Westchester Square is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the eastern section of the
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
borough of
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: East Tremont Avenue and Silver Street, Blondell Avenue and
Westchester Creek
Westchester Creek (also known as Frenchman's Creek) is a tidal inlet of the East River located in the south eastern portion of the Bronx in New York City. It is 2.1 miles (3.39 km) in length. The creek formerly traveled further inland, to wha ...
to the east, Waterbury Avenue to the south and Castle Hill Avenue to the west. The main roadways through Westchester Square are East Tremont Avenue, Westchester Avenue and Williamsbridge Road.
The neighborhood is part of
Bronx Community District 10, and its ZIP Codes include 10461 and 10462. The area is patrolled by the 45th Precinct of the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
.
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History
The village was founded about 1654 by English settlers who left
New Haven Colony
The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
The history o ...
for Dutch
New Netherland
New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the East Coast of the United States, east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territor ...
, on land purchased by Thomas Pell in 1654 from the
sachem
Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Al ...
Ann-hock, alias Wampage, and other Native Americans, although his right to do so was disputed by the Dutch who also laid claim to the land. The settlers followed the
Westchester Creek
Westchester Creek (also known as Frenchman's Creek) is a tidal inlet of the East River located in the south eastern portion of the Bronx in New York City. It is 2.1 miles (3.39 km) in length. The creek formerly traveled further inland, to wha ...
to a path behind what is now
Herbert H. Lehman High School to where the Square is now. The settlement was called Oostdorp, or East Towne, and called Westchester by the English settlers.
In a war in 1655 between the Dutch and Native Americans, the Dutch suspected the settlers of Oostdorp of working with the
Esopus and
Woppinger Indians and being instigators, so as to drive the Dutch from the area. In addition, they were in communication with the New Haven Colony, which drove
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant (; in Dutch also ''Pieter'' and ''Petrus'' Stuyvesant, ; 1610 – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial officer who served as the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Net ...
to order their removal and the destruction of their homes in March 1656. Twenty-three men were placed on board the ship ''de Waagh'' ("the Scales") and taken to
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
, where they were held prisoner on the ship ''Ballance''. According to one account, they were "fed with rotten provision, creeping with worms, whereby some of them remained diseased to this day, after which they were carried away in chaines and laid in their dungeon at Manhatoes." Shortly afterwards, the settlers agreed to submit to Dutch law and authority and were permitted to remain at Westchester. Thomas Wheeler, Thomas Newman, and John Lord were selected as the first magistrates. At that time, the town consisted of 25 men and 10-12 women.
The village was the town seat of the Town of Westchester (the town hall being located at ) until 1895, when that town became part of greater New York City. The Square is still laid out like a village, with the Owen Dolen Plaza, previously the village green, once again a central feature of the community. There are still many 19th-century homes throughout the neighborhood, including several old
Victorian mansions, as well as the
Huntington Free Library and Reading Room on the west side of the square. In 1920, the
Interborough Rapid Transit Company
The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT w ...
's
Pelham elevated line was opened with a stop at
Westchester Square–East Tremont Avenue.
The Westchester Square BID (
business improvement district) was formally signed into law in March 2012. Led by business owner John Bonizio, the BID is funded by landlords and shopkeepers who pay a special property tax assessment to the city. It helps to patrol and promote the immediate shopping corridor.
Demographics
For census purposes, the New York City government classifies Westchester Square as part of a larger neighborhood tabulation area called Van Nest/Morris Park/Westchester Square. Based on data from the
2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
, the population of Van Nest/Morris Park/Westchester Square was 29,250, a change of 2,115 (7.2%) from the 27,135 counted in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of .
[Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010]
Population Division - New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 27.3% (7,987)
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 11.1% (3,245)
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.3% (82)
Native American, 10.6% (3,100)
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.1% (15)
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 1% (292) from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.4% (410) from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 48.3% (14,119) of the population.
[Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010]
Population Division - New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.
Police and crime
Westchester Square and Co-op City are patrolled by the 45th Precinct of the
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
, located at 2877 Barkley Avenue in
Throggs Neck
Throggs Neck (also known as Throgs Neck) is a neighborhood and peninsula in the south-eastern portion of the borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by the East River and Long Island Sound to the south and ea ...
.
The 45th Precinct ranked 28th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010.
The 45th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 77.7% between 1990 and 2020. The precinct reported 2 murders, 16 rapes, 125 robberies, 231 felony assaults, 101 burglaries, 427 grand larcenies, and 150 grand larcenies auto in 2020.
Fire safety
Westchester Square is served by the
New York City Fire Department
The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...
(FDNY)'s Squad 61/Battalion 20, located at 1518 Williamsbridge Road.
Post office and ZIP Codes
Westchester Square is located within
ZIP Code 10461 northeast of Zerega Avenue and 10462 southwest of Zerega Avenue. The
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
operates the Westchester Station post office at 2619 Ponton Avenue.
Arts and culture
The
Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance is located on the grounds of
St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Westchester Square.
Parks and recreation
* Owen Dolen Park is bordered by Westchester Avenue, Lane Avenue and Williamsbridge Road. It was recently renovated and rededicated in June 2013.
The $4.72 million renovation of the park was started in September 2011. It was named after Owen Dolen a lifelong community resident and teacher, in 1926. Dolen had died of a heart attack a year earlier after giving a speech at the Square to unveil a granite memorial honoring neighborhood soldiers killed in World War I.
* The name for the Pearly Gates Playground is derived from Christian tradition of the entranceway through which souls enter
Heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
after death. The
pearly gates
''Pearly gates'' is an informal name for the gateway to Heaven according to some Christian denominations. It is inspired by the description of the New Jerusalem in : "The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate being made from a single pearl ...
are said to be guarded by
Saint Peter
Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
, one of the founders of the Christian Church. The playground is named the Pearly Gates, because of its location on St. Peter’s Avenue. The playground originally opened in 1952 under the joint operation of Parks and the Board of Education. The park was originally called the Westchester Playground until 1998, when Parks Commissioner
Henry Stern renamed the site The Pearly Gates.
Libraries
The
Huntington Free Library is a non-circulating, privately operated library at 9 Westchester Square. It is one of the oldest libraries in the Bronx. It remains largely unchanged from its opening in the 1890s, although it formerly contained a large Native American collection. The library includes a special collection of books and photographs on local Bronx history, as well as a collection contains current newspapers, magazines, and reference books.
The
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
(NYPL)'s Westchester Square branch is a circulating branch of the NYPL located at 2521 Glebe Avenue. The branch started operating in 1937 and moved to its current two-story location in 1956. There are plans to move the Westchester Square branch to the Huntington Library annex.
Transportation
The following
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
stations serve Westchester Square:
*
East Tremont Avenue ()
*
Zerega Avenue ()
The following
MTA Regional Bus Operations
MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the surface transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was created in 2008 to consolidate all bus operations in New York City operated by the MTA. , MTA Regional Bus Operations ru ...
bus routes serve Westchester Square:
*: to
Westchester Square
Westchester Square is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the eastern section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: East Tremont Avenue and Silver Street, Blon ...
() or
Third Avenue–149th Street () (via Westchester Avenue)
*: to
Westchester Square
Westchester Square is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the eastern section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise are: East Tremont Avenue and Silver Street, Blon ...
() or
Simpson Street
Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...
() (via Westchester Avenue and Metropolitan Oval)
*: to
Williamsbridge or
Locust Point (via Williamsbridge Road)
*: to
Third Avenue–138th Street (via Morris Park Avenue)
*: to
Country Club
A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offer ...
or
Hutchinson Metro Center
*: to
Woodlawn (via Eastchester Road)
*/: to
Throggs Neck
Throggs Neck (also known as Throgs Neck) is a neighborhood and peninsula in the south-eastern portion of the borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by the East River and Long Island Sound to the south and ea ...
or
Morris Heights (via 180th Street, Burnside Avenue, Tremont Avenue)
References
External links
East Bronx History Forum
Huntington Free Library and Reading RoomSt. Peter's Episcopal ChurchWestchester Square Business Improvement DistrictWestchester Square-Zerega Improvement Organization
{{Former towns of New York City
Former towns in New York City
Neighborhoods in the Bronx
Squares in the Bronx