Posted Mar 19, 2012, 4:17 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Best of Westchester: part 5 The city of Mount Vernon
Now we'll move east along the border toward the city of Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon is a small city in southern Westchester County. It had been settled by Dutch planters as early as the middle of the 1600’s. The city was named after the plantation that the first president, George Washington, spent his last years while the neighborhood of Wakefield in the Bronx just to the south of Mount Vernon was named for the plantation that Washington was born on. The area grew slowly. It wasn’t established as a city until the middle of the 19th century though it developed mostly out of successes made in Yonkers and New York City, Mount Vernon had light industry. In it’s hey-day when the film industry was still in the New York City area actors and actresses settled in Mount Vernon’s Chester Heights, most prominently along the Esplande. When the film industry moved to southern California so did former Chester Heights elite. The city experienced terrible segregation along the lines of the Jim Crow South. During white flight when Bronx Jewish, Irish and Italians were moving into Mount Vernon they met with African Americans who had already been settling the area and establishing a working class community. Eventually other areas of Westchester were settled by the former and the latter defined the city that believes for the next several decades. Today the area is predominantly African American, however Mount Vernon is also very diverse. The city is home to several ethnic backgrounds including Brazil, Afro-Caribbean, Indian, Turkish, Jewish, Italian, Korean, Trinidadian, Puerto Rican and west African. Chester Heights remains middle class with lush tree lined streets and large homes. The south side has degenerated and currently has an awful gang problem. Mount Vernon is split into four sections; Downtown, the south side, the northside and the east side including Chester and Vernon Heights. Downtown is centrally located and centers itself around Grammatan and Fourth Avenue, the heart of it’s retail industries. The north side of the city is middle class and characterized by its laid back but urban atmosphere, large brick co-op apartment complexes and tree lined avenues. The north side of the city is where all of it’s diversity lies. The south side and Vernon Heights are predominantly Black and Latino. They are both nearly total residential and sit on rolling hills.
Downtown Mount Vernon
The North Side
The South Side
Chester Heights
The Esplande
Vernon Heights
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Brooklyn: The Motherland.
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