(Redirected from Westchester County)''
'Westchester County' is a primarily
suburban county with about 940,000 residents located in the
U.S. state of
New York. It is part of the
New York Metropolitan Area. It was named after
Chester, in
England, and the
county seat is
White Plains.
Westchester has a reported
per capita personal income of $58,592, the eighth highest in the United States.
[1]
History
The first
Europeans to explore Westchester were
Giovanni da Verrazzano in
1524 and
Henry Hudson in
1609. The first European settlers were sponsored by the
Dutch West India Company in the
1620s and
1630s. English settlers arrived from
New England in the
1640s.
Westchester County was an original county of the
Province of New York, one of twelve created in
1683. At the time, it also included the present
Bronx County, which constituted the Town of Westchester and portions of three other towns: Yonkers, Eastchester, and Pelham. In
1846, a new town, West Farms, was created by secession from Westchester; in turn, in
1855, the Town of Morrisania seceded from West Farms. In
1873, the Town of Kingsbridge seceded from Yonkers.
In
1874, the western portion of the present Bronx County, consisting of the then towns of Kingsbridge, West Farms, and Morrisania, was transferred to
New York County, and in
1895 the remainder of the present Bronx County, consisting of the Town of Westchester and portions of the towns of Eastchester and Pelham, was transferred to New York County. By that time, the portion of the town of Eastchester immediately north of the transferred portion had seceded from the town of Eastchester (
1892) to become the
City of Mount Vernon so that the Town of Eastchester had no border with New York City. In
1914, those parts of the then New York County which had been annexed from Westchester County were constituted the new Bronx County.
At least in part due to the wealth of some of its residents, their manicured lawns and country clubs - the county has 25 - Westchester has somewhat misleadingly acquired an overgeneralized image of
affluence, homogeneity, insularity, and
elitism. Westchester is actually a rather economically and demographically diverse region (for example, the towns of Yonkers, Ossining, Port Chester, Elmsford and Mount Vernon have significant African-American and/or Hispanic populations). It is home to a maximum security state prison,
Sing Sing, and a nuclear power plant,
Indian Point. Westchester is among the most densely populated counties in the U.S., and has a slightly higher crime rate than that of neighboring suburban counties.
Geography
Map of municipal boundaries in Westchester County ''(click to enlarge)''
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,295
km² (500
mi²). 1,121 km² (433 mi²) of it is land and 174 km² (67 mi²) of it (13.45%) is water.
Westchester County is in the southeastern part of New York State.
The highest elevation in the county is a
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey benchmark known as "Bailey" at 300 m (985 feet) above sea level in Mountain Lakes Park near the Connecticut state line. The lowest elevation is sea level, along both the Hudson and Long Island Sound.
In popular conception, Westchester County is generally divided into northern and southern areas. The
northern portion (places north of Interstate 287/Cross Westchester Expressway) is often seen as rural and wealthy; the southern portion (White Plains and south) is more urban. These generalities, however, do not necessarily hold true in all communities. For example, Bronxville, Larchmont, Rye and Scarsdale in the southern portion are among the wealthiest communities in the entire US. Officially, the Westchester County Department of planning divides the county into North, Central and South sub-regions
[1].
At the closest point, Westchester is only 2
miles north of Manhattan (from Broadway & Caryl Avenue in southern Yonkers to Broadway & West 228th Street in the
Marble Hill section of Manhattan).
Cities, towns and villages
Main articles: Cities, towns and villages in Westchester County
Westchester County has 6 cities, 19 towns and 20 villages. Any land area in the county that is not contained in one of the cities is in a town. A town may contain zero, one or multiple villages while two villages are split between two towns.
Adjacent Counties
★
Putnam County, New York - north
★
Fairfield County, Connecticut - northeast
★
Bergen County, New Jersey - southwest
★
Rockland County, New York - west
★
Bronx County, New York - south
Government
The
county executive is
Andrew J. Spano (
D). The district attorney is Janet DiFiore (D). The county clerk is Timothy C. Idoni (D).
[2]
Board of Legislators
Main articles: Westchester County Board of Legislators
The Westchester County Board of Legislators is the legislative, policy-making branch of Westchester County.
The County Board has seventeen members, each representing a district approximately 50,000 residents.
The current board chair is
William J. Ryan(D).
[2]
Emergency Services
Main articles: Emergency services in Westchester County
Westchester County has a wide array of Emergency services and serves as the home to 58 fire departments, 42 ambulance services, a Haz-Mat team, a fire academy and a fire investigations unit.
Law Enforcement
Main articles: Law enforcement in Westchester County
There are currently 46 local police agencies located in Westchester County. As well as other County, State, Private, and Federal Law Enforcement agencies responsible for protecting Westchester County, these agencies frequently work with one another and other agencies located in the surrounding counties and states as well as the NYPD.
Politics
'Presidential elections results'| Year | Republican | Democrat |
|---|
| 2004 | 40.3% ''159,628 | '58.1%' ''229,849 |
| 2000 | 37.5% ''139,278 | '58.6%' ''218,010 |
| 1996 | 35.9% ''123,719 | '56.9%' ''196,310 |
| 1992 | 40.1% ''151,990 | '48.6%' ''184,300 |
| 1988 | '53.4%' ''197,956 | 45.8% ''169,860 |
| 1984 | '58.7%' ''160,225 | 41.1% ''229,005 |
| 1980 | '54.4%' ''198,552 | 35.6% ''130,136 |
| 1976 | '54.3%' ''208,527 | 45.1% ''173,153 |
| 1972 | '62.8%' ''262,901 | 36.9% ''154,412 |
| 1968 | '50.3%' ''201,652 | 43.4% ''173,954 |
| 1964 | 37.9% ''149,052 | '62.0%' ''243,723 |
| 1960 | '56.6%' ''224,562 | 43.2% ''171,410 |
Although the county used to lean Republican, it swung Democratic in the early 1990s much like other New York City suburbs, and nowadays Westchester voters tend to be far more Democratic than the rest of the nation. In fact, Westchester, after
New York City and
Albany, has produced the biggest margins for statewide Democrats in recent years. Democratic voters are mainly in the southern and central parts of the county. 58% of Westchester County voters chose
John Kerry in the
U.S. presidential election of November 2004, the highest total of any New York county outside New York City, Albany, or
Tompkins (Ithaca, New York).
However, Westchester County is less Democratic in state and local elections, as well as in the northern part of the county. Hence, it voted for
George Pataki with a margin of 23.07% against his Democratic opponent in the
gubernatorial race of 2002, and of 26.22% in 1998. Governor Pataki hails from Westchester, where he previously served as mayor of
Peekskill prior to being elected governor.
Nita Lowey and
Eliot Engel, both of whom are Democrats, represent most of the rest of the county (Engel's district also includes parts of the
The Bronx, and Lowey's reaches into
Rockland County). Westchester's third US Representative is Democrat
John Hall, who was elected in 2006, defeating Republican incumbent
Sue Kelly. Hall's district includes most of Northern Westchester County. Additionally,
Jeanine Pirro, a prominent
New York Republican who ran a short-lived campaign against
Hillary Rodham Clinton for the
U.S. Senate in 2006 served as
district attorney of Westchester County. County Executive Spano is just the second Democrat to hold the post in at least a half-century. It also in 2006 sent county legislator
Andrea Stewart-Cousins to the
New York State Senate defeating 20 year incumbent Nicholas Spano in a rematch of the 2004 race in whence she lost by only 18 votes. Assembly Member
Mike Spano switched parties in July of 2007 to become a Democrat.
Westchester County is the home of former vice-president
Nelson Rockefeller, who occupied the
Kykuit mansion of the
Rockefeller family 3,400-acre estate after the death of
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.; it is situated near the town of Pocantico Hills. The County is also home to the former president
Bill Clinton and New York Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton, who live in
Chappaqua, New York.
Demographics
As of the
census² of 2000, there were 923,459 people, 337,142 households, and 235,325 families residing in the county. The
population density was 824/km² (2,134/mi²). The Census Bureau estimates 2006 population at 949,355.
[4]
As of 2000, there were 349,445 housing units at an average density of 312/km² (807/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 71.35%
White, 14.20%
African American, 0.25%
Native American, 4.48%
Asian, 0.04%
Pacific Islander, 6.63% from
other races, and 3.05% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 15.61% of the population. 64.1% were
Whites of non-Hispanic origin.
By 2005 the population was 61.6% non-Hispanic white. 14.9% of the population was African-Americans. Asians were 5.5% of the county population.
[5]
As of 2000 The main European ethnic groups are Italian 31%, Irish 25%, German 5%, Polish 3%. 71.7% spoke
English, 14.4%
Spanish, 3.9%
Italian, 1.1%
Portuguese and 1.1%
French as their first language.
Households in Northwest Yonkers.
'There were 337,142 households out of which 34.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.90% were
married couples living together, 12.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.20% were non-families. 25.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.21.
In the county the population was spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 30.40% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 14.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 91.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.30 males.
According to 2006 HUD data, the median income for a household of one person in the county was $67,555 and the median income for a family of four was $96,500.
According to Census data, the
per capita income for the county in 1999 was $36,726. The
Bureau of Economic Analysis lists Westchester in 2004 with the per capita income of $58,952, the eighth highest in the country.
1 The Census Bureau reports that 6.40% of families and 8.7% (2003) of the population were below the
poverty line, including 26.53% of those under age 18 and 7.60% of those age 65 or over.
The largest census reviewed area in Westchester County is the City of
Yonkers, New York's fourth-largest city, with a population of almost 200,000. The smallest is the community of
Scotts Corners in the town of
Pound Ridge with a population of 624.
Westchester County has a huge
Italian-American population.
Population timeline
★
1900—184,257
★
1910—283,055
★
1920—344,436
★
1930—520,947
★
1940—573,558
★
1950—625,816
★
1960—808,891
★
1970—894,104
★
1980—866,599
★
1990—874,866
★
2000—923,459
Transportation
Westchester County is served by
Interstate 87 (the
New York State Thruway),
Interstate 95,
Interstate 287 and
Interstate 684.
Parkways in the county include the
Bronx River Parkway, the
Cross County Parkway, the
Hutchinson River Parkway, the
Saw Mill River Parkway, the
Sprain Brook Parkway and the
Taconic State Parkway. The
Tappan Zee Bridge connects Tarrytown to Rockland County across the Hudson River. The
Bear Mountain Bridge crosses the Hudson from Cortlandt to Orange County. The combination of these numerous highways, proximity to New York City, and the county's large population all lead to substantial traffic enforcement (as seen in at least one Seinfeld episode) and very busy local courts.
The development corridors in the county have defined sections and follow transportation corridors. The main north-south corridors are, from west to east, the Route 9/Albany Post Rd/Broadway Corridor along the Hudson River from Yonkers in the South to Peekskill/Cortlandt in the North. The Saw Mill River Parkway Corridor traverses the country in a north-eastern path, beginning in Yonkers, and terminating at I-684 in Bedford, mostly following the path of the Putnam Branch of the New York Central Railroad, which was abandoned in March 1970 (and which has largely been replaced by a paved path known as the South County and North County Trailways). The Sprain Brook Parkway traverses the county's midsection from a point in Yonkers where it breaks off from the Bronx River Parkway until Hawthorne about 15 miles north where it merges with the Taconic State Parkway and continues until I-90 near
Albany. The Hutchinson River Parkway lines the eastern county, from the Bronx (terminating at the Long Island crossing - the Whitestone Bridge) until the
Connecticut state line in Greenwich, where it becomes the
Merritt Parkway. I-684 begins at a junction with the Hutchinson River Parkway and I-287 in Harrison, and continues north into
Putnam County (with a brief stretch in
Greenwich, Connecticut) through Bedford and North Salem. The eastern most corridor is the I-95/New England Thruway which traverses the county on the Long Island Sound, from the Pelhams through the Town of Rye and into Connecticut. The East-West corridors are the Cross County Parkway, which traverses the southern county from Yonkers in the west through New Rochelle in the east, terminating at the Hutchinson River Parkway. The Cross Westchester Expressway/I-287 is the mid-county corridor spanning from the Tappan-Zee Bridge in Tarrytown to the west to I-95/New England Thruway in the east. The northern-most corridor is that approximating the US-202 route from Cortlandt, and the Bear Mountain Bridge, to Lewisboro and the Connecticut border. But unlike the more southerly corridors, US-202 is for the most part not a limited-access highway and has frequent traffic lights.
Robert Moses and others once proposed a bridge connecting Westchester with Nassau County, most likely using I-287 to do so. Public opposition was fierce, and the New York state government abandoned the plan.
Commuter train service in Westchester is provided by
Metro-North Railroad (operated by the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority). Metro-North operates three lines in the county; west to east, they are the Hudson, the Harlem and the New Haven lines, each of which stops in
the Bronx between Westchester and
Manhattan.
Amtrak serves
Croton-Harmon,
New Rochelle and
Yonkers. There are plans for a cross-county rail line to connect all three lines and provide easier access to
Stamford, Connecticut.
Metro-North also operates a
ferry service between
Haverstraw, in
Rockland County and
Ossining. Plans are currently underway to operate a ferry between
Haverstraw and
Yonkers with a direct route to
New York City's
Financial District.
Bus service is provided by the
Bee-Line Bus System (operated by the Westchester County Department of Transportation) both within Westchester and to Manhattan (BxM4C). The
MTA Bus Company also runs the BxM3 to and from Getty Square in Yonkers to Midtown Manhattan.
Westchester County Airport is adjacent to White Plains.
Media In Westchester
There are quite a few county-wide media outlets, including:
★
Westchester Magazine, an upscale lifestyle magazine focusing on Westchester County and its environs.
★
The Journal News, a daily newspaper, owned by
Gannett Company, Inc..
WCBS-TV operates a news-bureau in conjunction with The Journal News.
★
The Hudson Independent, a monthly news paper serving Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow & Irvington.
★
InTown Westchester, a monthly lifestyle magazine published by
The Journal News and
Gannett.
★
The Westchester County Business Journal, a weekly newspaper published by
Westfair Communications Inc..
★
The Westchester WAG a Magazine of local people, events, and lifestyles.
★
News 12 Westchester, a cable news station owned by
Cablevision.
★ WFAS (103.9 FM), a radio station focusing on Westchester.
★
WXPK (107.1 FM), or ''The Peak'', owned by
Pamal Broadcasting.
★ WRTN (93.5 FM), a radio station broadcasting from New Rochelle. Varied programming includes news, education, and music. Part of LinkUp Media, an all-inclusive Caribbean media company.
★
RNN, a news station owned by WRNN License Company, LLC.
★
Westchester.com, a community news and information website that focuses on Westchester County.
Education
Main articles: Education in Westchester County
Westchester County contains 48
public school districts,
[6] 118 private schools and 14 colleges/universities.
★
Westchester County Directory of Schools and School Districts
Libraries
Main articles: Westchester Library System
Westchester County is served by the
Westchester Library System which was established in 1958 and today comprises 38 public libraries.
Historic and cultural attractions
★
Croton Gorge Park
★
Emelin Theatre, Mamaroneck, New York
★ Ever Rest, historic home of painter
Jasper Francis Cropsey,
Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
★
Ferncliff Cemetery,
Hartsdale, New York
★
Hudson River Museum,
Yonkers, New York
★
Irvington Town Hall Theater,
Irvington, New York
★
Jacob Burns Film Center, Pleasantville, New York
★
Jacob Purdy House, White Plains, New York
★
Jay Heritage Center, historic homestead of
John Jay,
Rye, New York
★
Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens,
PepsiCo, Inc. World Headquarters,
Purchase, New York
★
Kykuit, historic home that is part of the
Rockefeller family estate founded by
John D. Rockefeller,
Sleepy Hollow, New York
★
Lyndhurst, historic Gothic Revival home,
Tarrytown, New York
★
Neuberger Museum of Art,
Purchase College, Purchase, New York
★
Old Croton Aqueduct and the
Old Croton Trail
★
Paramount Center for the Arts, Peekskill, New York
★
Philipsburg Manor, historic site, Sleepy Hollow, New York
★
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site, Yonkers, New York
★
Playland, America's only government owned and operated
amusement park,
Rye, New York
★ [
The Performing Arts Center at
Purchase College, Purchase, New York
★
The Square House Museum,
Rye
★
Sunnyside, historic home of author
Washington Irving,
Tarrytown, New York
★
Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown
★
Thomas Paine National Historical Association,
New Rochelle
★
The Timothy Knapp House,
Rye
★ Union Church,
Pocantico Hills
★
Westchester Jazz Orchestra,
Mount Kisco
★
Westchester Philharmonic Orchestra,
White Plains
★
Yonkers Raceway,
Yonkers
Interesting facts
★ In the
Marvel Comics universe,
Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters (the headquarters and training facility for the
X-Men) is located in Salem Center in Westchester County.
★ Radio talk-show host
Howard Stern started his professional DJ career at WRNW-FM radio in 1977, a low-power station located in
Briarcliff Manor, the central part of the county.
★ Notorious
serial killer, child predator, and
cannibal Albert Fish committed his most infamous murder in Westchester and was tried and convicted in White Plains.
★ "Son of Sam"
David Berkowitz, another infamous serial killer, lived and was arrested at 25 Pine Street in Yonkers.
★ Former President
Bill Clinton and current U.S. Senator
Hillary Clinton reside in the northern Westchester hamlet of
Chappaqua.
★ Talk show host
David Letterman resides in
North Salem
★
Martha Stewart lives in Bedford, down the road from the estate of
John Jay, founding father and first supreme court justice.
★ The publisher of the ''
New York Journal'' in 1733,
John Peter Zenger, covered the account of an election held at St. Paul's Church in the town of Eastchester (now Mount Vernon) and was arrested and tried for seditious libel. He was acquitted and thereby established the legal precedent for "
freedom of the press." This later was incorporated as a basic freedom in the
U.S. Bill of Rights.
★ Westchester County is often referred to as the "Golden Apple"
★ The origin of the fictional town Bedford Falls, where
Frank Capra's "
It's a Wonderful Life" is set, is a combination of the hamlet of Bedford Hills in Westchester County (a small suburban town about 45 minutes away from New York City), and Seneca Falls in Seneca County (a small town midway between Rochester and Syracuse).
★ Artist
Alton Tobey resided for most of his life in the Larchmont section of the town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County.
★ Fictional TV characters
Chandler Bing and
Monica Bing move to Westchester County after the final episode of ''
Friends''.
★ Teen fiction series "
The Clique (Novel)" by
Lisi Harrison is based in Westchester.
★ Westchester County is also often referred to as "The Beverly Hills of New York"
★ Westchester is profiled in the 1979 book by the Vanity Fair journalist
Alex Shoumatoff, ''Westchester, Portrait of a County''
References
1. CA1-3 per capita personal income
2.
3.
4. Westchester County Population Trends
5. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/36119.html
6. Westchester County School Districts
See also
★
USS ''Westchester County'' (LST-1167)
External links
★
Westchester County official website
★
The Westchester County Department of Public Safety
★
Census Bureau Quick Facts about Westchester
★
★
Westchester County "Places of Worship"
★
Traffic Courts in Westchester County
★
Westchester County Gardens, Nature Centers & Nature Trails
★
Westchester County Antiques and Collectibles
★
The Westchester Restaurant Guide
★
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