The original structure was built by white workers and enslaved people for Frederick Philipse and his wife, Margaret Hardenbroeck de Vries, around 1682.

[7] Residents of the western area of downtown Yonkers opposed the Pierpointe, a condominium-complex development proposal that would build over 1,900 condominiums (including six 38-story towers), during the 1980s struggle against segregation.

[16] In an effort to combat redlining, the city announced the Yonkers Greenway: a $14 million rail trail along former railways such as the New York and Putnam Railroad.

[19] Some residents call Yonkers "the sixth borough" because of its location on the New York City border, its urban character, and the merger referendum.

Mostly women, they prepared surgical dressings, created hospital garments for the wounded, and knit articles of clothing for refugees and soldiers.

Increased competition from less-expensive imports resulted in a decline in manufacturing in Yonkers after the war, and a number of industrial jobs were lost.

[28] Yonkers was originally a small farming town which produced peaches, apples, potatoes, oats, wheat, and other agricultural goods to be shipped to New York City along the Hudson River.

[32]: 12  The Woman's Institute of Yonkers, established in 1880 as the Free Circulating Library for Self-Supporting Women, is the city' s oldest social service agency.

[33] Around that time, the Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company in the Saw Mill River Valley expanded to 45 buildings, 800 looms, and more than 4,000 workers.

[42] The Alexander Smith Carpet Company, one of the city's largest employers, ceased operations during a June 1954 labor dispute.

[44] Some neighborhoods, such as Crestwood and Park Hill, became popular with wealthy New Yorkers who wanted to live outside Manhattan without giving up urban conveniences.

Yonkers' transportation infrastructure, which included three commuter railroad lines and five parkways and thruways, made it a desirable city in which to live.

Yonkers planned to use federal funding for urban renewal exclusively downtown; other groups, led by the NAACP, believed that the resulting concentration of low-income housing in traditionally-poor neighborhoods would perpetuate poverty.

Forced to cut programs, Yonkers schools fell steeply in national rankings as test scores sharply declined.

Michael Sussmann, the NAACP's lawyer during the case, blamed Sand for failing to allocate federal funds to help relieve the cost of integration.

[61] Two former Alexander Smith and Sons Carpet Company loft buildings (at 540 and 578 Nepperhan Avenue) have been repurposed to house the YoHo Artist Community, which has private studios there.

[68] In February 2023, the Yonkers City Council approved the US Post Office on Main Street for local-landmark status after its 1989 listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

[86] Daylighting promotes the restoration of habitat for plants, fish, and other fauna, and helps develop an understanding of where Native Americans camped in spring and summer.

[103] The area contains the affluent neighborhoods of Crestwood, Colonial Heights, and Cedar Knolls, and the wealthy enclaves of Beech Hill and Lawrence Park West.

[106] Northeast Yonkers is somewhat more expensive than the rest of the city and, due to the proximity of several Metro-North commuter railroad stations, its residents generally work for Manhattan corporations.

Northwest Yonkers neighborhoods vary, spanning from the Hudson River to the New York State Thruway (I-87) and from Ashburton Avenue north to the Hastings-on-Hudson border.

[107] The house was demolished in 2007, and former city-council president Chuck Lesnick called for legislation which would make the demolition of a 75-year-old landmark in the city subject to the landmark-review process.

Much of southwest Yonkers grew along the railroad and trolley (now bus) lines along South Broadway and in Getty Square which run to New York City.

The railroad companies built neighborhoods of mixed housing which ranged from apartment buildings to large mansions in areas such as Park Hill, where a funicular accessed the train station in the valley.

[122] Southwest Yonkers, traditionally home to African American and white residents, has seen an influx of immigrants from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, South Asia, and the Middle East.

Yonkers is the top terminus of the Bee-Line Bus service area, which includes Westchester and the northern Bronx, and the Getty Square intermodal hub serves millions of passengers per year.

The Ludlow, Yonkers, Glenwood, and Greystone stations are on the Hudson Line, which provides commuter service to New York City.

Its right-of-way has been paved and is used as a public park and part of the Empire State Trail, which spans 750 miles (1,210 km) from New York City to Buffalo and Rouses Point via Albany.

[147] Limited-access highways in Yonkers include Interstate 87 (the New York State Thruway) and the Saw Mill, Bronx River, Sprain Brook and Cross County Parkways.

[150] The main line of the former New York and Putnam Railroad has been converted into the South County Trailway, a paved walking and bicycling path.