I've lived in Yonkers my whole life except for a 20 year stint where I lived in the Bronx with a boyfriend in the 90's and early 2000's. One commenter on here mentioned bike riding. That's the only part I miss about living the the Bronx. We used to ride to Orchard Beach just about every day. Growing up in Yonkers in the 70's and 80's were the best experience and memories I have. The neighbourhood was full of kids to play with and with little adult supervision we found tons of things to do. We were never bored.
Yonkers is kind of funny . You can go from near seven figure homes to poverty and government housing in a matter of a a few street signs . Parts can be very unsafe. A running joke with locals is to stay away from streets named after trees - oak , elm , walnut , birtch , beetch, maple .
I grew up in the Park Hill area living for a time on the corner of Maple and Oak Street in the 50-60’s and attended local public schools. At that time crime in that area was extremely low or nonexistent. Over time crime began to be an issue in not only that area but though out all of south west Yonkers. Government instability and the ensuing financial crisis led to a reduction of services and State oversight. The resistance to the placement of affordable housing in east Yonkers and the ensuing litigation drained the city of desperately needed federal,state and local resources. While I’d like to think things have changed for the better over time but I don’t live there and therefore cannot accurately comment.
When I grew up in Yonkers, the pier was the tallest structure around. The rest were factories, Otis Elevator, my grandfather's restaurant on what once was an island jetting out into the road, near the Post Office - they have since erased it for the new shops. We went to the pier every day, or nearly, to look at the waves hit the docks. In the summer, there was a ferry that took you to New Jersey's Palisades for the day - lots of fun. I think, if memory serves, the fare was a nickel. I could be wrong, though. Off Getty Square is the street going to Bell Place - there was a wonderful art gallery there where you could sell your paintings. Well, I'm glad to see they've built it up. But I miss the way the old Getty Square looked. There was the fruit and vegetable store that had a man stand outside and yell, "Come get your fresh fruits and vegetables," and then he would rattle off sale prices. There was a man with a monkey and organ - an organ grinder, they called him, and the monkey held a tin cup into which you were expected to drop a few coins for the music. And then there was the old white mare who use to pull the hot dog wagon, and we would gather round for fresh hot dogs and sauerkraut. It was very colorful back then in the 1960s.. I did go back - it is still nice, the square looks like a small town from South America now, but the flavor is modern and no longer holds the old world charm. Too many grand buildings were torn down, including the magnificent Carnegie Library, to make way for strip mall imitations. No class. No charm. Just steel and glass - tasteless. I wish everybody had a taste of the old colorful Getty Square.
I grew up on the east side of Yonkers (Tuckahoe and Central Avenue), 19 54-19 73 and it was a great place back then, but I wouldn’t live there again if my life depended on it… And if I lived there, it probably would.
@@Eolafan1008 I used to live in Schlobohm off Palisades Ave. I grew up there. I moved out when 18 and never really looked back except for a few visits. I live in the Northern Catskills now, four hours from Montreal. I love it here - I grow my own food in a large garden; there are mountains, waterfalls (Catskill Park) - but the pace is not only slow, but a little duller here compared to the city - but the people are sweet. I never lock my car at night and often, I don't lock the doors. Neighbors look out for each other. You can keep your car running in the parking lot of the store, with the door open, and no one will touch it (and I have done that to prove to my city friend that there was no need to worry). I do not miss having to look over my shoulders, I don't miss the violence and enjoy the peace of mind, and if I should drop my credit card, I know it will be returned to me untouched - because that's already happened. Farms and farmers make for honest, down to earth, salt of the earth folk. I live in an old large Victorian and wouldn't trade my life now for the world.
What happened to the exit tax that you have to pay if you have a home in Yonkers and you sell it? That for every little thing you need a permit. That the roads need so much repairs. The infrastructure is bad.
You didn’t mention the treacherous terrain. The hills in Yonkers are very steep, and there are many of them. Many of the streets are rutted, and not bicycle-friendly.
Lived in Yonkers in the 80s and 90s. It was rough and I could not fathom anyone who was on the Honor Roll getting through schools like John Burroughs junior high, Saunders High School, Gorton High, etc. and passing. I could not sit in a class without a kid smacking my head, neck, pushing me, bothering me to listen to them, getting tripped or pushed in the halls, etc. Knives and guns going into school. Kids coming up to you with a gun pressed up to your gut, in school saying calmly, "i want your bubble jacket" or "I want your Nike sneakers." Also walking through the PJs near Getty Square, Warburton, Buena Vista avenue, etc. - I was always running from neighborhoods because kids would chase after me in groups or get dogs to bite me. Just like Jadakiss said, him and I both are from Hawthorne/Pier Street area, and I could not leave anything for a few seconds without it getting stolen. I lived next to that Domino Sugar factory. My pops moved to White Plains because it was too rough to live there, always being on edge. But? I guess things have changed, huh? Well good then!
Thanks for sharing your experience. Your words are important to help people when considering Yonkers a place for their family to live. While I try to highlight some of the positives, every city has its challenges.
listen man, someone should have told you how not to walk through the streets. being a native and an urchin you had to walk the aqueduct, the glenn, the tracks, go through back alleys leading to woods, walk the tracks, go from roof top to roof top and scale walls and hop fences, moving in between empty over grown sprawling lots, the tibbetts trails, the saw mill, skirt around the outer areas of the projects etc. i was all over the place and yeah, i went to hawthorne too. and when i say walk, i mean run. and what the hell were you doing in schools street, the baum, riverdale, or cottage without knowing people who lived there anyway lol. see i would have been your seeing eye nigga
Great video of the best things in Yonkers but it's not as great as you pretend it to be. I'm sure the gangs are still there and one of the main reasons I moved my family out of there.
