Our Work in Yonkers

Introduction

• Introduction
• What's at Stake
• The Threat
• Our Vision
• Timeline

Scenic Hudson has been involved in Yonkers since the mid-1980s, when we went to court to block construction of six riverfront skyscrapers. Working with the city and residents, we helped shape a reasonably scaled development that includes a mix of housing, commercial space and a five-acre park and esplanade. For the first time in decades, the public could enjoy the city's waterfront. As a result of this process, in 1997 Yonkers officials passed a downtown waterfront master plan limiting building heights for future buildings along the river to no more than eight stories.

The best of the Yonkers' waterfront today -- like this riverfront park -- has come as the result of 20 years of hard work by Scenic Hudson and other community groups.

Now that sensible plan -- which promised economic prosperity and protected views of the Palisades, Yonkers' "natural skyline" -- is in peril. The city is in the process of adopting a new master plan allowing the construction of dozens of waterfront high-rises. In addition to blocking river views and access, these sky-clogging buildings threaten to strain municipal services, especially the city's already overburdened schools and wastewater treatment facility.

Yonkers has a once-in-a-century opportunity to create the waterfront it deserves. That's why Scenic Hudson's planning experts have drafted an economically viable alternative providing considerably more open space along the river—places where all citizens can play ball, picnic, kayak or dip a toe in the water. We're also committed to rallying residents to speak out for the future of their city. Our persistence already has paid off: Our suggestion of a riverwalk along portions of a "daylighted" (uncovered) Saw Mill River is incorporated in downtown development plans.

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