Mount Vernon has 12,898 Jamaicans with African and Indian descent that had immigrated from their homeland of Jamaica after the country gained its independence from Britain on August 6, 1962.

[4] The Mount Vernon area was first settled in 1664 by families from Connecticut as part of the Town of Eastchester.

[4] In 1894, the voters of Mount Vernon participated in a referendum on whether to consolidate into a new "City of Greater New York".

Many African Americans from the southern United States migrated north and settled in the city of Mount Vernon for better job opportunities and educational advancements.

Between 2000 and 2006, Mount Vernon's economy grew 20.5%, making it one of the fastest-growing cities in the New York metropolitan area.

[14] In January 2019, Moody's withdrew its credit rating for Mount Vernon because of the city's failure to provide audited financial statements.

[16][17][18] Further clouding the city's financial condition is the prospect that it might have a repayment obligation to HUD in connection with grants previously awarded to the city [19] On July 9, 2019, mayor Richard Thomas pleaded guilty to stealing campaign funds and lying to the State Board of Elections.

After arriving for work, Thomas ordered the Mount Vernon Police to arrest Harris for trespassing.

[21] Finally, before a packed courtroom in White Plains, Judge Ecker made a decisive ruling that Thomas had actually vacated the office of mayor on July 8, that Wallace had automatically assumed the office at that time, and that Wallace would be the acting mayor of Mount Vernon until January 1, 2020.

[23] In August 2019, the Commission presented its final report [24] which included four key proposed changes to the City's Charter: St. Paul's Church is a Mount Vernon attraction designated as a National Historic Site.

[28] Mount Vernon is bordered by the village of Bronxville and city of New Rochelle to the north, by the town of Pelham and village of Pelham Manor to the east, by the Hutchinson River and the Eastchester and Wakefield sections of the Bronx to the south, and by the city of Yonkers and the Bronx River to the west.

Since then, it was discovered that the city's highest elevation is on New York Route 22, North Columbus Avenue, at the Bronxville line.

Former mayor Clinton Young vowed to make Mount Vernon a new epicenter with a new central business district.

His failed plans included establishing commercial office space and rezoning to allow high density development in the downtown, as well as affordable and market rate housing.

[31] Mount Vernon Heights' highly elevated terrain has earned the moniker "the rolling hills of homes".

[14] Mount Vernon's North Side is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Westchester County.

In Fleetwood, many large co-op buildings line the center of town, which is bisected by Gramatan Avenue.

[citation needed] South Side Mount Vernon features notable city landmarks such as Brush Park, Hutchinson Field, the Boys and Girls Club, and St. Paul's Church National Historic Site.

[citation needed] Mount Vernon has a large commercial sector, with industries such as electronics, engineering, high tech, historical metal restoration, and manufacturing mainly in the Southside section of the city.

Mount Vernon also has an established Empire Zone for commercial and industrial use, in the southern portion of the city.

Beyond the regular political powers of elected officials, the City of Mount Vernon also has a checks and balances voting session called the Board of Estimate.

All monetary decisions, including the annual budget and many legal ramifications, must pass vote of the Board of Estimate, which meets every Tuesday after the city council's Wednesday legislative session.

In 2011, The Journal News featured an article titled "Region's Aging Schools Crumble as Finances Falter", by Cathey O'Donnell and Gary Stern.

The article discussed several old school buildings within the region that were in disrepair, how much it would cost to fix them, and which if any might need to be demolished.

[64] It is part of the Montefiore Health System and provides in-patient, critical care, and ambulatory services to residents of Mount Vernon and neighboring communities.

Mount Vernon Hospital's emergency room treats 25,000 patients a year and is going to be expanded at a cost of $2.5 million, doubling its size from 9,000 to 18,500 square feet (800 to 1,700 m2).

[citation needed] The area around the hospital has many medical office buildings and treatment facilities which provide healthcare to residents living in Mount Vernon, the southeast section of Yonkers, and the north Bronx, which shares a border with the city.

For example, Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, the Planned Parenthood affiliate that serves New York's Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester Counties, opened its first medical center in Mount Vernon in 1935; the affiliate remains a vital source for reproductive health care services to Mount Vernon residents.

[66] Research has confirmed the tradition that Grace Baptist Church was founded in 1888 by a few women who formerly had been enslaved and it discovered their names: Emily Waller, Matilda Brooks, Helen Claiborne, Sahar Bennett, and Elizabeth Benson.