Westchester County, New York
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| Image:Map of New York highlighting Westchester County.png Counties in New York | |
| County seat | White Plains |
| Largest city | Yonkers |
| Area —Total —Land —Water, % | 1,295 km² (500 mi²) 1,121 km² (433 mi²) 174 km² (67 mi²), 13.45% |
| Population —Total (2000) —Density | 923,459 people 312/km² (807/mi²) |
| Established | November 1 1683 |
| Time zone | Eastern : UTC-5/-4 |
Westchester County is a suburban county with about 940,000 residents located in the U.S. state of New York. It was named after Chester, in England. The county seat is White Plains.
Contents |
History
The first Europeans to explore Westchester were Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524 and Henry Hudson in 1609. The first white 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.
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At least in part due to the wealth of some of its residents, their manicured lawns and country clubs — the county has 12 — Westchester has acquired an image of affluence, homogeneity, insularity, and elitism. Like most stereotypes, this is a false generalization. Westchester is an economically and demographically diverse region, neither at peace nor a haven of snobs. 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
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 is water. The total area is 13.45% water.
Westchester County is in the southeastern part of New York State. It is bordered to the south by the borough of The Bronx in New York City, to the west by the Hudson River (New Jersey is across the river from Yonkers; most of the rest of the county is across the Hudson from Rockland County), to the east by Connecticut and the Long Island Sound and to the north by Putnam County.
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 and less well-to-do. 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 U.S., and Peekskill in the northern portion is relatively urban and low-middle income. 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.) However, most places in Westchester are much farther from most places in Manhattan than this unusual example may suggest.
Cities
Image:Munmap.jpg There are six cities in Westchester County.
- Mount Vernon
- New Rochelle
- Peekskill
- Rye (Rye is also the name of a town.)
- White Plains
- Yonkers
Towns and Villages
There are 19 towns in Westchester County. 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. The towns of Harrison, Mount Kisco, and Scarsdale are coterminous with the village of the same name. Two villages are split between two towns—Briarcliff Manor crosses the border between Ossining town and Mount Pleasant, and Mamaroneck village straddles the boundary between Mamaroneck town and Rye town.
With the exception of the towns of Rye and Pelham, all the towns contain area and residents which do not belong to any village. These areas may contain communities referred to as hamlets. Hamlets have no legal status and depend upon the town for all municipal government and services. There are also areas called census-designated places (CDPs), which are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. A CDP may or may not correspond to a hamlet.
Because some municipalities have the same name, it is often necessary to indicate whether one is referring to the city, town, village, or hamlet. For example, the town of Rye is completely separate from the city of Rye. Pelham is the name of a town and also of a village in the town. The village of Mamaroneck is located partially in the town of Mamaroneck and partially in the town of Rye, but has nothing to do with the city of Rye.
The towns are listed as follows:
- Town
- Villages (if any), one per bullet
- CDPs (if any), all listed on a single bullet
- Communities not in a village or CDP (if any), all listed on a single bullet
- (The list of towns, villages and CDPs is complete. The listing of additional communities should not be considered complete.)
- Bedford, containing no villages
- (contains the CDP of Bedford)
- (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Bedford Hills, Bedford Village, and Katonah)
- Cortlandt, containing two villages:
- Buchanan
- Croton-on-Hudson
- (contains the CDPs of Crugers and Verplanck)
- (plus additional area belonging to no village or CDP, including the communities of Montrose and Cortlandt Manor)
- Eastchester, containing two villages:
- Bronxville
- Tuckahoe
- (contains the CDP of Eastchester, which encompasses all area outside the villages)
- Greenburgh, containing six villages:
- Ardsley
- Dobbs Ferry
- Elmsford
- Hastings-on-Hudson
- Irvington
- Tarrytown
- (contains the CDPs of Fairview, Greenville and Hartsdale)
- (plus additional area belonging to no village or CDP, including the communities of Edgemont and Glenville)
- Harrison, coterminous with the village of the same name
- (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the community of Purchase)
- Lewisboro, containing no villages
- (contains the CDP of Golden's Bridge)
- (plus additional area belonging to no village, including the communities of Cross River, Lewisboro, South Salem, Vista and Waccabuc)
- Mamaroneck, containing two villages:
- Larchmont
- Mamaroneck (This village is shared with the Town of Rye.)
- (plus additional area belonging to no village)
- Mount Kisco, coterminous with village of same name
- Mount Pleasant, containing three villages:
- Briarcliff Manor (This village is shared with the Town of Ossining.)
- Pleasantville
- Sleepy Hollow (formerly named North Tarrytown)
- (contains the CDPs of Hawthorne, Thornwood and Valhalla)
- (plus additional area belonging to no village or CDP, including the communities of Eastview and Pocantico Hills)
- New Castle, containing no villages
- (contains the CDP of Chappaqua)
- (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Millwood and Tompkins Corners)
- North Castle, containing no villages
- (contains the CDP of Armonk )
- (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the community of Banksville)
- North Salem, containing no villages
- (contains the portion of the CDP of Peach Lake that is not in Putnam County)
- (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Croton Falls, Purdys and Salem Center)
- Ossining, containing two villages:
- Briarcliff Manor (This village is shared with the Town of Mount Pleasant.)
- Ossining (The village of Ossining is contained within the Town of Ossining.)
- (plus additional area belonging to no village)
- Pelham, containing two villages:
- Pelham (The Village of Pelham is contained within the Town of Pelham.)
- Pelham Manor
- (The villages cover the entire area of the town.)
- (The village of North Pelham existed from 1896 to 1975, when it was merged into the village of Pelham.)
- Pound Ridge, containing no villages
- (contains the CDP of Scotts Corners)
- (plus additional area belonging to no CDP)
- Rye (Rye is also the name of a city.), containing three villages:
- Mamaroneck (This village is shared with the Town of Mamaroneck. The portion in Rye is unofficially also called "Rye Neck". The city of Rye separates Mamaroneck from the rest of the town of Rye.)
- Port Chester
- Rye Brook (Prior to 1982, Rye Brook was the area of the town not belonging to any village.)
- (The villages cover the entire area of the town.)
- Scarsdale, coterminous with village of same name
- Somers, containing no villages
- (contains the CDPs of Heritage Hills, Lincolndale and Shenorock)
- (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Amawalk, Baldwin Place, Granite Springs, and Somers)
- Yorktown, containing no villages
- (contains the CDPs of Crompond, Jefferson Valley-Yorktown, Lake Mohegan, Shrub Oak and Yorktown Heights)
- (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Kitchawan and Yorktown)
Government
Westchester County
The county executive is Andrew J. Spano (Dem.). The County Clerk is Leonard N. Spano (Rep.). The District Attorney is Jeanine F. Pirro (Rep.). The Board of Legislators has seventeen members, each representing a district in the county, eleven of them Democrats and 6 Republicans.
Politics
| 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, 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 county outside New York City and Albany.
However, Westchester county is less Democratic in state elections. Hence, it voted for Pataki with a margin of 23.07% against his Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial race of 2002, and of 26.22% in 1998.
Westchester County is the home of 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 are 923,459 people, 337,142 households, and 235,325 families residing in the county. The population density is 824/km² (2,134/mi²). There are 349,445 housing units at an average density of 312/km² (807/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 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. 15.61% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 337,142 households out of which 34.00% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.90% are married couples living together, 12.20% have a female householder with no husband present, and 30.20% are non-families. 25.70% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.30% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.67 and the average family size is 3.21.
In the county the population is 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 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 91.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county is $63,582, and the median income for a family is $79,881. Males have a median income of $53,136 versus $39,966 for females. The per capita income for the county is $36,726. 8.80% of the population and 6.40% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 11.00% of those under the age of 18 and 7.60% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
The Census Bureau estimates 2003 population at 940,302[2].
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.
Population time line
- 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 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 an old commuter rail line that was abandoned a few decades ago. 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 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.
Commuter train service in Westchester is provided by Metro-North Railroad (operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority). Metro-North operate three lines in the county; west to east, they are the Husdon, the Harlem and the New Haven lines. Amtrak serves Croton-Harmon, New Rochelle and Yonkers.
Bus service is provided by the Bee-Line Bus System (operated by the Westchester County Department of Transportation).
Westchester County Airport is adjacent to White Plains.
Education
Public School Districts
Image:WestchesterSchoolDistricts.png There are forty public school districts in Westchester County[3]. Most school districts do not adhere to municipal boundaries, although the six city school districts do have the same boundaries as their cities.
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This list excludes Special Act Grade Organization districts, which overlap the districts listed above.
Colleges and Universities
- Berkeley College, White Plains, New York
- Concordia College, Bronxville, New York
- College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, New York
- Iona College, New Rochelle, New York
- Manhattanville College, Purchase, New York
- Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, New York
- New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York
- Pace University, Pleasantville, New York
- Purchase College, State University of New York, Purchase New York
- Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York
- Westchester Community College, Valhalla, New York
Libraries
Westchester County is served by the Westchester Library System[4]. Established in 1958, the Westchester Library System is comprised of 38 public libraries.
Historic and Cultural Attractions
- 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 of Westchester, Yonkers, New York
- Irvington Town Hall Theater, Irvington, New York
- Jacob Burns Film Center, Pleasantville, 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 of John D. Rockefeller, Sleepy Hollow, New York
- Lyndhurst, historic Gothic Revival home, Tarrytown, New York
- Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, Purchase, New York
- 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 amusement park. America's only government owned and operated amusement park, Rye, New York
- The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, Purchase, New York
- Sunnyside, historic home of author Washington Irving, Tarrytown, New York
- Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown, New York
- Thomas Paine National Historical Association, New Rochelle, New York
- Union Church, Pocantico Hills, New York
- Westchester Jazz Orchestra, Mount Kisco, New York
- Westchester Philharmonic Orchestra, White Plains, New York
- Yonkers Raceway, Yonkers, New York
Interesting Facts
- In the Marvel Comics universe, Charles Xavier's School of Gifted Youngsters is located in Westchester County.
- Radio "shock jock" 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, this was also noted in Stern's movie. A tape, frequently played on his morning radio show, was made after his promotion to the station's program management.
- Notorious serial killer, child predator and cannibal Albert Fish committed his most infamous murder in Westchester, and was tried and convicted in White Plains.
See also
External links
- Westchester County official website
- Westchester County Information Directory
- Census maps of Westchester County
- Westchester County Databook 2001 (PDF 7.38 MB)
- Westchester County Page at Hudson Valley Directory
![[1]](http://www.westchestergov.com/planning/research/Census2000/Oct03Updates/maps/subregionsbig.jpg){kind=link}
