Yonkers, NY

Situated in Westchester County, the city of Yonkers, New York has a population of roughly 200,000 inhabitants. Incorporated as a city in 1872, Yonkers borders the Bronx borough in New York City.

The city name was broadly adapted from "Jonker," the nickname of Adriaen Van der Donck, a Dutch settler who received the original land grant for the area from the Netherlands in 1645.

During the mid-20th century, Yonkers saw a substantial loss of light industrial and manufacturing jobs, precipitating the city's transformation into a bedroom community of neighboring New York City. In the wake of this drastic shift in circumstances, thousands of people relocated to Yonkers to take advantage of comparably better housing values.

NEIGHBORHOODS AND DISTRICTS

Yonkers residents typically identify with one of the city's four broad quarters, each of which contains numerous neighborhoods and smaller communities. Most of the neighborhoods are drawn along ethnic lines, and the city is known for having a high proportion of Italian and Irish Americans. The principal districts are known as Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest Yonkers. Neighborhoods offer a broad mix of housing, much of it competitively priced in comparison to similar properties in New York City. A substantial majority of the population has lived in the city for more than 20 years, and many residents have family ties to Yonkers going back more than a century.

ECONOMY AND INDUSTRIES

One in four Yonkers professionals works in management or financial services, typically commuting to New York City for their jobs.

Employees in the service industries are clustered in healthcare professions and protective services such as police, fire and rescue. More than a quarter of Yonkers workers hold sales jobs or work as support staff in this industry. The city's medical needs are served by St. John's Riverside Hospital and St. Joseph's Medical Center, which also operates the country's oldest nursing school.

In recent years the city has embarked on a major revitalization project, through which city leaders hope to boost the economy by expanding the tourist trade. The development program includes construction of a minor league baseball stadium, as well as hundreds of new residential housing units downtown and along the waterfront. Groups of current residents have spoken out against the development, objecting in particular to the city's plans to erect several high-rise buildings.

Yonkers is 13 miles from La Guardia International Airport.

FOR VISITORS

Major Yonkers attractions include:

• Philipse Manor Hall is a national historic site. The 18th-century Georgian style house was home to three generations of the lords of Philipsburg Manor. In 1776 Frederick Philipse III, the first lord of the manor, signed his name to a declaration of allegiance to King George III. Philipse later fled to England. Today visitors can tour his stately, three-story manor.
• Sherwood House was built in 1740 by Thomas Sherwood, who was a tenant farmer of Lord Philipse. The restored property, with guides wearing period clothing, features antiques from the 18th century.
• Founded in 1978 by a retired police chief in honor of the city's peace officers, the Yonkers Police Museum includes artifacts, photos, and memorabilia dating as far back the 1860s.
• Yonkers Raceway is home to a harness racing track with betting facilities and an adjoining casino that features mainly slot machines.
• More than 200 years ago Scottish immigrant John Reid opened St. Andrew's Golf Club in Yonkers, making it the first golf course in America.
• Saint Paul's Church in Westchester County is one of the oldest parishes in New York, dating to the late 1600s. The sanctuary was a military hospital during the American Revolution.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

• The Hudson River Museum is located in Glenview Mansion, a Victorian Gothic structure and the former summer home of John Bond Trevor, a millionaire Wall Street stock broker, who built the house in 1876. The museum includes both standing and traveling exhibitions, notably the Andrus Planetarium. Visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of the Hudson River from the museum café.
• The Hamm & Clov Stage Company produces original works by new and established playwrights.
• The Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra performs several concerts a year.

EVENTS

• Every year on March 17, the streets of Yonkers fill with revelers for one of the largest St. Patrick's Day parades in the United States.
• Columbus Day marks another popular city festival.

EDUCATION

Nearby Sarah Lawrence College is a coeducational liberal arts college offering undergraduate as well as graduate degrees. The college is north of New York City on a wooded campus. St. Joseph's Seminary and Columbia University are just a few miles south of Yonkers

LOCAL MEDIA

AM radio stations:

• WFAN 660 Sports
• WCBS 880 News
• WWDJ 970 Nostalgia

FM radio stations:

• WNYK 88.7 College
• WNYU 89.1 New York University

Local television stations:

• WNBC 4 NBC
• WNYW 5 FOX
• WCBS 2 CBS
• WXNY 32 ISLAND BROADCASTING CO.
• WABC 7 ABC
• WWOR 9 FOX
• WNYE 25 NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF ED.
• WPXN 31 PAXSON

Newspapers serving Yonkers

• Yonkers Tribune