus, and visit the Catskills this weekend! (Photo Credit: Michael Roberto)
How An Idea Became a Reality
Around the time of that fateful February afternoon, Gabe started getting contacted by realtors looking to list his house in Downsville. He also started noticing properties around him were being purchased with greater frequency, often with doublewides on them being replaced by McMansions. While it seemed like things in the area were picking up Gabe wanted to make sure it wasn’t just a fluke did a bit of research. His research told him that tourism in Sullivan County was growing at a much faster rate then he had expected. In 2015, Sullivan County saw a +4.4% increase in visitor spending. In 2016, this increase rose to +8%. And 2017 is projected to be an additional increase over 2016 numbers.
With the data to back up what he was observing anecdotally, Gabe decided to turn his idea into reality and get Catskill Carriage off the ground.
Scenic Bridge over Beaverkill – perfect for your Instapics 🙂
Why Drive When You Can Ride (in Style!)
Let’s face it, short of having a car the options to get yourself to the Catskills are not plentiful or convenient. NJ Transit only gets you as far as Port Jervis and Greyhound doesn’t exactly put the “fun” in functional. Catskill Carriage is changing all of that by turning the drive into an enjoyable ride that is actually fun to take. Best of all, all of the pick-ups and drop-offs are at bars so you can relax with a cocktail or beer while you wait (or soda or coffee if you’re doing the picking up).
Catskill Carriage has thought of everything from spacious reclining seats to dedicated power outlets, passenger operated lights, air vents, and hostess call buttons, and complimentary WiFi (not to mention an extra clean lavatory!) Plus each northbound Express seat comes with hostess service featuring Jackie Q’s farm-to-tummy desserts.
Your Catskills Adventure Starts May 25, 2018
Catskill Carriage’s 2018 schedule begins May 25th and runs every weekend through October 8th. You have two options for travel: Local and Express. All northbound departures are on Fridays. All southbound departures are on Sundays, except Memorial Day, Labor Day and Columbus Day weekends, when the southbound departures are on Mondays.
A map of what the road trip will feel like.
Option #1: Livingston Manor Express
Express luxury service to and from: Manhattan, Monticello, Livingston Manor and Roscoe.
- Departs Midtown West at 4:00pm
- Includes hostess and dessert service
- Williamsburg, Brooklyn return stop available
$55 each way (if purchased 5 days prior to departure, $65 each way if purchased 4 to 1 day(s) prior to departure, or $68.75 if purchased day of departure). Get the full schedule here. And if you’re picking someone up use their Live Tracker to check on the arrival’s status.
Your Catskills getaway is just a bus ticket away…
Option #2: Callicoon Local
Local luxury service to and from: Manhattan, Monticello, Callicoon, Livingston Manor and Roscoe.
- Departs Midtown West at 6:00pm
- Does not include hostess and dessert service
- Williamsburg Brooklyn return stop available
$40 each way (if purchased 5 days prior to departure, $50 each way if purchased 4 to 1 day(s) prior to departure, or $55 if purchased day of departure). Get the detailed schedule here.
What’s Next for Catskill Carriage?
Gabe originally launched Catskill Carriage targeting people with some connection to a second home. That market is very broadly defined as a pair of spouses and also includes groups that through Airbnb or similar situations where a bunch of folks get together and rent a house that can accommodate groups of 8-10. One person or couple comes up on Thursday with a car and gets everything situated and then everyone else come up on Friday on bus.
Gabe is working on lots of ways to make your trip even better!
For the market of people who go up and then eventually need a car while they are there Gabe is working hard to convince Zipcar or BMW or someone else to try Monticello, as right now options are pretty limited. In the meantime they are branching out to offer custom travel experiences for weddings, corporate events and retreats.
What Advice Does Gabe Have for Other Entrepreneurs?
One of the things Gabe says has been so rewarding is the people that he has been working with, people that are doing this because they’re either from the area and are in love with it or were ex-pats (so to speak). His advice to future entrepreneurs?
It’s good to be part of a larger community that’s going to help support you during the difficult times. If you are legitimately on this path you will face failures and to have some kind of deep and reliable support system to help pick you up is critical.
Gabe’s advice to future Catskill entrepreneurs.
Gabe advises that if it turns out that you have an idea with legs, it’s possible that it could be really successful if you are all-in. It is almost impossible to make it a success trying to do 2 or 3 things at once. You need to be prepared for the reality of this being your life 24/7 until you make it work. It’s 24/7, there’s no vacation, and you need to love it. It’s all in it’s all consuming
Please tell us what you think, we really want to know!
Tell us what you think!
Please comment below if you you plan on taking Catskill Carriage and let us know how it goes! Find all of Brooklyn to the Catskills‘ recommendations in the Life section of our site. We’d love to hear what you think about our other content too!
