Westchester County, New York Totally Explained

Everything about Westchester County totally explained

As of 2000, there were 349,445 housing units at an average density of 807 per square mile (312/km²). 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. 21.3% were of Italian and 11.4% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 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 61.1% non-Hispanic white. 14.8% of the population was African-Americans. Asians were 5.7% of the county population. 18.5% was Latino or Hispanic. The Census Bureau estimates 2006 population at 949,355.
   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.

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 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're 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.

RNN, a news station

Pluma Libre News

, 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".

Westchester.com

, a community newspaper covering Westchester County news and events.

Elsolnews.com

, a community Spanish newspaper covering Westchester County news and events.

Education

Westchester County contains 48 public schools districts, 118 private, college-preparatory and parochial schools, and 14 colleges/universities.

Libraries

Westchester County is served by the Westchester Library System

which was established in 1958 and today comprises 38 public libraries.

Historic and cultural attractions

Culture ablaze in the Berkshires of Massachusetts - Area Realty Listings

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts

Croton Gorge Park

Elephant Hotel in Somers, New York

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

Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York

Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens, PepsiCo, Inc. World Headquarters, Purchase, New York

Kykuit, historic home that's part of the Rockefeller family estate founded by John D. Rockefeller, Pocantico Hills, 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

Miscellaneous facts

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"

Westchester is profiled in the 1979 book by the Vanity Fair journalist Alex Shoumatoff, Westchester, Portrait of a County

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).

Westchester appears in the popular series for young teen girls, The Clique, by Lisi Harrison.

Painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell lived in New Rochelle, using the community as inspiration for the many 'every-day life' scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post.

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.

Westchester has many famous residents, including talk show host David Letterman (North Salem), Ruby Dee (New Rochelle) and Martha Stewart (Bedford). Others include presidential-hopeful Hillary Clinton as well as Former President Bill Clinton, both of Chappaqua, New York.

Artist Alton Tobey resided for most of his life in the Larchmont section of the town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County.

In the popular U.S. sitcom, Friends, the center couple Monica Geller and Chandler Bing move to Westchester after living in New York City. The describe the house they buy as "perfect."

The fictional Xavier Institute for Higher Learning in the X-men comic book series is located in Westchester.Further Information

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