Though Robin Latimer retired in January from Rye Beach Pharmacy, she still runs into people who recognize the familiar face they saw behind the counter for 18 years.
“Oh, seeing you reminds me,” they say. “I have to pick up my meds.”
Others know Latimer from her years of community work, or for singing at Church of the Resurrection, or at the annual Memorial Day commemoration, or through her husband, U.S. Rep. George Latimer. But Robin Latimer’s newest venture may get her even more recognition: In cooperation with Westchester County, she has formed “Friends of Rye Playland,” a group devoted to preserving Playland “as a historic and irreplaceable community treasure.”
The group, which started three months ago, already has 90 members and Latimer is working on getting it nonprofit status. The group’s aim is to “expand community involvement and public engagement, support educational and family-oriented programs, encourage philanthropic investment in the park’s future, and advocate for the long-term financial stability and responsible stewardship of the park,” according to its mission statement.
Playland has been blanketed in controversy in the last few years, most recently after private operator Standard Amusements backed out of a 30-year deal to run the county-owned park back in January 2025. The split sent Westchester into a scramble to open the park last season, which it did even though two-third of its rides were inoperable.
The amusement park has also been the center of various legal battles in recent years, including over the park’s infrastructural disarray and its tax-exempt status as a public park in the city of Rye. Additionally, a Bronx family sued Westchester County last year after their 5-year-old son drowned in Playland Pool, claiming “inept” lifeguard response and understaffing caused the child’s death.
So, Playland could use some “friends.” Latimer is perhaps one of its staunchest.
“I want to see Playland survive and thrive,” she said, noting that three generations of her family were a part of Playland history. Her grandmother, Cecile Sullivan, worked in the administration building and was a ticket taker. Her fireman father, Charlie Phelps, worked as a skating guard, in maintenance and the paint shop, and taught employees how to ride The Derby Racer. Robin herself worked in personnel when Playland was owned by Marriott.
She’s especially proud of her mother’s early connection to Playland. When the park opened in 1928, the students of Milton School were part of an opening day parade. Her mother, Alice Phelps, rode an Old-Woman-in-the-Shoe float and was named Miss Scarsdale, as students were given the names of area communities.
“Playland was the first themed park in the United States and the only one county-owned,” said Latimer, who delved into Playland history by drawing on resources like the Westchester Historical Society. Based on that research, Latimer wrote a brochure — now being reviewed by the Westchester County Park Commission — which explains how a county came to own an amusement park.
“In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Rye waterfront area of Westchester County along the Long Island Sound was the site of a growing collection of recreational developments, including hotels, resorts, and ‘amusement areas,’” Latimer explains in the brochure. Though there were two existing waterfront parks, some local residents didn’t like the crowds or the noise of the “overworked phonographs and the clankety-clanking of the Blue Streak roller coaster.” The local residents pushed Westchester County to buy a site for a new amusement park that would be especially “targeted to families.”
Designed by Manhattan architectural firm Walker & Gillette and landscape architect Gilmore D. Clarke, the operation was the country’s first planned amusement park. Frank Darling, a veteran park manager with experience at Coney Island and the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, was tapped to run the new attraction.
In addition to fleshing out this early history, Latimer writes in the brochure about Playland’s Ice Casino, which figured in the 1987 designation of Playland as a National Historic Landmark. Olympic Gold Medalist Dorothy Hamill grew up skating there, and the ice casino also served as a practice home for the New York Rangers. (Hamill remains an honorary member of the Rye Figure Skating Club, founded in 1937.) Latimer’s Playland also covers the famous boardwalk, the addition of The Westchester Children’s Museum, the renovations to the Playland Pool, and the Tiki Beach Bar.
This year, Playland is scheduled to open on May 23, and Latimer will be there, riding the Dragon Coaster. That, and the Derby Racer (where her father worked), are her favorites.
Looking ahead to 2028, the 100th anniversary of Rye Playland, Latimer envisions a gala to celebrate. She smiles at the thought that Tom Hanks, star of the movie “Big,” which filmed major parts at Playland and on the boardwalk, would attend.
In the meantime, she serves as president of the Ladies Auxiliary of the American Legion Post 128 and plays handbells on Sundays at Rye’s Church of the Resurrection, where she grew up and where she and George have been members for decades.
But getting Playland the support and recognition it deserves is a major priority. After all, she said, “Playland is an affordable amusement park for Westchester County.”
And that’s worth celebrating.
