What is Yonkers?

[TheSportsPredictor]

Was just reading this story about David Simon's new show about housing desegregation in Yonkers in the '80s:

David Simon Does Not Care What You Think Is Cool About His TV Shows «

I've heard of Yonkers before. I guess I don't get it. It borders the Bronx but is not a part of NYC? How did this happen? Does NYC care about Yonkers? Wikipedia says in 1894 Yonkers, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island voted on becoming part of NYC. Yonkers voted no.

Do they wish now they were part of NYC? Does NYC wish Yonkers was part of NYC?

 

[cranberry]

Snooty Westchester people pretend it's part of NYC, more like Northern Bronx.

 

[PaperDoll]

Snooty Westchester people pretend it's part of NYC, more like Northern Bronx.

Snooty Westchester people would never live in Yonkers; that's for the poor relations. It's sort of like how snooty Bronx residents will all say they're from Riverdale, except when they want to remind everyone they live in New York City.

</Bronx girl>

 

[Moderator1]

I thought it was a harness track?

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I thought it was a harness track?

It is, but it's named after the location.

 

[britwrit]

For Jewish New Yorkers in the first half of the 20th century, as well as other ethnic groups, it was one of those towns where they worked up to from the Bronx or Brooklyn or wherever.

Basically, one of those iconic places from where you came/had to escape from or it was a stamp of your respectable lower middle-class identiy.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Yonkers is kind of the Hoboken of New York, but without any of the charm that Hoboken has managed to capture over the last few decades.

 

[joe king]

As David Letterman used to say, "I don't have a joke here, I just like to say 'Yonkers.' "

 

[PaperDoll]

Yonkers is kind of the Hoboken of New York, but without any of the charm that Hoboken has managed to capture over the last few decades.

Yonkers is the fourth-largest city in New York State by population, smaller than Rochester but larger than Syracuse. Hoboken, despite its population density, is only one square mile. There is one particular section of Yonkers which is trying to redevelop into a nightlife hub, but gentrification has been extremely slow.

 

[The Big Ragu]

True that. Hoboken is much, much smaller. Yonkers kind of sprawls, at least that is my impression of it from blowing through as quickly as I can when I head up the thruway.

I was thinking in terms of the "Near New York, but not New York" places, not so much their relative sizes. In the 80s, Hoboken was a hole. In the 80s, Yonkers was a hole. Today, Hoboken is actually kind of charming. Today, Yonkers is Yonkers.

 

[Buck]

It's a town outside of NYC that is part of the greater NY metropolitan area.

I have an aunt who lives there.

 

[Songbird]

As David Letterman used to say, "I don't have a joke here, I just like to say 'Yonkers.' "

I'm the same. Love to say Yonkers. Wrote something about a customer from Yonkers. One of those great sounding towns.

 

[cranberry]

I'm the same. Love to say Yonkers. Wrote something about a customer from Yonkers. One of those great sounding towns.

Even better...

 

[YankeeFan]

Yonkers conquers.

 

[YankeeFan]

Snooty Westchester people would never live in Yonkers; that's for the poor relations. It's sort of like how snooty Bronx residents will all say they're from Riverdale, except when they want to remind everyone they live in New York City.

</Bronx girl>

So true.

 

[Boom_70]

So true.

There's part of east side of Yonkers borders toney Bronxville. There's a part that you can actually get
a desired Bronxville PO but have your house in Yonkers. The cheaper real estate of Yonkers but the cache or
Roger Goodell's Bronxville. I've often caught people in the lie by pining them down on the address.
COUNTY LINES - The Lure of a Bronxville Address - NYTimes.com
And Cran I'll take Yonkers over New Haven. You can get to Yankee Stadium in 15 minutes.

 

[Songbird]

Even better...

****ing LOVE saying Ronkonkoma.

 

[Boom_70]

Even better...

More better. Roll "Speonk" around on your tongue

 

[cranberry]

There's part of east side of Yonkers borders toney Bronxville. There's a part that you can actually get
a desired Bronxville PO but have your house in Yonkers. The cheaper real estate of Yonkers but the cache or
Roger Goodell's Bronxville. I've often caught people in the lie by pining them down on the address.
COUNTY LINES - The Lure of a Bronxville Address - NYTimes.com

People kill for that section of Yonkers because it also puts them in the Bronxville school system, which is excellent.

 

[YankeeFan]

There's part of east side of Yonkers borders toney Bronxville. There's a part that you can actually get
a desired Bronxville PO but have your house in Yonkers. The cheaper real estate of Yonkers but the cache or
Roger Goodell's Bronxville. I've often caught people in the lie by pining them down on the address.
COUNTY LINES - The Lure of a Bronxville Address - NYTimes.com
And Cran I'll take Yonkers over New Haven. You can get to Yankee Stadium in 15 minutes.

Pelham MANOR is another one. I used to tease one guy I went to high school with by telling him he lived in Mount Vernon.

There's also a little strip of the Bronx that is cut off from the rest of the Bronx by the highway. If you live there, you get a Pelham Manor phone number and zip code. You pay lower property taxes, and your kids can go to Pelham High School.

Since your also still eligible to run for office in NYC, it's also become known as "Politicians Row" or "Judges Row".

A Tiny Strip of New York That Feels Like the Suburbs - NYTimes.com