Big Changes Planned for the Yonkers Waterfront

As the New York region and the nation as a whole seek to accommodate economic development while addressing concerns over traffic, sprawl, loss of open space, and environmental protection, transit-oriented development (TOD) has become more important than ever. This is true of suburban locations, such as Beacon and Harrison, New York, where MTA Metro-North Railroad has been leading planning efforts for station-centered, mixed-use TOD, as well as in regional urban centers such as Poughkeepsie and Yonkers.

Renovated Yonkers Station

Courtesy of PCAC

As part of ongoing downtown redevelopment efforts in Yonkers, in August 2008, Yonkers Mayor Philip Amicone unveiled the latest revision of the Alexander Street Master Plan. Located 15 miles north of midtown Manhattan, Yonkers is New York State’s fourth largest city and home to four Metro-North rail stations, including Glenwood, which lies within the Plan area, and Yonkers Station, just to the south of the Plan area. Travel between Yonkers Station and Grand Central Terminal in midtown Manhattan can take as little as 25 minutes. The revised plan, which focuses on redeveloping a narrow strip of land between the Hudson River and Metro-North railroad tracks, was approved by the City Council in Spring 2009. City officials hope to capitalize on the significant transit resources.

Recognizing the importance of Yonkers as a transit center and urban core area, Metro-North made  $43 million in improvements to Yonkers Station, part of its Capital Program investment. Completed in 2004, the station improvements, which included restoration of the historic station building, creation of a new park and walkways, as well as new station platforms, canopies, shelters, lighting, seating, and ADA improvements, helped serve as a catalyst for the new TOD community, Hudson Park, located on the Hudson River waterfront. In addition, Metro-North made major infrastructure improvements to the four bridges where the rail lines cross city streets, and installed a new pedestrian passageway from the station concourse to the Hudson River. This enhanced access strengthened links to the waterfront for railroad customers and city residents alike and provided the residents of the new development with better connections to the station and downtown Yonkers. Metro-North ridership at the Yonkers Station has grown 50 percent since 2004, while ridership on Amtrak’s Empire Service increased by more than 8 percent from FY05 to FY07. An additional benefit to this area is the NY Water Taxi which has been providing service to the World Financial Center and Wall Street since 2007.

Yonkers Station (foreground)
Hudson Park & Hudson River
waterfront (background)

Courtesy of Metro-North

Hudson Park reflects the desired development outcome of the Alexander Street Master Plan with three buildings containing 266 luxury rental apartments and about 15,000 square feet of retail space. Two residential towers—12 and 14 stories, each with ground-floor neighborhood retail—were built in a first phase. The residences are 95 percent occupied and the retail space is fully rented in these buildings. The recently opened second phase, a nine-story residential building, is now 40 percent occupied. According to the developer, Collins Enterprises, 70 percent of the residents commute on Metro-North into New York City.

The proposed Alexander Street neighborhood plans call for 12 mixed-use towers to be built along the riverfront, some on land that is currently underwater. After public comment, city officials reduced the number of towers from 19 to 12, reoriented the towers to mitigate the impact upon existing views of the Palisades, and added 4.5 acres of public open space. The height of the proposed towers is intended to draw attention to Yonkers station; the towers will range from 30 stories close to the station to 12 stories in the northern-most section of the redevelopment area. These new buildings will offer spectacular views of Manhattan and the Palisades and will provide as many as 3,750 housing units in the form of one- and two-bedroom condominiums, as well as a small number of studios. Plans also call for 209,850 square feet of neighborhood-scale, street-level retail space, along with 213,350 square feet of second floor office space. Attention is to be paid to the pedestrian experience, as designs for the new buildings are required to avoid blank walls and to use small, street-level signage. The new development plan also calls for 8.5 acres of new parkland, and Yonkers officials will require developers to extend the current riverfront esplanade by 1.3 miles. The esplanade is a recent addition to the Yonkers waterfront, with the first phase dedicated in September 2003. Until then, there was no public access between the Hudson River and downtown. Residents of adjacent neighborhoods should also gain better access to the river once improvements, such as a new bridge over the railroad tracks at Point Street, are completed.

An earlier version of this article appeared in the December 2008 issue of the Transit-Friendly Development Newsletter, a publication produced jointly by the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center and NJ TRANSIT.

Return to Home

Have a comment? Email us at vtc@policy.rutgers.edu