Among the open space Yonkers hopes to preserve is an eight-acre site at the corner of North Broadway and Odell Avenue. With 900 new condo and rental apartments under construction or completed near the Hudson River waterfront -- and plans on the drawing board for nearly 2,300 more -- land use and open space are emerging as some of the most important environmental issues in Yonkers.

The development blitz in the state’s fourth-largest city is the result of a confluence of several factors: rents in Manhattan are pricing out many professionals, Yonkers offers great views of the Hudson, city programs offer tax incentives to developers and there is easy access to Metro-North.

To balance the recent high-density growth, Mayor Phil Amicone has announced several projects to improve public access to the waterfront and retain open space around the city.

One focal point is the city-owned JFK Marina. Along with Westchester County Executive Andy Spano, Amicone announced a major park enhancement proposal in August for the marina, which includes a new amphitheater at Trevor Park, additional parking, improvements to JFK Marina Drive and new sections of RiverWalk, a joint county-city initiative that is working to open up 46 miles of walkway along the Hudson River from Yonkers to Peekskill.

The county-funded portion of the plan would include the amphitheatre, which will seat up to 350 people for concerts, movies and community events. The city government would be responsible for a new picnic pavilion, a spray/play park, restrooms and a boat launch for canoes and kayaks.

"We want to bring people back to the river and make it a place to enjoy the spectacular views, beautiful open space and recreational activities that have never been available before,” Amicone says.

The marina overhaul follows two new efforts to preserve open space in other parts of Yonkers. In early August, the city submitted its plan to redesignate an 8.25-acre site on Odell Avenue in the northwest section of the city as a park. Later in the month, city officials submitted a second plan to similarly redesignate 16 parcels – ranging in size from .04 acres to 3.25 acres – on Warburton Avenue between Harriman Avenue and Otis Park. Those parcels would help expand Untermeyer Park toward the Hudson River. The Yonkers Board of Parks, Recreation and Conservation has already signed off on the changes.

Together with the JFK Marina overhaul, the new parks build on Amicone’s Urban Green Space Initiative, which was announced last year. As part of that plan, the city hopes to open the Hudson River waterfront between the Ludlow Train Station and JFK Marina, create a river esplanade through the Hepperhan Valley into downtown Yonkers and restore several parks and playgrounds.

Newsletter Issue

• Ecopolitics Monthly --- September 2007