Sleepy Hollow Collaborates with BCW’s Westchester Innovation Network (WIN) City Labs and Iona University to Reimagine Visitor Experience

Rye Brook, N.Y. (May 15, 2026) — Students from Iona University’s Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation recently recommended branding concepts to help the Village of Sleepy Hollow become a year-round destination as part of the Business Council of Westchester’s (BCW) Westchester Innovation Network (WIN) City Labs initiative.

The May 7 presentation, held before Mayor Marjorie Hsu, was the culmination of a semester-long Design Thinking project. Students from the Hynes Institute conducted extensive primary and secondary research to help the village bridge the gap between its world-famous seasonal identity and its potential as a year-round destination.

“This collaboration with the Business Council of Westchester allows our students to step beyond the classroom and apply their research to real-world problems,” said Aakash Sapru, Assistant Professor of Design Thinking & Innovation at the Hynes Institute. “The students’ goal was to identify the brand perception gap in Sleepy Hollow and propose solutions that improve discovery and navigation for everyone.”

The BCW WIN City Labs is a partnership designed to provide students with practical, community-engaged learning while offering municipalities expert-level consulting. The student team used design thinking, a non-linear process prioritizes empathy and observation to solve complex human needs.

The students’ primary research was comprehensive, involving 27 in-depth interviews and over 50 community surveys. Their findings highlighted several critical friction points for the village:

• Navigation & Wayfinding: Significant challenges in how visitors and residents move through the village.
• Safety & Parking: Concerns regarding pedestrian safety and the availability of parking during peak times.
• Seasonal Dependency: A heavy reliance on the Halloween season, leaving the village’s identity less defined during the rest of the year.

To address these issues, the students presented a series of prototypes for new signage and wayfinding systems designed to create a cohesive visual identity throughout the village.

“I am extremely impressed by the students’ scope and depth of design thinking analysis, and love the prototypes they developed so quickly. The Village of Sleepy Hollow very much appreciates the excellent work the Iona class accomplished!” said Mayor Hsu. “The Iona consultancy was perfectly timed with our Tourism Task Force’s recommendation presented just two days prior at our work session. Sleepy Hollow has prioritized better signage, wayfinding and is also working on social media branding and messaging. I loved the students’ ideas for gamification and mood boards! Thank you also to the BCW for making this collaboration possible. It is such a wonderful idea to bring fresh, young energy and ideas to local municipalities, and to expose students to how their local government serves them and their families.”

The meeting concluded with a roadmap for implementation. Action items include integrating the student-generated survey data into the village’s digital infrastructure and developing a programming calendar that highlights Sleepy Hollow’s unique assets in the spring and summer months.

“The BCW WIN City Labs’ immense value is bringing fresh sets of eyes to look at community issues and develop new ideas to address them,” said BCW President and CEO Marsha Gordon. “The students’ insightful recommendations give Sleepy Hollow useful concepts to consider as they plan their downtown’s future.”

The BCW WIN City Labs initiative continues to serve as a vital bridge in Westchester County, connecting the innovative spirit of students at Iona University with the practical needs of local governments to foster more resilient and engaged communities.

Sleepy Hollow is the ninth Westchester community to have participated in the City Labs initiative. The Iona students’ past analyses have ranged from downtown parking to economic development, placemaking and environmental awareness.