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/