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Westchester County, New York
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Westchester County is a primarily suburban county located in the U.S. state of New York with about 950,000 residents. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. It was named after Chester, in England, and the county seat is White Plains. According to 2006 HUD data, the median income for a household of one person in the county was $75,427 and the median income for a family of four was $96,500.
native inhabitants of Westchester County belonged to the larger family of Native Americans called the Algonquin Lenape.
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Encyclopedia
Westchester County is a primarily suburban county located in the U.S. state of New York with about 950,000 residents. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. It was named after Chester, in England, and the county seat is White Plains. According to 2006 HUD data, the median income for a household of one person in the county was $75,427 and the median income for a family of four was $96,500.
History
The native inhabitants of Westchester County belonged to the larger family of Native Americans called the Algonquin Lenape. Their connection to the Mound Builders of the Mississippi Valley, the Aztecs of Mexico or the native groups of Central America, if any ever existed, must have been extremely remote. Their traditions referred in a very vague way to long journeys from the Northwest and of contests with a people who occupied the land before them. As a group, they were not very aware of their own history and records were never made. From this the European settlers were able to obtain very little information about the Algonquin people or their forefathers. Fortunately title deeds given to the European settlers supply considerable information about the location of sub-tribes in the region. The Manhattans occupied the island upon which New York City was built, as well as land in Southern Westchester now covered by the city of Yonkers. The Weckquaesgeeks occupied land along the Hudson River and the central portions of the county where Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown and White Plains now stand. The Siwanoy tribe lived along the coast of Long Island Sound where Pelham, New Rochelle, Larchmont, Mamaroneck and Rye now stand. The northern portions of the county were occupied by smaller tribes such as the Tankitekes, Kitchawanks and Saint Siks.
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.
Today it is one of the most affluent counties in the country, home to many of New York City's most desirable suburban communities. It is a haven for commuters, whether traveling by car or by the Metro-North Commuter Railroad.
Geography
Westchester County is located in the southeastern end of New York State. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 500 square miles (1,295 kmē), of which, 433 square miles (1,121 kmē) of it is land and 67 square miles (174 kmē) of it (13.45%) is water.
The highest elevation in the county is a U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey benchmark known as "Bailey" at 300 m (985 ft) 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.
Officially, the Westchester County Department of Planning divides the county into North, Central and South sub regions.
The closest point on the southern border of Westchester is a little under from Columbus Circle in Manhattan (which is a customary point at which distances from New York City are measured), where Pelham Manor meets Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. At over , Pelham Bay Park is the largest of New York City's Parks and forms a substantial 'buffer' between suburban Westchester and urban Bronx County. The closest point on the northern border is a little over by air (51 miles by road).
Cities, towns and villages
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. A village can be located in more than one town, as two of Westchester's villages are.
Adjacent counties
National protected area
- Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site - The publisher of the New York Journal in 1733, John Peter Zenger, covered the account of an election held at St. Paul's Church 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.
Government
The county executive is Andrew J. Spano (D). The district attorney is Janet DiFiore (D, switched from GOP in Aug. 2007). The county clerk is Timothy C. Idoni (D).
Board of Legislators-
The Westchester County Board of Legislators is the legislative, policy-making branch of Westchester County.
The County Board has seventeen members. The current board chair is William J. Ryan (D).
Politics
Presidential elections results | Year | Republican | Democrat |
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| 2008 | 35.8% 147,824 | 63.4% 261,810 | | 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 | |
Although the county historically leaned Republican, it swung Democratic in the early 1990s much like other New York City suburbs. In the most recent national elections, Westchester voters tended 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 concentrated in the southern and central parts of the county. More than 60% of Westchester County voters voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential race, the highest total of any New York county outside New York City, Albany, or Tompkins (Ithaca). Currently all U.S. congressional representatives from Westchester County are Democrats.
However, Westchester County is less Democratic in state and local elections. For instance, it voted for George Pataki with a margin of 23.07% against Carl McCall 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) in Congress. Westchester's third representative is Democrat John Hall, who was elected in 2006, defeating Republican incumbent Sue Kelly. Hall's district includes most of northern Westchester County. County Executive Andrew Spano is just the second Democrat to hold the post in at least a half-century. In 2006, county legislator Andrea Stewart-Cousins defeated 20 year incumbent Nicholas Spano for a seat in the New York State Senate in a rematch of the 2004 race, which she lost by only 18 votes. Assembly Member Mike Spano switched parties in July 2007 to become a Democrat. Current DA Janet DiFiore also switched parties from Republican to Democratic in August 2007.
Westchester County was the home of former vice-president Nelson Rockefeller, who occupied the Kykuit mansion of the Rockefeller family 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. Former First Lady Barbara Bush grew up in Rye in Westchester County, where she attended the Rye Country Day School.
Emergency services
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. Each department has career, volunteer or a combination of career and volunteer personnel who serve and protect the county.
Law enforcement
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.
Demographics
As of 2000, there were 349,445 housing units at an average density of 807 per square mile (312/kmē). 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. 71.7% spoke English, 14.4% Spanish, 3.5% Italian, 1.1% Portuguese and 1.1% French as their first language.
By 2006 the population was 68.12% White, 13.91% African-Americans, 5.58% Asian, 0.16 Native American and 12.23% of other or mixed race. 18.54% of the population was Latino or Hispanic of any race.
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. 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 also ranks number two(number one being Manhattan) for wealthiest counties in New York State and twelfth wealthiest county nationally.
Westchester County Department of Planning-Tomorrow's Communistructure
The Westchester County Department of Planning serves as the repository for all Westchester related census data. Under County Executive Andrew J. Spano's directive, the department recently launched Westchester 2025, a web-based update of its county-wide comprehensive planning policies. This interactive planning resource seamlessly integrates the Plans elements with new sections on three-dimensional visualization, community overviews, regional partnerships, as well as planning tools and interactive forums for public comment.
Part of Westchester 2025 focuses on the need to improve regional connectivity, including both physical infrastructure (roads, trains, sewers, etc.) and communication capabilities (wider bandwidths, GIS technology, etc.) to keep pace with the global economy and reduce environmental impacts. This new infrastructure model for the 21st century, Tomorrow's Communistructure, will require a complete paradigm shift in the way the community views and defines its critical infrastructure in the future.
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 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 U.S. 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 county 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 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 proposals for a cross-county rail line to connect all three lines and provide easier access to Stamford, Connecticut.
The MTA also operates a ferry service between Haverstraw in Rockland County and Ossining. New York Water Taxi operates a ferry from Haverstraw and Yonkers to Battery Park City and the Financial District in Manhattan.
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:
- , 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..
- a magazine of local people, events, and lifestyles.
- News 12 Westchester, a cable news station owned by Cablevision.
- WFAS-FM (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.
- RNN, a news station
- , a Hispanic newspaper serving Westchester County and part of Rockland County.
- WHUD (100.7 FM), located in Peekskill, focuses on the Hudson Valley and bills itself as "The Hudson Valley's news and information station".
- , a community newspaper covering Westchester County news and events.
- , a community Spanish newspaper covering Westchester County news and events.
Education
Westchester County contains 48 public school districts, 118 private college-preparatory and parochial schools, and 14 colleges and universities.
Libraries
Westchester County is served by the which was established in 1958. The system is comprised of 38 public libraries.
Historic and cultural attractions
- Bronx River Parkway -The corridor along its namesake river in Westchester and the Bronx constitutes one of the world's first limited access highways. Planning for the non-commercial traffic artery began in 1907. It opened a decade and a half later and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Westchester segment constitutes the county's first park, the restoration of which is overseen by . Across the New York City line, these tasks are carried out by .
- Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts
- Croton Gorge Park
- Elephant Hotel in Somers, New York
- , 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
- , historic homestead of John Jay, Rye, New York
- Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York
- Leland Castle, located on the campus of The College of New Rochelle
- 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, Pocantico Hills, New York
- Lyndhurst, historic Gothic Revival home, Tarrytown, New York
- , Purchase College, Purchase, New York
- Old Croton Aqueduct and the Old Croton Trail
in Tarrytown.]]
- , Peekskill, New York
- Philipsburg Manor, historic site, Sleepy Hollow, New York
- Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site, Yonkers, New York
- Picture House Regional Film Center , Pelham, New York
- Playland, America's only government owned and operated amusement park, Rye, New York
- at Purchase College, Purchase, New York
- Sing Sing Prison, Ossining
- The Square House Museum, Rye
- Sunnyside, historic home of author Washington Irving, Tarrytown, New York
- Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown
- Teatown Lake Reservation, Ossining
- Thomas Paine National Historical Association, New Rochelle
- The Timothy Knapp House, Rye
- Union Church, Pocantico Hills
- , Chappaqua
- Westchester Philharmonic Orchestra, White Plains
- Yonkers Raceway, Yonkers
Geology
The rocks which compose the Island of Manhattan in New York City and underlie the county of Westchester, are chiefly gneiss and mica-schist, with layers of dolmitic marble and serpentine.
See also
External links
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