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For other places with the same name, see Mount Vernon (disambiguation).
| Mount Vernon, New York | |||
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| Motto: The city of homes | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | United States | ||
| State | New York | ||
| County | Westchester | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Clinton L. Young (Dem) | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 4.4 sq mi (11.3 km²) | ||
| - Land | 4.4 sq mi (11.3 km²) | ||
| - Water | 1.7 sq mi (4.3 km²) | ||
| Elevation | 108 ft (33 m) | ||
| Population (2000) | |||
| - Total | 68,321 | ||
| - Density | 15,003/sq mi (5,792.7/km²) | ||
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) | ||
| Area code(s) | 914 | ||
| FIPS code | 36-49121 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0957917 | ||
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York. It is just north of New York City\'s Bronx border.
The city has been riddled with crime due to the drug trade that goes on it the southern quadrant of the city. With a population of 68,321 residents as of the 2000 Census, it is the eighth largest city in New York State. The city\'s eastern and western borders are the Hutchinson River and the Bronx River, respectively, and it lies between the New York City borough of the Bronx to the south, and the Town of Eastchester (of which it was once a part) to the north. By population, it is the third largest of three principal cities in Westchester County after Yonkers and New Rochelle.
Mount Vernon at this time consisted mainly of farm lands crossed by two important railroads, the New York and Harlem (that already had a station there) and the New York and New Haven (that had no station until the Industrial Home Association built one for it).
Central Mount Vernon remained mostly undeveloped until Charles Crary bought land on Chester Hill in 1869. He laid out orderly building lots and placed restrictions on the use of the lots and who could purchase them. Chester Hill became a privileged community.
Mount Vernon was officially incorporated as a city in 1892. It had previously been a Village and part of the Town of Eastchester. In 1897, when the City of New York merged with Brooklyn and several towns in Queens County, Mount Vernon was offered the opportunity to join Bronx County as a part of New York City. The residents of Mount Vernon rejected the proposal.
Mount Vernon is governed by a mayor and a city council. The city council consists of five representatives who are all Democrats. Each council member is elected at large and therefore represents all of the citizens of the city. Presently serving in his first year term, is the Hon. Clinton Young, mayor of the city, who is also a Democrat. Effective January 2007 the City Council president will be the Honorable Steven Horton. The other members of the city council are Hon. Yuhanna Edwards, Hon. Loretta J. Hottinger, Hon. William R. Randolph, and the immediate past City Council President Hon. Lydon D. Williams.
The Mount Vernon city court is part of the Unified Court System of the State of New York. It has three elected full-time judges who serve for ten years and one part-time associate judge who is appointed by the mayor for a period of eight years. The Chief Judge of the Court is the Hon. Brenda Dowery. The Hon. William Edwards and the Hon. Mark Gross also serve as full time judges, and the Hon. Adam Seiden serves as an Associate Judge of the court. The Court handles a wide variety of cases including initial processing of all felony criminal cases; handling of all misdemeanor cases from inception through trial; civil proceedings with a limited monetary jurisdiction of up to $25,000.00; all landlord tenant cases originating in the city; small claims cases; and all vehicle and traffic law matters. The court is housed in a state of the art facility in the public safety complex which is adjacent to city hall.
Possibly owing to the city\'s African American majority, each mayor elected since the 1980s has been black. The uninterrupted string of black mayors in excess of twenty years is a first for any municipality in the New York metropolitan area and the Northeast.
Mount Vernon is located at (40.914060, -73.830507)US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.. It is the third largest and the most densely populated city in the county of Westchester.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.4 square miles (11.3 km²), of which, 4.4 square miles (11.3 km²) of it is land and 1.7 square miles (4.3 km²) of it (0.76%) is water.
"Mount" Vernon\'s elevation at City Hall is about 235 feet (72 m), reflecting its location between the Bronx River to the west and the Hutchinson River to the east. From many parts of the City Throgs Neck Bridge can be seen from 10 miles (20 km) away on a clear day and at night the bridge lights can be seen. The seal of the City, created in 1892, depicted what were then considered the highest points in Mount Vernon: Trinity Place near Fourth Street, Vista Place at Barnes Avenue, and North 10th Street between Washington and Jefferson places. Since then, it was discovered that the city\'s highest elevation is on New York Route 22, North Columbus Avenue, at the Bronxville line.
Mount Vernon is typically thought to be divided into three major sections: The North Side, the South Side, and Downtown. Here is a map showing neighborhoods in Mount Vernon and nearby cities and towns:
The North Side of Mount Vernon is that part of the city, roughly speaking, north of Mount Vernon Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, and Sidney Avenue. It consists of five neighborhoods: Fleetwood, Chester Heights, Huntswood, Estate Manor/Aurbyn Estates, and Oakwood Heights.
The South Side of the city includes Parkside, Vernon Heights, Southside, Sandford Square and the West Side. Major businesses on the South Side of Mount Vernon include the Best Buy retail complex, the Target retail complex, Staples, Quality Ford and numerous other commercial and industrial businesses.
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007) Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
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The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. This section has been tagged since December 2007. |
Besides these projects, city beautification projects are underway throughout the city, such as Hartley Park renovations, and a newly-established Petrillo Plaza which will feature a transit inter-modal center, wider sidewalks, extended curves, esplanade flower beds, information kiosks, and lighting.
Numerous events take place periodically during the year, both indoors and outdoors. The Ice Hutch is a domed sports complex where ice hockey is played during the winter, located on the grounds of Hutchinson Field, on the southbound side of the Hutchinson River Parkway. Indoor golf and tennis are also available at the Ice Hutch throughout the year. Outdoors at Hutchinson Field, there are many minor-league fields and a batting cage. Hooperstown, a sports facility located on Sandford Blvd., contracts basketball-court time to teams and leagues and use of the facility for baseball clinics. It also rents the facility to other businesses that may offer one-on-one training or fitness camps. It is not yet open to the public. Adjacent to Hutchinson Field is the stadium-like Memorial Field, which contains a track for running, a soccer/football field, and a tennis court.
The city hosts many annual events, such as the Arts on Third Street Festival that is held in September, Parade of Flags in October, the MVCSD\'s Band Day Parade parade which is held in June, the Veterans Day parade which is held in November, Ben Gordon Day in August and the go-cart Grand Prix which is held in June or July in the downtown.
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007) Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Mount Vernon has a large amount of commercial industry which boosts the city\'s economy, with industries such as manufacturing, electronics, engineering, and high tech mainly located in the Southside section of the city. The city is home to the headquarters of Zelco Industries Inc., Unitex, and Clickable Enterprises Inc., as well as Capri Album Inc. and Spl Integrated Solutions\' northeast branch. Mount Vernon is also home to Columbus Construction Co., who helped at Ground Zero during the World Trade Center cleanup in lower Manhattan. Mount Vernon also has an established Empire Zone for commercial and industrial use located in the southern portion of the city which has attracted manufacturing companies and nationally recognized businesses for major retailers and companies such as:
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Now that the city is under new governance,plans are beginning to move forward to revitalize and regenerize the city\'s infrastructure.At only four square miles developers have over looked the city for decades from the terms of Blackwood and Davis the city\'s previous mayoral prospects.But as Clinton has moved in developers are showing a tremendous interest in the city realizing that it has all the benefits of becoming an economic powerhouse and bedroom community cradled between the Bronx and Westchester.Currently plans are now beging drawn up and put together to assemble a posh mall center and shopping venue located along and within the Sanford Blvd. corridor.It will be known as the (SBMP)SANDFORD BLVD. MASTER PLAN.The plan includes a new Memorial Stadium with a minor league stadium like appearance for metro area teams to train and practice upon,it would be opened to the public and will feature an new turf track for runners seeking recreation.An entire 14 acres of indusrtial space in and around Sanford Blvd. would be demolished and strippped and a 1.2 million square foot mall named GWINNETT ARBOR MALL featuring high end shops and retail establishments would be built and produce 3,000+ jobs to city residents and residents of neighboring areas.Alongside the mall will be a small shopping mecca village with cobblestone walkways and (art-deco) giving a euro-contemporary feel to the venue.The plans also calls for 8 mid-size residential row houses.And a south Mount Vernon transit hub,to accomadate travelers abroad.MTA bus service and Bee-Line bus service will service the mall center.This economic plan will provide over 10,000 jobs in over a period of 4 years.
As of the censusAmerican FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. of 2000, there were 68,381 people, 27,048 households, and 18,432 families residing in the city. The population density was 14,290.3 people per square mile (5,792.7/km²). There were 28,558 housing units at an average density of 7,205.9/sq mi (3,509.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 28.63% White, 59.58% African American, 0.32% Native American, 2.12% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 4.85% from other races, and 4.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.48% of the population. A significant portion of the White and/or Latino population (depending on if they classified themselves as Hispanic in the census) are of Brazilian or Portuguese origin. Similarly, a significant part of the Black and/or Latino population is of West Indian origin.
There were 27,048 households out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 28.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.2% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.27.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 82.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $47,128, and the median income for a family was $55,573. Males had a median income of $41,493 versus $37,871 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,827. 13.9% of the population and 11.8% of families were below the poverty line. 12.7% of the population is 65 or older.
The city of Mount Vernon\'s three major employers are the Mount Vernon city school district with 1,021 employees, Michael Anthony Jewelers (712 employees), and Mount Vernon Hospital (700 employees).
According to estimates by the city and the Brazilian Consulate in New York, one in 10 people in Mount Vernon is from Brazil and two-thirds of those Brazilians are from Poços de Caldas, a blue-collar city of 140,000 in the mountains of southeastern Brazil."A Brazilian Outpost in Westchester County." The New York Times 26 June 2006.[3]
The Brazilian community is heavily concentrated in an area along and near West Lincoln Ave., from its beginning at the corner of Mt. Vernon Ave. going about half a mile down to Gramatan Ave., and has begun to spread into East Lincoln Avenue. Brazilian stores line commercial areas in these parts of Mount Vernon (especially within Gramatan Ave. from the railroad tracks to Lincoln Ave. and adjacent blocks), and neighborhood public schools have brought in teachers and counselors who speak Portuguese. The language can be heard on the streets throughout this area.
The Brazilians living in Mount Vernon have also transformed their Brazilian hometown, pumping millions of dollars into its economy and helping to pay for new homes and businesses there. So important are these remittances that Brazilian journalist Walther Alvarenga has made Mount Vernon the focus of a series of documentaries for Brazilian public television called New York, O Sonho Brasileiro ("New York, the Brazilian Dream").
In November 2005 Mayor Ernest D. Davis traveled to Poços de Caldas to sign a sister-city agreement to strengthen the bond between the two cities.
The city has three high schools, Mount Vernon High School ,Nelson Mandela Alternative High School,and Thornton. There are two middle schools (Longfellow and A.B. Davis) and eleven elementary schools (Traphagen, Pennington, Grimes, Longfellow, Graham, Lincoln, Columbus, Parker, Edward Williams, Hamilton, and Holmes). There are plans to make Pennington a combined elementary-middle K-8 school by the 2007-08 school year.
The city has the largest public library system in Westchester County and the sixth largest in New York State.
Mount Vernon Hospital has 228-beds. It provides in-patient, critical care, and ambulatory services to residents of Mount Vernon and neighboring communities. The hospital is most known for its premier Chronic Wound Treatment and Hyperbaric Center, which is one of the most advanced in the Northeast. It also offers a variety of services including the Assertive Community Treatment Center (ACT), the Family Health and Wellness Center, the Hopfer School of Nursing, Hyperbaric Medicine, and Intensive Case Management.
Mount Vernon Hospital is one of three hospitals in the county (Sound Shore Medical Center and Westchester Medical Center are the others), which provides programs in medicine, nursing, surgery and podiatry. The hospital has “some of the finest medical doctor educators on staff. There is a 92 percent pass rate on boards for medical residents.”
Mount Vernon hospital\'s emergency room is going to be expanded at a cost of 2.5 million dollars. The 115-year-old hospital is doubling the size of its emergency room from 9,000 square feet (800 m²) to 18,500. The expansion plans include 15 private treatment rooms and upgrades to the waiting area, triage room and other areas in the emergency department.
The hospital treats 25,000 patients a year in the emergency room and is part of the Sound Shore Health System.
The area around the hospital has many medical office buildings and facilities for treatment 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.
Westchester Community College also has an extension site education facility located in the downtown.
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007) Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
The city has an enormously diverse population for its size. Over 98 different nationalities call the city home. In just four square miles the ethnic background of the people range from German, Portuguese, Eritrean, Indian, Middle Eastern, and Brazilian to Mexican, Italian, Korean, Puerto Rican, and Jamaican. The city has a large Brazilian community located in the neighborhoods just north and east of the downtown, and it also has the largest West Indian and West African population in the county, these groups mainly occupy the southwest corner of the city nearer to The Bronx borderline. The Korean-American association of Mount Vernon calls the city home. Throughout the year, the city hosts events that honor these groups for their contributions to the city of Mount Vernon and for calling Mount Vernon home.
Major ancestry groups reported by Mount Vernon residents include:
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Ralph Branca, John Branca, Art Carney, David Chase, Dick Clark, P. Diddy, Heavy D, Damion Easley, Eddie F, Elise Finch, Ben Gordon, Rudy Hackett, Michael Imperioli, Axella Johannesson, Andy Karl, Roz Kelly, Lachanze, Rodney McCray, Scooter McCray, Arthur Murray, Asia Nitollano, Phylicia Rashad, Leon Robinson, Wayne Allyn Root, Ken Singleton, Betty Shabazz, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, Al B. Sure!, Earl Tatum, Denzel Washington, E.B. White Eddie Williams, Gus Williams, Ray Williams, Sylvia Woods, DMX W.C. Heinz
were born (or grew up) in Mount Vernon.
Selected Mayors: William Hart Hussey, Joseph Vaccarella, August Petrillo, Ronald Blackwood[citation needed]
For all movies except Dead Presidents, as reported in Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com)
Both the 2 train and the 5 train of the New York City subway system have terminals just south of the border of Mount Vernon, served by the Bee-Line. The 2 train terminates at 241st Street & White Plains Road in the Wakefield section of the Bronx (During rush hours the 5 also goes to Nereid Ave/238th St & White Plains Road), and the 5 train terminates at 233th Street & Dyre Avenue in the Eastchester section. Both locations are within 5 minutes walking distance of the South Side of Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon is served by three of the county\'s busiest parkways which link to New York City, the Cross County Parkway, the Bronx River Parkway, and the Hutchinson River Parkway. I-95 and I-87 are both less than a mile from Mount Vernon\'s borders, offering both passenger car and truck access to the area.
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