Yonkers architecture is a lively mix of big city high-rises, small town Victorian quaintness and suburban neighborhoods filled with Tudors and Colonials. All of it is seen on Getty Square, the downtown heart of the city. Philipse Manor Hall in Getty Square dates to the 17th century and is Westchester County’s oldest building. The stone buttresses of St. John’s Protestant Episcopal Church protect a sanctuary over 260 years old. The wood frame Sherwood House, now a museum, dates to 1740.
Also on the city’s premier patch of real estate, the Yonkers Public Library, although modernized, has been a city institution since 1893. The complex now encompasses part of the factory building where Elisha Graves Otis manufactured the world’s first elevators. The decorative brick Yonkers MetroNorth train station is still on the job. The Saw Mill River that flows through the city is a landmark in and of itself – once covered by a parking lot, it has since been “daylighted” in a renovation project.
The Yonkers housing market contains 17,652 single family homes and 504 rowhouses, and many are affordable, especially compared to neighboring New York City. The real estate market provides a further 7,118 multi-family properties and 4,211 apartments. Another 239 unclassified residential options reflect changing real estate trends in Yonkers. Commercial properties number 1,314. There are 656 industrial structures in Yonkers and 90 more have been zoned for mixed use. Investors can keep an eye on the real estate prices of 3,427 undeveloped lots that could come up for auction in the city.
One in four Yonkerites doesn’t own a car. The Bee-Line Bus system is the Empire State’s second largest and only ten cities in America use their mass transit system more than Yonkers does. Two heavy-rail commuter lines take passengers into New York City – the Hudson Line on the west side of Manhattan Island and the Harlem Line on the east.
Yonkers Public Schools oversees 40 schools, including 8 high schools with a cumulative graduation rate of 82% – well above the national average. Saunders Trades & Technical High School, Yonkers Middle High School, and Yonkers Montessori Academy all hand out diplomas to more than 90 percent of their students. Yonkers is also well-served by independent private schools.
St. John’s Riverside Hospital, nationally ranked for its heart care procedures, and St. Joseph’s Medical Center are primary care providers in Yonkers. Residents in the southern parts of the city also have quick access to New York City care centers.
Despite the urban environment, Yonkerites see less crime than the average New Yorker. The chance of a property crime in Yonkers is 1 in 96, while the rate in New York State is 1 in 62. Violent crime is a little more common than in the state as a whole with 1 chance in 208 in Yonkers and 1 in 263 in New York.
Yonkers can put its Hudson River Museum, with the Glenview Mansion and Andrus Planetarium, proudly on any list of New York City cultural attractions. The Science Barge is a self-powering urban farm and environmental center docked in the Hudson River. Utermyer Park is the descendant of one of America’s great private gardens, started by a former New York governor. Yonkers turns out in force to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and Columbus Day parades.
Getty Square has become an internationally flavored shopping district, while local farmers markets date back decades. There is no need to traipse into New York for a savory slice with Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana on Central Park Avenue. To work off those calories, Yonkers offers hundreds of miles of bike trails.
The Yonkers Bike Club sponsors the Tour de Yonkers every September, which zips through the entire city.
