Getty Square
The Hudson River, bordering the western waterfront of Getty Square, provided a transportation route to markets beginning in the 1600s.
Like many downtowns in the northeastern United States, Getty Square suffered gradual and severe de-industrialization and non-automobile infrastructure disinvestment beginning after World War II.
The Otis Elevator Company factory, with vast buildings covering much of the Getty Square neighborhood north of what is now Van der Donck Park, closed in 1983.
The closing and quick demolition of the Yonkers Branch of the New York and Putnam Railroad, despite an appeal to the United States Supreme Court,[4] occurred in 1944,[5] and the Third Avenue Railway trolley service finally ended in 1952.
New York State widened Nepperhan Avenue to create an arterial highway along the eastern side of the neighborhood, demolishing a Carnegie library in the process.
[7] The reconstituting of the vacant Otis Elevator Factory campus into the iPark corporate business center spurred an influx of advanced industrial initiatives.
Capitalizing on the iPark location connected to the existing rail network, Kawasaki Heavy Industries brought its railcar assembly plant to Getty Square.
In 2011, iPark installed the largest solar-panel array in Westchester on its roof to provide low-cost electricity to its manufacturing tenants.
[10] In 2007, the Science Barge, a solar and wind-powered demonstration farm, using hydroponics and aquaculture, docked at its permanent home next to the train station at the mouth of the Saw Mill River.
[11][12] The third daylighting phase, near Chicken Island, does not yet have a start date, although New York State awarded a $1.08 million grant for the project at the end of 2013.
[13] Getty Square is a bustling, multi-ethnic shopping district[14] with very high numbers of shoppers compared with other Westchester downtowns (See Intermodal Transit Hub section below.)
[21] Getty Square's heavy pedestrian foot traffic is bolstered by its role as a key transit hub of Yonkers and Westchester.
Getty Square achieves a Walk Score of 95 out of 100, making it a "Walker's Paradise" where "daily errands do not require a car.
[25] In addition to the thru-running buses, loop route bus lines circulate through Getty Square and adjoining neighborhoods.
As part of the transit plan for the Tappan Zee Bridge Replacement, a proposed express bus route from Spring Valley in Rockland County would have Getty Square as its final destination.
The Old Croton Aqueduct runs along the northern edge of the Getty Square neighborhood, although two blocks of path are on-street at Ashburton Avenue.
