[6] The Westchester County location in White Plains was called the New York Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences and was housed in a few rooms of the Battle Hill School.

Some members of the Westchester County Board of Supervisors objected to taking on the management of the New York Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences, but community organizations, such as women's clubs, business men's leagues, and civic associations, voiced support.

A deal was reached so that the financial burden would be shared equally between the state, county, and the student body, with each contributing one-third towards the school's operating costs.

[7] New York governor Thomas E. Dewey appointed WCC's first board of trustees, which was composed of "successful lawyers, editors, manufacturers, labor readers and persons of varied racial backgrounds".

[9] Paying $30,000 per year in rent to the county, and facing eviction from the Battle Hill School facility, the college began looking for alternate housing.

[10] The trustees of State University of New York (SUNY) approved spending $25,000, matching a pledge by the county board, to plan for a permanent site for WCC.

[11] In April 1955, a ten-member committee was formed by County Executive James D. Hopkins investigated possible sites for Westchester Community College.

[10] By late in that year, sixteen properties had been examined, including lands located in parks, private estates, closed schools, and open countryside.

[12] In August 1956, the site committee chose to locate the campus on the Ridge Road Park property in Hartsdale, then the estate of Henry J. Gaisman, an executive with The Gillette Company.

The board argued that the 136 acre Gaisman property was best because of its central location in the county, and that 85% of the college's students lived in southern Westchester and New York City.

[14] Gaisman continued to refuse to sell his property, and on October 1, 1956, the County Board of Supervisors voted 25 to 15 to acquire the land by means of condemnation.

[15] Before the county could legally act, Gaisman gifted the estate to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, forcing the site committee to look elsewhere.

[18] The property, called Buena Vista Farm,[19] was occupied by Yale University, which only used "a few of the acres", but which had a contract with the Hartford Foundation to use the land until 1972.

Hankin had previously been the director of evening and summer sessions, and then the president, of Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland.

[28] The Mount Kisco architecture firm of Kaeyer, Parker & Garment designed the Science, Academic Arts, and Administration buildings.

The Administration building was originally to have four floors, according to the master plan, but was scaled back to three after funding from the county and the New York State Dormitory Authority was reduced due to inflation.

[33] In addition to the Valhalla campus, the college provides instruction at twelve other off-campus locations including extension centers in Peekskill, Ossining, White Plains, Mount Vernon, and Yonkers.

[35] The college's curriculum is registered and approved by the New York State Education Department and offers associate degrees in forty areas and certificates in twenty.