We are back! Some updates.. Also Korean War Memorial

We are back. After a few week break we now have gotten things together and are ready to post a lot of new things. Also, http://www.beautifulyonkers.com/ is in the process of being remade. Our first version was a little bit low budget, but now with some new software its going to be pretty nice. We will let you know when its done.

Anyway, here is some pictures of the Korean War Memorial. The Korean War Memorial is very well kept and is located near Dunwoodie Golf Course and Saunders High School on Palmer Road. It is a beautiful tribute to the forgotten war..

St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary

When somebody refers to the seminary in Yonkers almost everybody assumes they are refering to St. Joseph's Seminary in the Dunwoodie section. There is however another seminary in Yonkers, one that actually has more students than Roman Catholic one. St. Vladimir's Seminary is the seminary for the Orthodox Church in America which is an offshoot of the Russian Orthodox Church. Their seminary for all of their soon to be priests is located in Crestwood. The grounds are very well maintained and the buildings are beautiful.

The history of the Orthodox Church in Yonkers is very interesting. Many Eastern Europeans moved to Yonkers in the early 20th Century. They brought with them their Orthodox Christianity faith. Unfortunately over the past 50 years, their numbers have dwindled. There are many Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholic churches in Yonkers though and we reccomend you check them out.

Tibbetts Brook Park and other news..

First, the other news. We have updated beautifulyonkers.com! We offer a calendar now as well as a services section (no, not the craigslist type of services lol). We also switched up the colors a little so thats coolish looking (whatever).

Some more news, the Greystone Castle is hosting a movie! I think Sharon Stone (blast from the far past) is starring in it. We have gotten a lot of questions about where it is. It is off North Broadway around Sacred Heart on Shonnard Terrace.

Anyway, the post! We are doing Tibbetts Brook Park this week. Tibbetts Brook Park is located in a valley between Park Hill and Dunwoodie. It is a very nice park with many recreational activities including a waterpark which may be the biggest shame of all of Yonkers.

The old pool at Tibbetts was very old and was one of the only public pools in the whole area for many years. As a matter of fact, the old pool at Tibbetts was one of the oldest pools in the U.S. before they decided to renovate and turn it into a waterpark... Oh well. AT LEAST, the county of Westchester did not tear down the historic bathhouse there...

There are two beautiful parts of the park. One is the gazebo, the other is the waterfall. Enjoy.

The New Students at the Boyce Thompson Institute

The Boyce Thompson Institute was founded in 1912 and was in operation in North Yonkers until 1978 when it was absorbed into Cornell University and was moved up to Ithaca. The institute's main purpose was to do experiments on plants. Many important discoveries were made here. Now the building and the greenhouses connected to it are abandoned.

The other day we were driving in Executive Park and were about to pull up to Dunkin Donuts when we noticed a few creatures milling about near the entrance.

Das Deutsche Teutonia Hall (The German Teutonia Hall)

Es gab einen Platz für deutsche Musik in Yonkers!

For those of you who do not know German the first sentence says "There was a place for German music in Yonkers!" Unfortunately, this place is now closed and abandoned, but a very important culturual and historic relic right next to the Waterfront.

Known as the Teutonia Hall, it was opened by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1892 so that Germans living in Yonkers could celebrate their culture via this singing hall. The building is abandoned now, but stands as a testament to many German immigrants who came to Yonkers in the late 1800's. If you go to Woodlawn Cemetary, just south of Yonkers, you will see many German names, many who lived in Yonkers.  Unfortunately there is very little left of the German culture in Yonkers. We have included a Deutsches Volkslied (a German folk song) so that you would have an idea of what was sung at the Teutonia Hall. The song is, "In Einem Kuhlen Grunde" (In a cool place). This is in honor of the German people who called Yonkers home and one time made the Teutonia Hall an active place.

It seems that a developer has bought the hall... It will only be a matter of time when this historical building meets the wrecking ball unless we all do something about it. The current policy of knocking down history to create nothing is going to make Yonkers lose its identity. 

The Ruins of Untermyer

The other day we went over to the Aqueduct Trail off of Odell Ave. in order to visit the entrance house to the former Untermyer Estate. The trail is interestingly very quiet but the sites become interesting. The house itself has been abandoned for quite some time and has become a hangout spot for druggies and gangs. There is some very beautiful aspects of the house though. The entrance has a statue of a lion keeping guard of the entrance. Then there is the archway that one must go through in order to see the actual house which is quite old (and unfortunately covered with graffiti).

This one place in Yonkers is shamefully in a state of disrepair. It is the wish of us that this area is restored. Will it happen? Definitely not.. The politicians down at city hall are only interested in building new things and not taking care of what is already here. Either they fail to recognize that Yonkers has a cultural heritage or they just do not care. Beautiful Yonkers is trying to recognize Yonkers' heritage, which has simply been pulverized by self-interested politicians. This area of Yonkers is key to the future. Either the City of Yonkers' will knock it down or they will restore it (or they could just leave it the way it is). Who really knows the answer to this question.

The current lion keeping guard

As always check out the unofficial tourist site of Yonkers, http://www.beautifulyonkers.com/

Adopt a Friend

The Yonkers Animal shelter is a municipal shelter located on 120 Fullerton Ave.  It has many new friends to offer, so stop by any day of the week and give these pets a chance and a loving home!  Monday-Friday 11:00am-3:30pm and Weekends 12:00pm-3:30pm.

This is Darby!  He is a 7 month old Pointer/American Staffordshire Terrier Mix.  He LOVES people and seems very friendly towards other dogs.  Scratch his back and he'll love you forever.  Give Darby a home!

The shelter has a cat room filled with beautiful cats of all different types.  At the moment, there are also an array of kittens.  How can you say no to those faces?!?

To browse other adoptable pets, see these links:
Dogs
Cats

If you are unable to adopt, you can still help the cause.  Old blankets, dry/wet cat/dog food, cages, toys can all be donated.

You can also donate, and even put your name on a brick, towards the construction of the New Yonkers Animal Shelter:

Plans are also in the works for Yonkers to build a new animal shelter.  The current one was built 50 years ago as purely a temporary holding place, not one for adoption.  The shelter is near capacity, only able to hold 140 animals.  Therefore, the conditions are very cramped and the cages small.  Plans for a new animal shelter are in the works but they are over 2 million dollars from their goal.  This shelter will be able to hold 50% more animals and will have grassy areas for them to run around.  With such a large city like Yonkers, there is no other option!  It needs a large shelter with a focus on adoption rather than just a holding place.  Bring Yonkers into the future and donate to the cause.

This picture is from the yonkersny.gov.

Donate at:
http://www.newyonkersanimalshelter.org/

St. Casimir's Church

Welcome to our favorite church in Yonkers, St. Casimir's! Very few people have really ventured into this large, Polish church on Nepperhan Ave, but those who have understand what we mean when we say: this church is extraordinarily unique and is unlike any other church in the area.

St. Casimir's is the center of Polish culture in Yonkers. The Polish people are not a large ethnic group in the Northeast United States, but Yonkers became home to many Polish immigrants. To this day, Polish-Americans are heavily involved in how Yonkers operates. Most of these people called St. Casimir's their community and religious center.

St. Casimir's is a type of gothic only found in Poland. The interior is very ornate, but also inviting. There are many pieces of art in the church including its ceiling and its windows. St. Casimir's also has a pulpit similar to the one at Immaculate Conception-St. Mary's which is extremely unique.

We were lucky enough to get into St. Casimir's. Its never really open and I have gone countless times to try to photograph it. I included a picture of a Polish deli located next to the church.

I apologize for the poor quality of some of the photos. Being ornate= impossible to photograph!

The Castle of Yonkers

Yes. There is a castle in Yonkers. It is very hidden and very few people know of its existance. There have been many recent news articles about the "Castle of Yonkers" as the current owner, Kohle Yohannan, is trying to sell it for $5 million.

The castle is very interesting. According to the New York Times, half of the castle's twenty rooms were imported from Europe (wall and all!)  The official name of the castle is Greystone Point and has an extraordinary view of the Hudson. It is an UNBELIEVABLE site...

Check out this article on it.. Article

In order to see the castle, you must be comfortable driving on a windy road. If you are, then turn onto Shonnard Terrace from N Broadway and then just go down and follow the road. You can also access Shonnard Terrace from Warburton Ave near the Hudson River Museum.

The "Visit Yonkers!" Campaign

We have recently began an advertising campaign for Yonkers. Our budget is extremely limited at the moment, BUT so far it has worked to a degree and we are getting many emails asking about coming to Yonkers.

We are looking to further our advertising campaign, but we need funding mainly from businesses. What Beautiful Yonkers is trying to do is capitalize on the very large tourist industry just south in NYC. As stated in previous posts, it is ridiculous that Yonkers is not getting its fair share of tourism. If you look to Europe and even across the United States you will see outer cities obtaining a large share of the tourist industry.

We believe that Yonkers has so much to offer. There is history, there are nice restaurants, there is natural beauty, and there is a unique culture.

We can no longer allow Yonkers' to not get its fair share in tourist revenue. We are committed to bringing Yonkers to new heights!

Some Predictions...

As you know, Yonkers has been doing a lot of "gentrification" projects.  Some of them include: 1. Chicken Island Ballpark   2.  "Daylighting" of the Saw Mill River  3.  Ridge Hill.  Besides the obviously shady dealings that got these initiatives approved, these three pet projects are due to fail.

 

Chicken Island Ballpark

• Other minor league teams in the NY Metro area have become white elephants and money holes.  They're impossible to get rid of and never bring in the money. One example is Camden, NJ. Camden, which is right next to Philadelphia, decided to destroy an area of its downtown and build a stadium. It is not doing well at all and it has become a constant headache for Camden while not solving any of Camden's problems (welcome to the most dangerous city in the country).
• Maybe we, at Beautiful Yonkers, haven't made this clear: Unfortunately, a lot of areas on the West side of Yonkers, are known for high-crime and poor socioeconomic standing.  Not the place to bring little Jimmy for a day at the ballpark.
• The ballpark would arrogantly ignore the area around it.  It would just be ugly and it would cost too much.

 

The "Daylighting"

• River fronts that attract people don't have the DMV on it.
• From the Hudson River, which is right there, you can see the skyline of Manhattan and the Palisades.  Again, Saw Mill = DMV.
• There is a reason why they covered it up in the first place.  Do not doubt the reasoning of the Freemasons.

 

Ridge Hill

• "The City of Parking Garages" actually, "High Priced Parking Garages"
• Not only is it opening during a recession (face it, we are in a recession again), it was approved AND built during a recession. Economic stupidity (shady dealing remember). This is not the worst of the economic news. Ever since the downturn, White Plains and even Cross County has taken the market of shoppers. How many shoppers with ZERO growth in the NY Metro area are going to flock to Ridge Hill from newish White Plains and brand newish Cross County.
• Face it, the money isn't going to pour in.  Westchester isn't the Upper East Side, whether the developers of Ridge Hill want to believe it or not.

 

Yonkers could do well if it took advantage of its own preexisting resources.  Yonkers has as much history as what millions of tourists pay to see in lower Manhattan.  In comparison to cities such as London, Paris, Rome, where the suburban areas get a large percentage of tourist visits, Yonkers has not capitalized on an economic base that would drive the city to new heights.  We are devoted to help Yonkers capitalize on its resources, whether the city is with us our not.  Unfortunately, gentrification will not address Yonkers' problems.

A Beautiful Home on Park Hill and the story of the tunnel

This house is by Sutherland Park. Its a very interesting area. A hotel was to be built at the top of Park Hill (right around where this house is) but it ended up just being ruins. Anyway, for quite some time, we have been trying to locate a mystery.

The hotel was going to have exclusive access via a railway tunnel. The tunnel was created and was abandoned with the rest of the site. However, the tunnel became a legendary site in Yonkers and many kids would travel there to explore it. Eventually the tunnel was filled in or was it? The forum on Yonkers, SoYo has some very interesting pictures of below Sutherland Park. It seems that the tunnel was only PARTIALLY filled. Stay tuned. We have some exploring to do...