Yonkers is the fourth most
populous city in the state
of New
York
(behind Rochester
, Buffalo
, and
New York
City
), and the most populous city in Westchester
County, New York
, with a population of 196,086 (according to the
2000 census). More recent estimates put the population at
197,234 in 2002, 197,126 in 2004 and 196,425 in 2005.
Yonkers borders the
New York City borough of The Bronx
and is 2 miles (3 km) north of Manhattan
at the cities' two respective closest
points.
The city
is home to several attractions: the Hudson River Museum, the Sherwood House,
Cross County Shopping
Center, Yonkers
Raceway
, a harness racing
track that has renovated its grounds and clubhouse and added
legalized video slot machine
gambling in 2006 in a "racino" called Empire City. The race track's
renovation forced the move of the city's weekly Flea Market; now
held in the parking lot of the
Edward
J. Murray Skating Center, located at 348 Tuckahoe Road,
every Sunday between the months of May & December.
There are also many
large shopping areas along Central Park Avenue (NY 100), informally called "Central
Ave" by area residents, a name it takes officially a few miles
north in White Plains,
New York
.
Geography
The city
is spread out over hills rising from near sea level at the eastern
bank of the Hudson River to 416 feet
(126 m) at Sacred Heart Church, whose spire can be seen from
Long
Island
, New York
City
, and New
Jersey
. Its landscape has been compared to San Francisco
, Sarajevo
, and Rome
.
Yonkers is located at (40.941478, -73.864365).
The city occupies 20.3 square miles (52.6 km²), including
46.8 km² (18.1 sq mi) of land and 5.8 km² (2.2
sq mi) (11.02%) of water, according to the
United States Census
Bureau.
The
Bronx River separates Yonkers from
Mount
Vernon
, Tuckahoe,
Eastchester
, Bronxville
, and Scarsdale
to the east. The towns of Greenburgh
and Hastings-on-Hudson
are to the north, and on the western border is the
Hudson River.
On the
south, Yonkers borders the Riverdale, Woodlawn
, and Wakefield
sections of The
Bronx
. In addition, the southernmost point of
Yonkers is only 2 miles (3 km) north of the northernmost point
of Manhattan
when measured from Broadway & Caryl Avenue in
Yonkers to Broadway & West 228th Street in the Marble
Hill
section of Manhattan.
The
gentilic for residents is alternately
Yonkersonian or Yonkersite
Climate: Yonkers has cold
winters and warm
summers. Temperature ranges average lows of
27 degrees F in January, and average highs of 84 degrees F in
July.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there are 196,086
people, 74,351 households, and 49,294 families residing in the
city. The
population density is
10,847.5 people per square mile (4,187.5/km²). There are 77,589
housing units at an average density of 4,292.2/sq mi
(1,656.9/km²). The cultural makeup of the city is 57.00%
White, 16.61%
African American, 0.44%
Native American, 4.86%
Asian, 0.05%
Pacific Islander, 13.44% from
other races, and 4.42% from two
or more ethnicities. 25.93% of the population are
Hispanic or
Latino of any ethnic background. 19.9%
were of
Italian and 11.6%
Irish ancestry according to
Census 2000. 61.3% spoke
English, 22.7%
Spanish, 3.9%
Italian, 5%
Arabic and 1.3%
Portuguese as their first
language.
There are 74,351 households out of which 30.9% have children under
the age of 18 living with them, 44.2% are
married couples living together, 17.2% have a
female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% are
non-families. 29.2% of all households are made up of individuals
and 11.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or
older. The average household size is 2.61 and the average family
size is 3.23.
In the city the population is spread out with 24.3% under the age
of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 25, 30.6% from 25 to 45, 21.2% from 45 to
65, and 15.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is
36 years. For every 100 females there are 88.6 males. For every 100
females age 18 and over, there are 84.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $44,663, and the
median income for a family is $53,233. Males have a median income
of $41,598 versus $34,756 for females. The
per capita income for the city is $22,793.
15.5% of the population and 13.0% of families are below the
poverty line. Out of the total
population, 24.8% of those under the age of 18 and 9.9% of those 65
and older are living below the poverty line.
History
The land
on which the city is built was once part of a 24,000 acre
(97 km²) land grant that ran from the current Manhattan/Bronx
border at Marble Hill
northwards for 12 miles (19 km), and from the
Hudson River eastwards to the Bronx River. This grant was given in July
1645 by
New Netherland
Director-General
Willem Kieft to
Adriaen van der Donck,
originally named
Colen Donck. Van der
Donck was known locally as the
Jonkheer or
Jonker (etymologically, "young gentleman"; in
effect, "
Esquire"), a word from which the
name "Yonkers" is directly derived. Van der Donck built a
saw mill near where the Nepperhan Creek met the
Hudson; the Nepperhan is now also known as the
Saw Mill River.
Near the
site of van der Donck's mill is Philipse Manor Hall
, a Colonial-era manor house which today serves as a
museum and archive, offering many glimpses into life before the
American Revolution. The original structure (later enlarged)
was built around 1682 by
Frederick
Philipse and his wife Margaret Hardenbroeck. Frederick was a
wealthy Dutchman who, by the time of his death, had amassed an
enormous estate which encompassed the entire modern City of
Yonkers, as well as several other Hudson River towns. Philipse's
great-grandson,
Frederick
Philipse III, was a prominent
Loyalist during the
American Revolution, who, because of his
political leanings, was forced to flee to England. All the lands
that belonged to the Philipse family were confiscated and
sold.
For its first two hundred years, Yonkers was a small farming town
with an active industrial waterfront. Yonkers's later growth rested
largely on developing industry. In 1853, Elisha Otis invented the
first safety elevator and the
Otis
Elevator Company, opened the first elevator factory in the
world on the banks of the Hudson near what is now Vark Street. It
relocated to larger quarters [now "I.Park on Hudson] in the 1880s.
Around the same time, the Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company
(in the Saw Mill River Valley) expanded to 45 buildings, 800 looms,
and over 4,000 workers and was known as one of the premier carpet
producing centers in the world. In 1892, Smith carpets were sent to
Moscow for the czar's coronation.
Bakelite,
the first completely synthetic plastic, was invented in Yonkers
circa 1906 by Leo Baekeland, and manufactured there until the late
1920s.

Dignitaries at the 2005 Yonkers Saint
Patrick's Day Parade
The community was incorporated as a village in the northern part of
the Town of Yonkers in 1854, and as a city in 1872. The southern
part of the Township became the
South
Bronx. The city having declined to join the
City of Greater New York, plans
were dropped to extend the
new subway to Getty
Square.
Early in the 20th Century, Yonkers also hosted a
brass era automobile
maker,
Colt Runabout Company;
despite the car's seemingly glowing performance, the company went
under.
Yonkers was also the headquarters of the Waring Hat Company, at the
time the nation's largest hat manufacturer.
World War II saw the city's factories
manufacture such items as tents and blankets in the Alexander Smith
and Sons Carpet Factory and tanks in the Otis Elevator
factory.
After
World War II, however, with
increased competition from less expensive imports, Yonkers lost
much of its manufacturing activity. The Alexander Smith Carpet mill
fell on hard times and ceased operation on June 24, 1954. In 1983,
the Otis Elevator Factory finally closed its doors. With the loss
of jobs in the city itself, Yonkers followed the trend of many
suburban cities after
World War II,
becoming primarily a commuter city. Yonkers' excellent
transportation infrastructure, including three commuter railroad
lines (now two) and five parkways and freeways, as well as its
15-minute drive from Manhattan, made it a desirable city in which
to live. Yonkers' manufacturing sector, however, has recently shown
a resurgence.
A Kawasaki
railroad cars assembly plant opened in 1986 in the former Otis
plant, producing the new R142A, R143 and R160B cars for the New York City Subway, and the PA4 and
upcoming PA5 series for PATH
.
Aside from being a manufacturing center, Yonkers also played a key
role in the development of entertainment in the United States. In
1888, Scottish immigrant
John Reid founded
the first
golf course in the United
States, St. Andrew's Golf Club, in Yonkers. On January 4, 1940,
Yonkers resident
Edwin Howard
Armstrong transmitted the first
FM radio
broadcast (on station
W2XCR) from the Yonkers
home of C.R. Runyon, a co-experimenter. Yonkers also had the
longest running
pirate radio station,
owned by
Allan Weiner during the 1970s
through the 1980s.
The Irish-American community is prominent in Yonkers, and the city
hosts one of the nation's oldest
St.
Patrick's Day parades. There is also home to a large
Italian-American community, and the city
hosts a large
Columbus Day festival
with a
Miss Italian-American pageant.Yonkers also has a
significant
Portuguese
population.
Another large community is the
Slavic
community.
In the early and mid 20th Century a large
amount of people emigrated from Poland
, Ukraine
, Czechoslavakia
, Russia
, and
Croatia
. Recently a large number of immigrants from
the former
Yugoslavia have called Yonkers
home. The Slavic community is centered around St. Casimir's Roman
Catholic Church, Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, Most Holy
Trinity Russian Orthodox Church, and St. John the Baptist Ukranian
Catholic Church. Yonkers still has a large Slavic community.
Southwest Yonkers is home to a large Arab community.
Many people have come
from Jordan
and Lebanon
. Arabic masses are held at Immaculate
Conception Church, St Mary's and The Virgin Mary Orthodox Church
which was formerly located on High St but recently relocated to
Grandview Blvd behind central ave. The Arab Community plays a big
part in Yonkers. These churches are usually a big target for
politicians, since they can swing tight elections. The churches
play a huge role for the very active teens in their community. The
Arab Community has given Yonkers a good name bringing up many
Doctors and successful people in the city. A notable member Dr.
Joseph Sayegh was a key member in the school district. Also the
role of president at St Josephs Hospital the city's biggest
employer has been given to a number of Arab Americans in
Yonkers.
There
also once was a significant Jewish population
(the Broadway
plays Hello
Dolly! and Lost in
Yonkers both take place within the Yonkers Jewish
community). However, it has dwindled. In the 2000s, some
areas bordering similar neighborhoods in
Riverdale began seeing an influx of
Orthodox Jews. Subsequently, Riverdale
Hatzalah Volunteer Ambulance
Service
[14012] began serving some neighborhoods in the
southwest section of the city.
Government and infrastructure
City departments include:
Aging,
Office for the
City Clerk
Code Enforcement Bureau
Community Services
Constituent Services
Consumer Protection Bureau
Corporation Counsel
Downtown and Waterfront Development
Economic Development
Emergency Management, Office of
Engineering
Finance
Film Office
Fire Department
Housing & Buildings
Human Resources Administration
Human Rights
Inspector General
Parking Violations Bureau
Department of Parks, Recreation &
Conservation
Planning and Development
Police Department
Public Affairs
Public Works
Purchasing
Real Estate
Support Services
Veterans' Services
Neighborhoods
Though Yonkers contains many small residential enclaves and
communities, it can conveniently be divided into four quarters,
demarcated by the Saw Mill River. There are roughly 37 or more
distinct neighborhoods, but these names are out of date only being
used by real estate agents, along with a few other natives.
Northeast Yonkers
This is a heavily
Irish-American and
Italian-American area.
Though suburban, it
is noticeably less so than the Town of Greenburgh
to the north. House sizes vary widely, from
small houses set close together, to some larger houses in areas
like Lawrence Park West. Tuckahoe Road, which intersects Central
Avenue, contains many stores as well. Notable former residents
include
Steven Tyler of the rock band
Aerosmith (born Steven Tallarico), whose
childhood home was just off Central Avenue on Pembrook Drive.
Northeastern Yonkers contains the Crestwood
, Colonial Heights, and Beech Hill sections of
Yonkers, as well as several other enclaves. Landmarks include
St Vladimir's Seminary
, the Tanglewood Shopping Center (one-time home of
the Tanglewood Boys gang), as
well as Sarah
Lawrence College
. The Lawrence Park West and Cedar Knolls
sections are unique in many ways from the rest of Northeast
Yonkers.
The two neighborhoods consist of more
upscale housing, and, due to the promixity of several Metro-North commuter railroad stations, its
residents tend to commute to work in Manhattan
.
Northwest Yonkers
Northwest
Yonkers is a collection of widely varying neighborhoods, spanning
from the Hudson River to around the
New York State Thruway/I-87
and from Ashburton Avenue north to the Hastings-on-Hudson
border. With the Hudson River bordering it to the
west, this area has many beautiful Victorian-era homes with panoramic
views of the
Palisades
. An interest in historic preservation has
taken hold in this neighborhood in recent years, as demonstrated on
streets like Shonnard Terrace, Delavan Place and Hudson View
Terrace. The population of northwestern Yonkers is probably the
most ethnically diverse in the city.
Landmarks include the
Hudson River
Museum,
Untermyer Park and the
Lenoir Nature Preserve. The significant amount of surviving
Victorian architecture and 19th century estates in northwest
Yonkers has attracted many filmmakers in recent years.
The two block section of Palisade Ave between Chase and Roberts Ave
in northwest Yonkers is colloquially known as the "the north end"
or "the end". It was and still is the only retail and food shopping
area in the neighborhood, and was well known by the local kids for
an original soda fountain store "Urich's". It was once the end of
the # 2 trolley line. The # 2 bus replaced the trolley line. One
part of Yonkers that is sometimes overlooked is Nepera Park. This
is a small section at the northern part of Nepperhan Avenue on the
Hastings-on-Hudson border.

#4 Beeline bus heading west on McLean
Ave. at Central Ave. in southeast Yonkers
Southeast Yonkers

Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox
Church
Southeast Yonkers is mostly Irish-American (a lot of the Irish
being native born) and a good amount of Italian-Americans.
Much of
the architecture and types of stores in the area cause southeastern
Yonkers to bear a greater resemblance to certain parts of the Bronx
, Brooklyn
, Queens
, or
Staten
Island
than to points north. This is not
surprising as southeastern Yonkers is largely within walking
distance of the Riverdale, Woodlawn
, and Wakefield sections of the
Bronx. Many residents regard eastern McLean Avenue, home to
a vibrant Irish community shared with the Woodlawn section of the
Bronx, to be the true hub of Yonkers. Similarly, a portion of
Midland Avenue in the
Dunwoodie section has been
called the "Little Italy" of Yonkers. Landmarks of southeastern
Yonkers include the
Cross
County Shopping Center, Yonkers Raceway, and
St. Joseph's Seminary in
the Dunwoodie neighborhood, which was visited by
Pope John Paul II in October 1995 and
later by
Pope Benedict XVI in
April 2008.
Southwest Yonkers
This area in Yonkers has suffered from past economic, political,
and social challenges that hindered many positive social changes.
However,
the area presently reveals a decrease in crime rate and a
juxtaposition of poverty and revitalization that mirrors newly
gentrified neighborhoods of New York City's Harlem
and
Brooklyn. Off South Broadway (a major thoroughfare) one can
find residential neighborhoods, such as Nodine Hill,
Park Hill, and Hudson Park (off the
Hudson River) with residential streets of turn-of-the-century
mansions, and upscale luxury rentals and condominiums. Other
upscale neighborhoods are Ludlow Park, Hudson Park & Van
Cortlandt Crest, off Riverdale Avenue, right over the
Riverdale border - the former alongside the
Hudson River.
The area is also home to significant historical and educational
institutions including the historic Philipse Manor Hall [a New York
State Historic Site that houses one of three papier mache ceilings
in the United States [http://www.friendspmh.org], the Hudson River
Museum
[14013]
with its Andrus Planetarium, the
Science
Barge, Beczak Environmental Education Center
[14014], and a rather
new Yonkers Public Library.
Many
southwesterners are of African, Caribbean
, Italian, or Hispanic
descent while an influx those from other cultural backgrounds has
continued to shape a culturally diverse community. Some
neighborhoods right on the
Riverdale border are increasingly becoming
home to
Orthodox Jews. The
revitalization of the downtown Yonkers/Getty Square area has helped
to nurture growth for Southwest Yonkers. In the early 2000s several
new luxury apartment buildings were built along the Hudson such as
66Main
[14015],
a luxury high-rise and Metro92
[14016], a converted trolley barn turned loft
rentals, both erected in 2007 , as well as a new "Sculpture Meadow
on the Hudson," renovation of a Victorian-era pier, a new public
library housed in the remodeled Otis elevator factory. Many new
projects are intended to revitalize downtown Yonkers.
Transportation
Mass transit
The Yonkers Metro-North train station.
Yonkers has the eighth-highest rate of
public transit
ridership among cities in the United States.
It has four Hudson Line Metro-North Railroad stations providing
commuter service to New York City: Ludlow
, Yonkers
, Glenwood
and Greystone
. The Yonkers station is also served by
Amtrak. Several
Harlem
Line stations are on or very near the city's eastern border.
These
include Wakefield
, Mt.
Vernon
West
, Fleetwood
, Bronxville
, Tuckahoe
and Crestwood
.
Bus service is provided by the Westchester County
Bee-Line Bus System, and an
MTA Bus Company express route to
Manhattan.
Recently,
New York Water Taxi
has started a
ferry service from downtown
Yonkers to Manhattan's
Financial District. As of
January 4, 2008, this service runs four times a day.
Roads and paths
Major
limited-access roads in Yonkers
include
Interstate 87 (the
New York State Thruway), the
Saw Mill,
Bronx River,
Sprain Brook and
Cross County parkways.
US
9,
NY 9A and
100 are important surface
streets.
The
former New York and Putnam
Railroad running through the middle of Yonkers has been
converted into bicycling and walking paths going north along the
Saw Mill River to Elmsford
and south to Van Cortlandt Park
.
Image
Yonkers fares well in most measures of crime.
According to a 2008
report by the city it was ranked with a much lower crime rate than
other suburbs around New York City, such Newark, New
Jersey
, as well as similarly-sized New York cities like
Buffalo
and Rochester
.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Yonkers developed a national reputation for
racial tension, based on a long-term battle between the City of
Yonkers and the
NAACP over the building of
subsidized low-rent housing. The City wanted to use federal funds
to create or expand high-rise housing projects in southwest
Yonkers; other groups, led by the NAACP, felt that concentrating
subsidized housing in traditionally poor neighborhoods perpetuated
poverty. The climax of the battle came when
United States district court
Judge Leonard Sand imposed a fine on Yonkers which started at $1
and doubled every day until the City capitulated to the federally
mandated plan. A history of this battle can be found in Lisa
Belkin's 1999 book
Show Me a Hero.
Education
Public schools in Yonkers are operated by
Yonkers Public Schools [14017].
Libraries are operated by the
Yonkers Public Library [14018].
Revitalization
Amidst a growing need for increased economic viability in Yonkers,
a vast revitalization project proposal, promising to add luxury
housing, waterfront development,
commercial
and
retail space, has been designed for the
city.
With hopes of increasing the city's tourism and economic importance in the state
and county
, the project is one of the largest revitalization
projects ever proposed for any locality within the New York
Metropolitan Area
, totaling more than $3 billion.
The
project is headed by Westchester County
's Louis R.
Cappelli, Struever Bros. of Baltimore, and
New
Jersey
's Fidelco Realty. The project is expected to
include a controversial
Minor
League Baseball stadium, and an expansive retail and
residential project, adding approximately 800 residential units
throughout the downtown area and the waterfront. The community's
strong opposition to plans for high rise buildings along their
waterfront is so far being ignored by both developers and city
government.
The project has as its catalyst the "daylighting" of the now buried
Saw Mill River, an idea championed by
community-based organizations like Groundwork Yonkers
[14019] and
its Saw Mill River Coalition. The
Pataki
Administration at
Scenic Hudson's urging contributed $34 million
in funds for daylighting.
The concept of a river accompanied by a
natural greenway path and
commercial development has been successful in the revitalization of
downtowns in San
Antonio, Texas
and Providence, Rhode Island
.
Although many city officials and residents find much need for city
revitalization and urban redevelopment efforts, controversy has
surfaced over the major project. A number of residents feel the
project is an insidious attempt by the city government and project
officials to enforce a policy of outright
gentrification. Due to the use of
eminent domain and other methods, some
residents are fearful that they will ultimately be the victims in
the redevelopment battle.
Others,
however, are staunch proponents of the multi-billion dollar
redevelopment effort, foreseeing the transition of Yonkers from a
suburban city in the shadows of New York City
, to a tourist attraction of economic
importance.
Notable residents
In the media
Yonkers is the setting of two feature
films by
local filmmaker
Robert Celestino:
Mr. Vincent, a 1997
Sundance Film Festival entrant in the
non-competition Spectrum section, and
Yonkers Joe, a scheduled 2009 release by
Magnolia Pictures, starring
Chazz Palminteri and
Christine Lahti. Yonkers' locations also
provide the setting for
A Tale of Two Pizzas, a "Romeo and
Juliet" theme played out among two rival pizza owners.The film
"Doubt" starring Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius Beauvier filmed
scenes for this movie at St. Marks Lutheran Church's school.Yonkers
is also the location for many major filming projects:
Catch Me
if You Can with Tom Hanks and Leonardo diCaprio;
Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with Jim Carey and Kate Winslet;
Mona Lisa Smile with Julia Roberts;
A Beautiful
Mind with Russell Crowe,
Big Daddy with Adam Sandler,
The Preacher's Wife (a remake of "The Bishop's Wife) with
Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston,
Kate and Leopold
with Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman. Some episodes of the new TV series
Fringe were taped in the downtown. The City Hall Courtroom
is also the setting for many film and commercial scenes.
The starting scene from
Eternal Sunshine of The
Spotless Mind where
Joel Barish played by
Jim Carrey drives his car up Riverdale Ave past
the 3rd police precinct. Then turns right on Valentine Ave to his
apartment.
In
Max Brooks's novel,
World War Z, the US armed forces are
defeated in the
Battle of Yonkers
by an army of zombies.
Steve Meretzky created several Infocom games, such as
Sorcerer. One of the spells in
that game, "Yonk", is named after Yonkers.
Dunder Mifflin, the fictional paper
supply company from
NBC's
The Office has a branch in
Yonkers.
Yonkers is one of the settings in the musical
Hello Dolly!
A character in the musical
Gypsy: A Musical Fable is named
after Yonkers.
Neil Simon wrote a play entitled
Lost In Yonkers, set in the
city. The story is about two young boys during
World War Two, whose father leaves them with
their grandmother in Yonkers so he can earn money for the
family.
In the episode "
The One With
Ross' Tan" of
Friends, Yonkers
is mentioned as the town where Monica and Phoebe's old friend,
Amanda Bouvamonteezi, is from.
In the episode "The Handcuffs" of
I Love
Lucy, Mr Walters, the locksmith has to return to his house
in Yonkers.
In the Twilight Zone episode, "What's In The Box," a philandering
cab driver, played by William Demarest, tells his wife he was late
coming home because he had to take a "fare" up to Yonkers.
Yonkers was shown on
A Shot at Love 2 with Tila
Tequila, as it was contestant
Kristy's hometown.
Yonkers is mentioned in
Bon Jovi's song
Raise Your Hands
There has also been some rumours that Pop Star Lady GaGa was born
here, However she is born in Manhattan.
Twin Towns - Sister Cities
Yonkers is
twinned with:
See also
References
- [1] Paul Dickson
- No apparent relation to Colt's Patent Firearms. Clymer,
Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925
(New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.63.
- New York Water Taxi. "nywatertaxi Yonkers Route", New York Water
Taxi. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
- - 2004 Morgan Quitno Crime Survey. Retrieved February 6,
2006.
- Fox, Margalit. "Elsie B. Washington, a Novelist, Dies at 66",
The New York Times, May 16, 2009.
Accessed May 18, 2009.
- Filmmaker: "Tribeca Director Interview:
Robert Celestino, Yonkers Joe", April 23, 2008
- Magnolia Pictures: Yonkers Joe press
notes
External links
west=Rockland