Yonkers () is a city in
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...
, United States. Developed along the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
, it is the third most populous city in the state of
New York, after
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 ...
and
Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enumerated in the
2020 United States Census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
. It is classified as an
inner suburb
''Inner suburb'' is a term used for a variety of suburban communities that are generally located very close to the centre of a large city (the inner city and central business district). Their urban density is usually lower than the inner city ...
of
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 ...
, located directly to the north 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 ...
and approximately two miles (3 km) north of
Marble Hill, Manhattan
Marble Hill is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is one of the few areas within the borough of Manhattan not located on Manhattan Island. Marble Hill was occupied as a Dutch colonial settlement in 1646, a ...
, the northernmost point in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
Yonkers's downtown is centered on a
plaza
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
known as
Getty Square
Getty Square is the name for downtown Yonkers, New York, centered on the public square. Getty Square is the civic center, central business district, and transit hub of the City of Yonkers. A dense and growing residential area, it is located ...
, where the municipal government is located. The downtown area also houses significant local businesses and
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
s. It serves as a major retail hub for Yonkers and the northwest Bronx.
The city is home to several attractions, including access to the Hudson River, Tibbetts Brook Park, with its public pool with slides and lazy river and two-mile walking loop
Untermyer Park;
Hudson River Museum
The Hudson River Museum, located in Trevor Park in Yonkers, New York, is the largest museum in Westchester County. The Yonkers Museum, founded in 1919 at City Hall, became the Hudson River Museum in 1948. While often considered an art museum by th ...
;
Saw Mill River
The Saw Mill River is a tributary of the Hudson River in Westchester County, New York, United States. It flows from an unnamed pond north of Chappaqua to Getty Square in Yonkers, where it empties into the Hudson as that river's southernmost t ...
daylighting, wherein a parking lot was removed to uncover the Nepperkamack (Saw Mill River);
Science Barge
The Science Barge is a floating urban farm and environmental education center that has been docked in Yonkers, New York, USA since late 2008. The Barge grows crops using a hydroponic greenhouse powered by solar panels, wind turbines, and biofuels ...
; and
Sherwood House.
Yonkers Raceway
Yonkers Raceway & Empire City Casino, founded in 1899 as the Empire City Race Track, is a one-half-mile standardbred harness racing dirt track and slots racino located at the intersection of Central Park Avenue and Yonkers Avenue in Yonkers, New Y ...
, a
harness racing track, renovated its grounds and clubhouse, and added legalized
video slot machine
A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...
gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...
in 2006 to become a "
racino
A racino is a combined race track and casino. In some cases, the gambling is limited to slot machines, but many locations are beginning to include Casino game#Table games, table games such as blackjack, poker, and roulette.
In 2003, Joe Bob Br ...
" named Empire City. In more recent years, Yonkers has undergone progressive
gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
.
Major shopping areas are located in
Getty Square
Getty Square is the name for downtown Yonkers, New York, centered on the public square. Getty Square is the civic center, central business district, and transit hub of the City of Yonkers. A dense and growing residential area, it is located ...
, on South Broadway, at the
Cross County Shopping Center and
Westchester's Ridge Hill
Ridge Hill, formerly known as Westchester's Ridge Hill is a mixed-use lifestyle center located between Interstate 87 and the Sprain Brook Parkway in Yonkers, New York. With its grand opening in 2011, Ridge Hill features a variety of retail store ...
, and along
Central Park Avenue, informally called "Central Ave" by area residents, a name it takes officially a few miles north in
White Plains. Yonkers is known as the "
City of Seven Hills
The title ''City of Seven Hills'' usually refers to Rome, which was Seven hills of Rome, founded on seven hills. However, there are many other cities that make the same claim.
Africa
* Ceuta, Spain
* Ibadan, Nigeria
* Kampala, Uganda - the hill ...
", including Park, Nodine, Ridge, Cross, Locust, Glen, and Church Hills.
History
Early years
![Philipse Manor Hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Philipse_Manor_Hall.jpg)
The land on which the city is built was once part of a Dutch land grant called
Colen Donck
Colen Donck (in English "Donck's Colony") was a 24,000 acre (97 km2) patroonship in New Netherland along the southern Hudson River in today's Bronx and Yonkers established by Dutch-American lawyer and land developer Adriaen van der Donck.
His ...
. It ran from the current Manhattan-Bronx border at
Marble Hill northwards for , and from the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
eastwards to the
Bronx River
The Bronx River (), approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States and drains an area of . It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. Besides the Hutchinson River, the Bronx River is the only fresh water river in ...
. In July 1645, the area was granted to
Adriaen van der Donck
Adriaen Cornelissen van der Donck (16181655) was a lawyer and landowner in New Netherland after whose honorific ''Jonkheer'' the city of Yonkers, New York, is named. Although he was not, as sometimes claimed, the first lawyer in the Dutch colo ...
, the
patroon
In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch '' patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Freedoms ...
of Colendonck. Van der Donck was known locally as the ''
Jonkheer
(female equivalent: ; french: Écuyer; en, Squire) is an honorific in the Low Countries denoting the lowest rank within the nobility. In the Netherlands, this in general concerns a prefix used by the untitled nobility. In Belgium, this is the ...
'' — etymologically, "young gentleman", a Dutch
honorific title derived from the old Dutch ''jonk'' (''young'') and ''heer'' ("lord"); in effect meaning "
Esquire". ''Jonkheer'' was shortened to ''Jonker'', (possessive ''Jonkers'') from which the name "Yonkers" is directly derived. Van der Donck built a
saw mill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ( dimens ...
near where the confluence of Nepperhan Creek and the Hudson lies. The Nepperhan is now also known as the
Saw Mill River
The Saw Mill River is a tributary of the Hudson River in Westchester County, New York, United States. It flows from an unnamed pond north of Chappaqua to Getty Square in Yonkers, where it empties into the Hudson as that river's southernmost t ...
. Van der Donck was killed in the
Peach War
The Peach Tree War, also known as the Peach War, was a large-scale attack on September 15, 1655 by the Susquehannock Indians and allied tribes on several New Netherland settlements along the North River (Hudson River).
The attack was motivated ...
. His wife, Mary Doughty, was taken captive by Native Americans and later ransomed.
Near the site of Van Der Donck's mill is
Philipse Manor Hall
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site is a historic house museum located in the Getty Square neighborhood of Yonkers, New York. Originally the family seat of Philipse Manor, it is Westchester County's second oldest standing building after th ...
, a Colonial-era manor house owned by Dutch colonists. Today the manor is preserved and operated as a museum and archive, offering many glimpses into life before the American Revolution. The original structure (later enlarged) was built around 1682 by workmen and slaves for
Frederick Philipse
Frederick Philipse (born Frederick Flypsen;Appleton, W.S. ''The Heraldic Journal, Recording the Amorial Bearings and Genealogies of American Families'', Wiggen & Lunt, Boston, 1867 1626 in Bolsward, Netherlands – December 23, 1702), first Lor ...
and his wife Margaret Hardenbroeck de Vries. Philipse 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
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
. He had many economic ties to English businessmen, which also resulted in political ties. Because of his political leanings, he was forced to flee to England. The American colonists in New York state confiscated all the lands and property that belonged to the Philipse family and sold it.
19th century
For its first 200 years, Yonkers was a small farming town producing peaches, apples, potatoes, oats, wheat and other agricultural goods to be shipped to New York City along the Hudson. Water power allowed the creation of new manufacturing jobs only in the 19th century.
Yonkers's growth rested largely on the development of industry. In 1853,
Elisha Otis
Elisha Graves Otis (August 3, 1811 – April 8, 1861) was an American industrialist, founder of the Otis Elevator Company, and inventor of a safety device that prevents elevators from falling if the hoisting cable fails.
Early years
Otis was b ...
invented the first safety elevator and the
Otis Elevator Company
Otis Worldwide Corporation ( branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment.
Based in Farmington, Connec ...
opened the first elevator factory in the world on the banks of the Hudson near what is now Vark Street. In the 1880s it relocated to larger quarters (now adapted and used as the Yonkers Public Library). Around the same time, the
Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company (in the Saw Mill River Valley) expanded to 45 buildings, 800 looms, and more than 4,000 workers. It was known as one of the premier carpet-producing centers in the world.
![View of Yonkers, New York (NYPL Hades-1803881-1659418) crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/View_of_Yonkers%2C_New_York_%28NYPL_Hades-1803881-1659418%29_crop.jpg)
The Village of Yonkers was incorporated in the western part of the Town of Yonkers in 1854, and the village was incorporated as a city in 1872. In 1873, the southern part of the Town of Yonkers, outside the City of Yonkers, was separated as the Town of Kingsbridge. This included the current neighborhoods of
Kingsbridge
Kingsbridge is a market town and tourist hub in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of 6,116 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards bear the name of ''Kingsbridge'' (East & North). Their combined population at the ab ...
and
Riverdale, as well as
Woodlawn Cemetery and Woodlawn Heights. In 1874, the Town of Kingsbridge was annexed by New York City as part 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 ...
. In 1898, Yonkers (along with
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, and
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
) voted on a referendum to determine if they wanted to become part of New York City. While the results were positive elsewhere, the returns were so negative in Yonkers and neighboring
Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...
that those two areas were not included in the consolidated city and remained independent. Still, some residents call Yonkers "the
Sixth Borough
The term sixth borough is used to describe any of a number of places that are not politically within the borders of any of the five boroughs of New York City but have been referred to as a metaphorical part of the city by virtue of their geograp ...
", referring to its location on the New York City border, its urban character, and the failed merger vote.
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, 254 Yonkers residents joined the US Army and Navy. They enlisted primarily in four different regiments. These included the
6th New York Heavy Artillery, the
5th New York Volunteer Infantry
The 5th New York Infantry Regiment, also known as Duryée's Zouaves, was a volunteer infantry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War, led by Colonel Abram Duryée. Modeled, like other Union and Confederate infantry regiments, ...
, the
17th New York Volunteers, and the 15th NY National Guard. During the
New York City Draft Riots
The New York City draft riots (July 13–16, 1863), sometimes referred to as the Manhattan draft riots and known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of white working-cla ...
, Yonkers formed the Home Guards. This force of constables was formed to protect Yonkers from rioting that was feared to spread from New York City, but it never did. In total, seventeen Yonkers residents were killed during the Civil War.
From 1888, the
New York City and Northern Railway Company (later the
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...
) connected Yonkers to Manhattan and points north. A three-mile spur to
Getty Square
Getty Square is the name for downtown Yonkers, New York, centered on the public square. Getty Square is the civic center, central business district, and transit hub of the City of Yonkers. A dense and growing residential area, it is located ...
operated until 1943.
Aside from being a manufacturing center, Yonkers played a key role in the development of sports recreation in the United States. In 1888, Scottish-born John Reid founded the first
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
in the United States,
Saint Andrew's Golf Club, in Yonkers.
20th century
Bakelite, the first completely synthetic plastic, was invented circa 1906 in Yonkers by Leo Baekeland, and manufactured there until the late 1920s. Today, two of the former
Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company loft buildings located at 540 and 578 Nepperhan Avenue have been repurposed to house the
YoHo Artist Community
The YoHo Artist Community works out of two of the Alexander Smith Carpet Mills Historic District buildings, located at 540 and 578 Nepperhan Avenue in Yonkers, New York. This population of artists and crafters has grown to more than 80 working art ...
. This collective group of artists works out of private studios there.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, a total of 6,909 Yonkers residents entered military service. This was approximately seven percent of the population.
Most Yonkers men joined either the
27th Division or the
77th Division.
In total, 137 Yonkers residents were killed during the war.
Among the survivors of the
USS ''President Lincoln'', a Navy transport ship sunk during the war, were seventeen sailors from Yonkers.
Civilians helped in the war effort by joining organizations such as the
American Red Cross. In 1916, there were 126 people in the Yonkers chapter of the Red Cross. By the end of the war, 15,358 Yonkers residents were members of the chapter. Mostly women, they prepared surgical dressings, created hospital garments for the wounded, and knit articles of clothing for refugees and soldiers. Besides joining the Red Cross, residents of Yonkers donated to various war drives. The total amount raised for these drives was $19,255,255.
Early in the 20th century, Yonkers also hosted a
brass era
The Brass Era is an American term for the early period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such things as lights and radiators. It is generally considered to encompass 1896 through 1915 ...
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarde ...
maker,
Colt Runabout Company
The Colt Runabout was an American Brass-era automobile, built in Yonkers, New York, in 1907.Clymer, Floyd. ''Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925'' (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.63. by William Mason Turner.
It was a two-seater ...
. Although the vehicle reportedly performed well, the company went under. Yonkers was the headquarters of the Waring Hat Company, at the time the nation's largest hat manufacturer. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the city's factories were converted to produce items for the war effort, such as tents and blankets by the Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Factory, and tanks by the Otis Elevator factory. After World War II, however, increased competition from less expensive imports resulted in a decline in manufacturing in Yonkers, and numerous industrial jobs were lost. The Alexander Smith Carpet Company, one of the city's largest employers, ceased operation during a labor dispute in June 1954.
In 1983, the Otis Elevator Factory finally closed its doors. With the loss of such jobs, Yonkers became primarily a residential city. Some neighborhoods, such as
Crestwood and
Park Hill, became popular with wealthy New Yorkers who wished to live outside Manhattan without giving up urban conveniences. Yonkers's excellent transportation infrastructure, including three commuter railroad lines (now two: the
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
and
Hudson Lines), and five parkways and thruways, made it a desirable city in which to live. It is a 15-minute drive from Manhattan and has numerous prewar homes and apartment buildings. Yonkers's manufacturing sector has also shown a resurgence in the early 21st century.
On January 4, 1940, Yonkers resident
Edwin Howard Armstrong transmitted the first
FM radio broadcast (on station
W2XCR
W2XCR was founded in 1931 in Long Island City, New York by the radio station WGBS (now WINS). During the early part of 1931, but before the call letters were changed to WINS, the station began experimenting with mechanical television broadcasting ...
) from the Yonkers home of C.R. Runyon, a co-experimenter. Yonkers had the longest running
pirate radio
Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license.
In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially ...
station, owned by Allan Weiner, which operated during the 1970s through the 1980s.
In 1942, a short subway connection was planned between Getty Square and the
IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (also known as the IRT Seventh Avenue Line or the IRT West Side Line) is a New York City Subway line. It is one of several lines that serves the A Division, stretching from South Ferry in Lower Manhatta ...
, which terminates in Riverdale at
242nd Street slightly south of the city line. The plan was dropped.
In 1960, the Census Bureau reported Yonkers's population as 95.8% white and 4.0% black.
The city's struggles with racial discrimination and segregation were highlighted in a decades-long federal lawsuit. After a 1985 decision and an unsuccessful appeal, Yonkers's schools were integrated in 1988. Federal judge
Leonard B. Sand ruled that Yonkers had engaged in institutional segregation in housing and school policies for over 40 years. He tied the illegal concentration of public housing and private housing discrimination to the city's resistance to ending racial isolation in its public schools.
![Yonkers Public Library 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Yonkers_Public_Library_02.JPG)
In the 1980s and 1990s, Yonkers developed a national reputation for racial tension, based on a long-term battle between the city and the
NAACP over the building of subsidized low-income housing projects in the city. The city planned to use federal funding for
urban renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
efforts within Downtown Yonkers exclusively; other groups, led by the NAACP, believed that the resulting concentration of low-income housing in traditionally poor neighborhoods would perpetuate poverty. Although the City of Yonkers had been warned in 1971 by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development against further building of low-income housing in west Yonkers, it continued to support subsidized housing in this area between 1972 and 1977.
Yonkers gained national/international attention during the summer of 1988, when it backed out of its previous agreement to build promised municipal public housing in the eastern portions of the city, an agreement it had made in a consent decree after losing an appeal in 1987. After its reversal, the city was found in contempt of the federal courts. Judge Sand imposed a fine on Yonkers which started at $100 and doubled every day, capped at $1 million per day by an appeals court, until the city capitulated to the federally mandated plan.
Yonkers remained in contempt of court until September 9, 1988. The City Council relented in the wake of having to close the library and cutback on sanitation measures because of paying the fines. It also was considering having to make massive city layoffs which would have adversely affected its ability to provide services to the upper classes it was trying to retain. First-term mayor
Nicholas C. Wasicsko fought to save the city from financial disaster and bring about unity. Yonkers's youngest mayor (elected at age 28), Wasicsko struggled in city politics. His term was stigmatized as the "
Balkanization
Balkanization is the fragmentation of a larger region or state into smaller regions or states, which may be hostile or uncooperative with one another. It is usually caused by differences of ethnicity, culture, and religion and some other factor ...
of Yonkers". He succeeded in helping to end the city's contempt of the courts, but was voted out of office as a result. His story is the subject of a miniseries called ''
Show Me a Hero
''Show Me a Hero'' is a 2015 American miniseries based on the 1999 nonfiction book of the same name by former ''New York Times'' writer Lisa Belkin about Yonkers mayor Nick Wasicsko. Like the book, the miniseries details a white middle-class ne ...
,'' which aired on
HBO in 2015. It was adapted from the 1999 nonfiction book of the same name by former ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' writer,
Lisa Belkin.
A
Kawasaki railroad cars assembly plant opened in 1986 in the former Otis plant. It produces the new
R142A
The R142A is the second order of new technology cars (NTTs) for the A Division of the New York City Subway. These cars were built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in the U.S. at Yonkers, New York and Lincoln, Nebraska, and in Japan at Kobe, Hy ...
,
R143,
R160B, and
R188 cars for the
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 ...
, and the PA4 and PA5 series for
PATH
A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail.
Path or PATH may also refer to:
Physical paths of different types
* Bicycle path
* Bridle path, used by people on horseback
* Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle
* Desire p ...
.
21st century
In the 2000s, some areas of Yonkers that border similar neighborhoods in
Riverdale,
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 ...
began seeing an influx of
Orthodox Jew
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...
s. Subsequently, Riverdale
Hatzalah
Hatzalah (; he, הַצָּלָה, lit=rescue, relief) is one of several Jewish volunteer emergency medical service (EMS) organizations serving mostly areas with Jewish communities around the world, giving free medical service no matter their ...
Volunteer Ambulance Service began serving some neighborhoods in the southwest section of the city. There is also a small Jewish cemetery, the Sherwood Park Cemetery.
Geography
![Yonkers NY Waterfront](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Yonkers_NY_Waterfront.JPG)
The city is spread out over hills rising from near sea level at the eastern bank of the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
to 416 feet (126 m) at Sacred Heart Church, whose spire can be seen from
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
,
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 ...
, and
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
.
The city occupies 20.3 square miles (52.6 km
2), including 18.1 square miles (46.8 km
2) of land and 2.2 square miles (5.8 km
2) (11.02%) of water, according to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
.
The
Bronx River
The Bronx River (), approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States and drains an area of . It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. Besides the Hutchinson River, the Bronx River is the only fresh water river in ...
separates Yonkers from
Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...
,
Tuckahoe,
Eastchester,
Bronxville
Bronxville is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States, located approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the town of Eastchester. The village comprises one square mile (2.5 km2) of land in its entirety, ...
, and
Scarsdale to the east. The town of
Greenburgh is to the north, and the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
forms the western border.
On the south, Yonkers borders the
Riverdale,
Woodlawn, and
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
sections 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 ...
. In addition, the southernmost point of Yonkers is north of the northernmost point of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
when measured from Broadway & Caryl Avenue in Yonkers to Broadway & West 228th Street in the
Marble Hill section of Manhattan.
Much of the city developed around the
Saw Mill River
The Saw Mill River is a tributary of the Hudson River in Westchester County, New York, United States. It flows from an unnamed pond north of Chappaqua to Getty Square in Yonkers, where it empties into the Hudson as that river's southernmost t ...
. This enters Yonkers from the north and flows into the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
in the
Getty Square
Getty Square is the name for downtown Yonkers, New York, centered on the public square. Getty Square is the civic center, central business district, and transit hub of the City of Yonkers. A dense and growing residential area, it is located ...
neighborhood. Portions of the Saw Mill River that were earlier buried in flumes beneath parking lots are being uncovered, or
"daylighted". This promotes the restoration of habitat for plants, fish and other fauna, as well as an understanding of where the Native Americans camped in Spring and Summer months.
The
gentilic
A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...
for residents is alternately Yonkersonian, Yonkersite, or Yonk.
Demographics
According to the
American Community Survey in 2018, 34.8% spoke Spanish. 4.2% of the population was
West Indian
A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...
.
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 195,976 people in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 10,827.4 people per square mile (4,187.5/km
2). There were 80,839 housing units at an average density of 4,466.2 per square mile (1,727.3/km
2). The racial makeup of the city was 55.8%
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 o ...
, 18.7%
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 ...
, 0.7%
Native American, 5.9%
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%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 14.7% 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 4.1% from two or more races. 34.7% of the population were Hispanic (U.S. Census), Hispanic or Latino (U.S. Census), Latino of any racial background. Non-Hispanic Whites were 41.4% of the population in 2010,
down from 89.9% in 1970.
According to the 2000 Census,
19.9% were of Italian people, Italian and 11.6% Irish people, Irish descent. 61.3% spoke only English at home; 22.7% spoke Spanish, 5% Arabic language, Arabic, 3.9% Italian language, Italian, and 1.3% Portuguese language, Portuguese at home. Yonkers has a sizeable Arab population, mainly from the Levant, especially Jordanian and Palestinian.
There were 74,351 households, out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them in 2000, 44.2% were Marriage, married couples living together, 17.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% were non-families. 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.23.
In 2000, the city the population was 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 were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $44,663 in 2000, and the median income for a family was $53,233. Males had a median income of $41,598 versus $34,756 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,793. 15.5% of the population and 13.0% of families were 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 were living below the poverty line.
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 37 or more distinct neighborhoods, though many of these names are rarely used today except by older residents and real-estate brokers.
Northeast Yonkers
Northeast Yonkers is a primarily Irish-American and Italian-American area. House sizes vary widely, from small houses set close together, to larger homes in areas like Lawrence Park West and mid-rise apartment buildings along Central Avenue (NY 100). Central Avenue (officially named Central Park Avenue) provides an abundance of shopping for Yonkers residents. Shopping centers along Central Avenue include stores such as Best Buy, Burlington Coat Factory, Kohl's, Bob's Furniture and Barnes & Noble, as well as many other stores and restaurants. Notable former residents include Steven Tyler (born Steven Tallarico) of the rock band Aerosmith, whose childhood home was located at 100 Pembrook Drive.
Northeast Yonkers contains the upscale neighborhoods of
Crestwood, Colonial Heights, and Cedar Knolls, as well as the wealthy enclaves of Beech Hill and Lawrence Park West. It also contains a gated community off the eastern edge of the Grassy Sprain Reservoir known as Winchester Villages. Landmarks include Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, St Vladimir's Seminary, as well as Sarah Lawrence College, and the Tanglewood Shopping Center (one-time home of The Tanglewood Boys gang). Northeast Yonkers is somewhat more expensive than the rest of the city, and due to the proximity of several Metro-North commuter railroad stations, its residents tend to be employed in corporate positions in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
Northwest Yonkers
Northwest Yonkers is a collection of widely varying neighborhoods, spanning from the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
to around the New York State Thruway/I-87 and from Ashburton Avenue north to the Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, Hastings-on-Hudson border. With the Hudson River bordering it to the west, this area has many Victorian architecture, Victorian-era homes with panoramic views of New Jersey Palisades, the Palisades. An interest in historic preservation has taken hold in this area in recent years, as demonstrated on streets like Shonnard Terrace, Delavan Terrace, and Hudson Terrace.
Neighborhoods include Nepera Park, Runyon Heights, Yonkers, Runyon Heights, Homefield, Glenwood, and Greystone. Landmarks include the
Hudson River Museum
The Hudson River Museum, located in Trevor Park in Yonkers, New York, is the largest museum in Westchester County. The Yonkers Museum, founded in 1919 at City Hall, became the Hudson River Museum in 1948. While often considered an art museum by th ...
, the Lenoir Nature Preserve, and the nationally recognized Untermyer Park and Gardens. In fact, Untermyer Park and Gardens is not only Yonkers hidden gem but is the number one attraction in Westchester County. The significant amount of surviving Victorian architecture and number of 19th-century estates in northwest Yonkers has attracted many filmmakers in recent years.
The two block section of Palisade Avenue between Chase and Roberts Avenues in northwest Yonkers is colloquially known as "the north end" or "the end". It was and still is the only retail area in northwest Yonkers, and was well known for its soda fountain, Urich's Stationery, and Robbins Pharmacy. It was once the end of the #2 trolley line, which has since been replaced by a Bee-Line Bus System, Bee-line Bus route. One part of Yonkers that is sometimes overlooked is Nepera Park. This is a small neighborhood at the northern part of Nepperhan Avenue on the Hastings-on-Hudson border. Nepperhan Avenue in Nepera Park is also a major shopping district for the area.
Southeast Yonkers
Southeast Yonkers is mostly Irish-American (many of the Irish being native born) and Italian-American. Many of the businesses and type of architecture in southeast Yonkers bear a greater resemblance to certain parts 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 ...
,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, or
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
than to points north. Southeastern Yonkers is largely within walking distance of the
Woodlawn and
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
sections of the Bronx. Many residents regard eastern McLean Avenue, home to a vibrant Irish community shared with Woodlawn, to be the true hub of Yonkers.
Similarly, a portion of Midland Avenue in the Dunwoodie, Yonkers, New York, 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, Dunwoodie, 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
Getty Square
Getty Square is the name for downtown Yonkers, New York, centered on the public square. Getty Square is the civic center, central business district, and transit hub of the City of Yonkers. A dense and growing residential area, it is located ...
is Yonkers's downtown and the civic center and central business district of the city. Much of southwest Yonkers grew densely along the multiple railroads and trolley (now bus) lines along South Broadway and in
Getty Square
Getty Square is the name for downtown Yonkers, New York, centered on the public square. Getty Square is the civic center, central business district, and transit hub of the City of Yonkers. A dense and growing residential area, it is located ...
, connecting to
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 ...
. Clusters of apartment buildings surrounded the stations of the Yonkers branch of the New York and Putnam Railroad and the Third Avenue Railway trolley lines and these buildings still remain although now served by the Bee-Line Bus System. The railroad companies themselves built neighborhoods of mixed housing types ranging from apartment buildings to large mansions in areas like
Park Hill wherein the railroad also built a funicular to connect it with the train station in the valley. This traditionally African-American and white area has seen a tremendous influx of immigrants from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, South Asia, and the Middle East. Off South Broadway and Yonkers Avenue one can find residential neighborhoods, such as Lowerre, Nodine Hill,
Park Hill, and Hudson Park (off the Hudson River) with a mix of building styles ranging from dense clusters of apartment buildings, blocks of retail with apartments above, multifamily row houses, and detached single-family homes.
Other neighborhoods of these types, although with a larger number of detached houses, are Ludlow Park, Hudson Park, and Van Cortlandt Crest, off Riverdale Avenue next to the border with
Riverdale.
The area is also home to significant historical and educational institutions including the historic
Philipse Manor Hall
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site is a historic house museum located in the Getty Square neighborhood of Yonkers, New York. Originally the family seat of Philipse Manor, it is Westchester County's second oldest standing building after th ...
(a New York State Historic Site that houses one of three papier-mache ceilings in the United States), The
Science Barge
The Science Barge is a floating urban farm and environmental education center that has been docked in Yonkers, New York, USA since late 2008. The Barge grows crops using a hydroponic greenhouse powered by solar panels, wind turbines, and biofuels ...
, Beczak Environmental Education Center, and a 2003 Yonkers Public Library.
Many residents are of African American, African, Caribbean, Italian people, Italian, Poles, Polish or Mexican people, Mexican 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 Jew
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...
s. The revitalization of the
Getty Square
Getty Square is the name for downtown Yonkers, New York, centered on the public square. Getty Square is the civic center, central business district, and transit hub of the City of Yonkers. A dense and growing residential area, it is located ...
area has helped to nurture growth for Southwest Yonkers.
In the early 2000s several new luxury apartment buildings were built along the Hudson. There is also a new "Sculpture Meadow on the Hudson", renovation of a Victorian-era pier, and a new public library housed in the remodeled Otis elevator factory. Peter X. Kelly, Peter Kelly's award-winning fine dining restaurant X
20 - Xaviars on Hudson is located at the renovated pier with much success. In 2020 several more new rental buildings were placed at the river's edge on Alexander Street. Sawyer's place is an 18-story building that sits atop the site of the original old mill. There are new proposals along with the current projects which are intended to revitalize downtown Yonkers.
Government
![Samsebeskazal-02296](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Samsebeskazal-02296.jpg)
Phillipse Manor Hall was the site of the first Yonkers Village Hall and City Hall from 1868 to approximately 1906.
Yonkers is governed via a Strong Mayor, Strong mayor-council system. The Yonkers City Council consists of seven members, six each elected from one of six districts, as well as a Council President to preside over the council. The mayor and city council president are elected in a citywide vote. The current mayor is Democrat Mike Spano and the Council President is Michael Khader.
Yonkers is typically a Democratic stronghold just like the rest of Westchester County and most of
New York state on the national level. In 1992, Yonkers voted for George H. W. Bush over Bill Clinton and Ross Perot for president, but has voted solidly Democratic ever since. At a local level, recent mayors of Yonkers have included Republicans Phil Amicone and John Spencer (mayor), John Spencer, while the Yonkers City Council has mostly been controlled by Republicans. In the State Assembly, Yonkers is represented by Democrats J. Gary Pretlow and Nader Sayegh, and in the New York State Senate, by Democrats Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Shelley Mayer. At the federal level, Democratic representative Jamaal Bowman represents the city.
Education
Public schools in Yonkers are operated by Yonkers Public Schools. There are several other elementary Catholic schools and one Muslim school.
Sarah Lawrence College, which gives its address as Bronxville, NY 10708, is actually located in Yonkers. Westchester Community College, part of SUNY system operates a number of extension centers in Yonkers, with the largest one at the
Cross County Shopping Center.
Three libraries are operated by the Yonkers Public Library, Crestwood, Riverfront, and Grinton I. Will. Another library, funded by Carnegie, was demolished in the 1900s to make way for a courthouse.
The Japanese School of New York was located in Yonkers for one year; on August 18, 1991, the school moved from Yonkers to
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
,
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 ...
and on September 1, 1992, classes began at its current location in Greenwich, Connecticut.
["本校の歩み"](_blank)
. The Japanese School of New York. Retrieved on January 10, 2012. "1980.12.22 Queens Flushing校に移転。" and "1991.8.18. Westchester Yonkers校へ移転。" and "1992.9.1 Connecticut Greenwich校へ移転。 授業開始。"
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York operates Catholic schools in Westchester County. St. Peter's Catholic Elementary School at 204 Hawthorne Avenue, founded by the Sisters of Charity, celebrated its 100th anniversary in September 2011. St. Casimir School in Yonkers closed in 2013.
Academy for Jewish Religion (New York), Academy for Jewish Religion, a rabbinical and cantorial school, is located in the Getty Square (Yonkers), Getty Square neighborhood of Yonkers. Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary is located in Crestwood.
Transportation
Mass transit
Yonkers has the eleventh-highest rate of List of U.S. cities with high transit ridership, public transit ridership among cities in the United States, and 27% of Yonkers households do not own a car.
Bus service in Yonkers is provided by Westchester County Bee-Line Bus System, the second-largest bus system in New York State, along with some MTA Bus Company express routes to Manhattan. Yonkers is the top origin and destination for the Bee-Line Bus service area, including Westchester and the northern Bronx, with the
Getty Square
Getty Square is the name for downtown Yonkers, New York, centered on the public square. Getty Square is the civic center, central business district, and transit hub of the City of Yonkers. A dense and growing residential area, it is located ...
intermodal hub seeing passenger levels in the millions annually.
Yonkers is served by two heavy-rail commuter lines.
Hudson Line Metro-North Railroad stations provide commuter service to New York City: Ludlow train station, Ludlow, Yonkers, New York train station, Yonkers, Glenwood train station, Glenwood, and Greystone train station, Greystone. The Yonkers station is also served by Amtrak. All of the named ''Empire Service'' trains except the ''Lake Shore Limited'' serve the Yonkers station. Several Harlem Line stations are on or very near the city's eastern border. These include Wakefield (Metro-North station), Wakefield, Mount Vernon West (Metro-North station), Mt. Vernon West, Fleetwood (Metro-North station), Fleetwood, Bronxville (Metro-North station), Bronxville, Tuckahoe (Metro-North station), Tuckahoe and Crestwood train station, Crestwood. A third commuter line dating from the late 19th century, the Putnam Division, was shut down in phases with the final passenger trains making their last runs in 1958. The "Put" as it was known has been paved and is used as a public park, and part of the NY State Empire State Trail which encompasses 750 miles from NYC to Albany, NY.
New York Water Taxi formerly operated a ferry service from downtown Yonkers to Manhattan's Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District, but it ceased in December 2009.
Yonkers began a dockless bikeshare program operated by LimeBike in May 2018, which was finished by 2020. It now operates an electric scooter program.
Roads and paths
Major limited-access roads in Yonkers include Interstate 87 (New York), Interstate 87 (the New York State Thruway), the Saw Mill River Parkway, Saw Mill, Bronx River Parkway, Bronx River, Sprain Brook Parkway, Sprain Brook and Cross County Parkway, Cross County parkways. U.S. Route 9 in New York, US 9, New York State Route 9A, NY 9A and New York State Route 100, 100 are important surface streets.
The main line of the former New York and Putnam Railroad running through the middle of Yonkers has been converted into a paved walking and bicycling path, called the South County Trailway. It runs north–south in Yonkers from the Hastings-on-Hudson border in the north to the Bronx border in the south at Van Cortlandt Park where it is referred to as the Putnam Greenway.
![Yonkers Fire Station 1 phone jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Yonkers_Fire_Station_1_phone_jeh.jpg)
The historic Croton Aqueduct tunnel has a hard-packed dirt trail, called the Old Croton Aqueduct Trailway, running above it for most of its length in Yonkers, with a few on-street routes on the edge of the
Getty Square
Getty Square is the name for downtown Yonkers, New York, centered on the public square. Getty Square is the civic center, central business district, and transit hub of the City of Yonkers. A dense and growing residential area, it is located ...
neighborhood.
Fire department
The city of Yonkers is protected by 459 firefighters of the city of Yonkers Fire Department (YFD), under the command of a Fire Commissioner and 3 Deputy Chiefs. Founded in 1896, the YFD operates out of 11 Fire Stations, located throughout the city in 2 Battalions, under the command of 1 Assistant Chief each shift. The Yonkers Fire Department operates a fire apparatus fleet of 10 Engine Companies, 6 Ladder Companies, 1 Squad (rescue-pumper) Company, 1 Rescue Company, 1 Fireboat, 1 Air Cascade Unit, 1 USAR (Urban Search And Rescue) Collapse Unit, 1 Foam Unit, 1 Haz-Mat Unit, and numerous special, support, and reserve units. The YFD responds to approximately 16,000 emergency calls annually.
Economy
Principal employers
According to Yonkers's 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the principal employers in the city are;
Notable people
In popular culture
* In the 1925 popular song "If You Knew Susie", the narrator drives his girlfriend Susie to Yonkers from which he had to walk home.
* In the Depression-era film ''Don't Tell the Wife (1937 film), Don't Tell the Wife'' (1937) Guy Kibbee's character, Malcolm J. Winthrop, lives in Yonkers. One of the characters jokes that going to jail is "better than Yonkers".
* In the 1964 ''The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series), Twilight Zone'' episode, "What's in the Box" William Demarest's character, cab driver Joe Britt, mentions Yonkers as one of his customers' locations as a reason for coming home late from work.
* Yonkers is the setting of two feature films by local filmmaker Robert Celestino: ''Mr. Vincent'', a 1997 Sundance Film entrant in the non-competition Spectrum section, and ''Yonkers Joe'', a scheduled 2009 release by Magnolia Pictures, starring Chazz Palminteri and Christine Lahti. Yonkers's locations also provide the setting for ''A Tale of Two Pizzas'', a "Romeo and Juliet" theme played out among two rival pizza owners.
* The documentary ''Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story'' described racial discrimination and housing segregation in Yonkers.
* Ask a Greek (1998)
* The 2008 film ''Doubt (2008 film), Doubt'', starring Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius Beauvier, filmed scenes 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 Carrey and Kate Winslet; ''Mona Lisa Smile'', with Julia Roberts; ''A Beautiful Mind (film), A Beautiful Mind'', with Russell Crowe, ''Big Daddy (1999 film), Big Daddy'' (1999), with Adam Sandler, ''The Preacher's Wife'' (a remake of ''The Bishop's Wife''), with Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston, ''Kate & Leopold'' (2001), with Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman and ''The Namesake (film), The Namesake'' with Kal Penn and Irrfan Khan. Some TV series' episodes of ''Fringe (TV series), Fringe'', ''The Blacklist (TV series), The Blacklist'', and ''The Following'' were taped in the downtown area. The City Hall Courtroom is also the setting for many film scenes and commercials.
* Yonkers was also used as a filming location in the movie ''Riding in Cars with Boys''.
* In Max Brooks's novel, ''World War Z'', the US armed forces are defeated in the Battle of Yonkers by a horde of zombies.
* Yonkers is one of the settings in the musical ''Hello, Dolly! (musical), Hello Dolly!''
* A character in the musical ''Gypsy: A Musical Fable'' is named after Yonkers.
* Neil Simon's play ''Lost In Yonkers'', set in the city. The story is about two young boys during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, whose father leaves them with their grandmother in Yonkers so he can earn money for the family.
* Yonkers was shown on ''A Shot at Love 2 with Tila Tequila'' as it was contestant Kristy Morgan, Kristy's hometown.
* In 2011, rapper Tyler, The Creator of Odd Future released his song "Yonkers (song), Yonkers", named after the city.
* On October 21, 2011, filming for the movie ''Disconnect (2012 film), Disconnect'' (2012) took place at the
Cross County Shopping Center.
* The
HBO miniseries ''
Show Me a Hero
''Show Me a Hero'' is a 2015 American miniseries based on the 1999 nonfiction book of the same name by former ''New York Times'' writer Lisa Belkin about Yonkers mayor Nick Wasicsko. Like the book, the miniseries details a white middle-class ne ...
'' takes place, and was filmed, in Yonkers.
Showtime series ''Billions'' mentions Yonkers, the show's main character grew up there. There is a scene at Yonkers Raceway in one episode. They also mention an unnamed pizzeria in Yonkers in another episode.
Gallery
Welcome_to_Yonkers_November_2013.jpg, Yonkers Welcome Sign
Grand_Marshals_at_Yonkers_Parade_2010.jpg, Yonkers Saint Patrick's Day Parade 2010
Fountains at Ridge Hill Shopping Center January 2013.jpg, Fountains at Westchester's Ridge Hill
Ridge Hill, formerly known as Westchester's Ridge Hill is a mixed-use lifestyle center located between Interstate 87 and the Sprain Brook Parkway in Yonkers, New York. With its grand opening in 2011, Ridge Hill features a variety of retail store ...
Yonkers Metro North Stop 2012.jpg, The Yonkers (Metro-North station), Yonkers Metro-North Station
Saw Mill River in Getty Square November 2012.jpg, The Saw Mill River in Getty Square
Westbound McClean Avenue at ParkHill Avenue 2008.jpg, Westbound McLean Avenue at ParkHill Avenue
Eastbound Cross County Parkway in Yonkers 2006.jpg, Eastbound Cross County Parkway
Twin towns – sister cities
Yonkers is Sister city, twinned with:
* Kamëz, Albania (2011)
Kamza binjakëzim me Yonkers
, INA, October 28, 2011 (in Albanian)
See also
* Jonkheer
(female equivalent: ; french: Écuyer; en, Squire) is an honorific in the Low Countries denoting the lowest rank within the nobility. In the Netherlands, this in general concerns a prefix used by the untitled nobility. In Belgium, this is the ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Yonkers, New York
* Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...
References
Further reading
* Allison, Charles Elmer. ''The History of Yonkers. Westchester County, New York'' (1896).
* Duffy, Jennifer Nugent. ''Who's Your Paddy?: Racial Expectations and the Struggle for Irish American Identity'' (NYU Press, 2013), Irish Catholics in Yonkers
* Hufeland, Otto. ''Westchester County During the American Revolution, 1775–1783'' (1926)
* Madden, Joseph P. ed. ''A Documentary History of Yonkers, New York: The Unsettled Years, 1853–1860'' (Vol. 2. Heritage Books, 1992)
* Weigold, Marilyn E., ''Yonkers in the Twentieth Century'' (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2014). xvi, 364 pp.
External links
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*
The website of the Yonkers Historical Society
Beczak Environmental Education Center
{{Authority control
Yonkers, New York,
1646 establishments in North America
1646 establishments in the Dutch Empire
Cities in New York (state)
Cities in the New York metropolitan area
Cities in Westchester County, New York
Establishments in New Netherland
Former towns in New York (state)
Former villages in New York (state)
Populated places established in 1646
New York (state) populated places on the Hudson River