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| Yonkers Waterfront |
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Peril and promise in downtown Yonkers
Scenic Hudson has been involved in Yonkers since the mid-1980s, when we went to court to block construction of six 38-story apartment buildings along the city's economically blighted downtown waterfront.
Working with Yonkers officials and residents, we put together a plan that resulted in the creation of a reasonably scaled development that includes a mix of housing, commercial space and a five-acre linear park and esplanade that has lured the public down to the city's riverfront for the first time in decades.
At the same time, Yonkers officials passed a downtown waterfront master plan that limited the height of future buildings along the river to no more than eight stories. |
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Tall towers and a "lost" river rediscovered
Now all of this hard work is being threatened:
- The city is again considering proposals for 30-story-tall towers along its waterfront that would increase the number of residential units by 6,000 while blocking views and access to the river.
- Yonkers Community Development Agency has revised the waterfront master plan -- with little input from city residents -- to permit taller buildings.
But there is also good news. At a project in the heart of downtown Yonkers, Scenic Hudson has been instrumental in convincing the developers and the city to take advantage of the site's proximity to the Saw Mill River -- a vital component of Yonkers' early history that had been lost and virtually abandoned. |
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Smaller buildings, more parkland
Scenic Hudson has four core objectives for future development in downtown Yonkers:
- Limiting the height of waterfront buildings to eight stories.
- "Daylighting" some underground portions of the Saw Mill River.
- Reserving one-third of the riverfront redevelopment area for open space.
- Improving quality of life by ensuring that problems at the overburdened wastewater treatment plant are appropriately addressed and that development pressures do not lead to additional threats to local air and water quality along the Yonkers waterfront.
Scenic Hudson is also committed to getting Yonkers residents actively involved in decisions that affect the future of their city. |
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The new Saw Mill River
The daylighting proposal, which has the backing of the Pataki administration, has captivated Yonkers residents. It calls for unearthing portions of the Saw Mill River at Larkin Plaza, around the ballpark at Chicken Island and in between. On these shores the first residents of the city settled, but the river's course through the downtown was substantially covered over in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Thanks to Scenic Hudson's planning expertise and persistence, the developer, Struever Fidelco Cappelli LLC, has created around the ballpark a pedestrian-friendly commercial zone that incorporates the Saw Mill as an amenity. The project's proposed riverwalk will allow Yonkers residents to reconnect with an important part of their city's past and should attract tourists, as similar riverwalks in San Antonio, Texas, and Providence, Rhode Island, do.
The extension of the riverwalk beyond the ballpark development will connect the Yonkers waterfront to its downtown and, eventually, to outlying parts of the city and existing trails. |
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Speak out now before it's too late
- Get involved in the downtown waterfront master planning process. It's being fast-tracked by the city, and should be complete within six months.
- Make your voice heard -- no skyscrapers, more access and open space among the new developments, a daylighted Saw Mill River -- at future public meetings.
- Sign up for a free membership with Scenic Hudson, so you will receive you-heard-it-first online alerts about the projects in Yonkers.
This page is also available en Espanol. |
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