Westchester County, New York

Westchester County is a suburban county with about 940,000 residents located in the U.S. state of New York. It was named after Chester, in England. The county seat is White Plains.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,295 km² (500 mi²). 1,121 km² (433 mi²) of it is land and 174 km² (67 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 13.45% water.

Related Topics:
U.S. Census Bureau - Km² - Mi²

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Westchester County is in the southeastern part of New York State. It is bordered to the south by the borough of The Bronx in New York City, to the west by the Hudson River (New Jersey is across the river from Yonkers; most of the rest of the county is across the Hudson from Rockland County), to the east by Connecticut and the Long Island Sound and to the north by Putnam County.

Related Topics:
The Bronx - New York City - Hudson River - New Jersey - Rockland County - Connecticut - Long Island Sound - Putnam County

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The highest elevation in the county is a U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey benchmark known as "Bailey" at 300 m (985 feet) above sea level in Mountain Lakes Park near the Connecticut state line. The lowest elevation is sea level, along both the Hudson and Long Island Sound.

Related Topics:
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey - Benchmark

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In popular conception, Westchester County is generally divided into northern and southern areas by virtue of their distinguishing social and economic differences. The northern portion (places north of Interstate 287/Cross Westchester Expressway) is seen as rural and wealthy; the southern portion (White Plains and south) is considered urban and poor. These generalities, however, do not necessarily hold true in all communities. For example, Bronxville and Scarsdale in the southern portion are among the wealthiest communities in the entire U.S., and Peekskill in the northern portion is relatively urban and low-middle income. The Westchester County Department of planning divides the county into North, Central and South sub-regionshttp://www.westchestergov.com/planning/research/Census2000/Oct03Updates/maps/subregionsbig.jpg.

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At the closest point, Westchester is only 2 miles north of Manhattan (from Broadway & Caryl Avenue in southern Yonkers to Broadway & West 228th Street in the Marble Hill section.) However, most places in Westchester are much farther from most places in Manhattan than this unusual example may suggest.

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Cities

There are six cities in Westchester County.

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• Mount Vernon
• New Rochelle
• Peekskill
• Rye (Rye is also the name of a town.)
• White Plains
• Yonkers

Towns and Villages

There are 19 towns in Westchester County. Any land area in the county that is not contained in one of the cities is in a town. A town may contain zero, one or multiple villages. The towns of Harrison, Mount Kisco, and Scarsdale are coterminous with the village of the same name. Two villages are split between two towns—Briarcliff Manor crosses the border between Ossining town and Mount Pleasant, and Mamaroneck village straddles the boundary between Mamaroneck town and Rye town.

Related Topics:
Towns - Villages

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With the exception of the towns of Rye and Pelham, all the towns contain area and residents which do not belong to any village. These areas may contain communities referred to as hamlets. Hamlets have no legal status and depend upon the town for all municipal government and services. There are also areas called census-designated places (CDPs), which are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. A CDP may or may not correspond to a hamlet.

Related Topics:
Hamlets - Census-designated place - Census Bureau

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Because some municipalities have the same name, it is often necessary to indicate whether one is referring to the city, town, village, or hamlet. For example, the town of Rye is completely separate from the city of Rye. Pelham is the name of a town and also of a village in the town. The village of Mamaroneck is located partially in the town of Mamaroneck and partially in the town of Rye, but has nothing to do with the city of Rye.

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The towns are listed as follows:

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• Town
• Villages (if any), one per bullet
• CDPs (if any), all listed on a single bullet
• Communities not in a village or CDP (if any), all listed on a single bullet

:(The list of towns, villages and CDPs is complete. The listing of additional communities should not be considered complete.)

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• Bedford, containing no villages
• (contains the CDP of Bedford)
• (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Bedford Hills, Bedford Village, and Katonah)
• Cortlandt, containing two villages:
• Buchanan
• Croton-on-Hudson
• (contains the CDPs of Crugers and Verplanck)
• (plus additional area belonging to no village or CDP, including the communities of Montrose and Cortlandt Manor)
• Eastchester, containing two villages:
• Bronxville
• Tuckahoe
• (contains the CDP of Eastchester, which encompasses all area outside the villages)
• Greenburgh, containing six villages:
• Ardsley
• Dobbs Ferry
• Elmsford
• Hastings-on-Hudson
• Irvington
• Tarrytown
• (contains the CDPs of Fairview, Greenville and Hartsdale)
• (plus additional area belonging to no village or CDP, including the communities of Edgemont and Glenville)
• Harrison, coterminous with the village of the same name
• Lewisboro, containing no villages
• (contains the CDP of Golden's Bridge)
• (plus additional area belonging to no village, including the communities of Cross River, Lewisboro, South Salem, Vista and Waccabuc)
• Mamaroneck, containing two villages:
• Larchmont
• Mamaroneck (This village is shared with the Town of Rye.)
• (plus additional area belonging to no village)
• Mount Kisco, coterminous with village of same name
• Mount Pleasant, containing three villages:
• Briarcliff Manor (This village is shared with the Town of Ossining.)
• Pleasantville
• Sleepy Hollow (formerly named North Tarrytown)
• (contains the CDPs of Hawthorne, Thornwood and Valhalla)
• (plus additional area belonging to no village or CDP, including the communities of Eastview and Pocantico Hills)
• New Castle, containing no villages
• (contains the CDP of Chappaqua)
• (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Millwood and Tompkins Corners)
• North Castle, containing no villages
• (contains the CDP of Armonk )
• (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the community of Banksville)
• North Salem, containing no villages
• (contains the portion of the CDP of Peach Lake that is not in Putnam County)
• (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Croton Falls, Purdys and Salem Center)
• Ossining, containing two villages:
• Briarcliff Manor (This village is shared with the Town of Mount Pleasant.)
• Ossining (The village of Ossining is contained within the Town of Ossining.)
• (plus additional area belonging to no village)
• Pelham, containing two villages:
• Pelham (The Village of Pelham is contained within the Town of Pelham.)
• Pelham Manor
• (The villages cover the entire area of the town.)
• (The village of North Pelham existed from 1896 to 1975, when it was merged into the village of Pelham.)
• Pound Ridge, containing no villages
• (contains the CDP of Scotts Corners)
• (plus additional area belonging to no CDP)
• Rye (Rye is also the name of a city.), containing three villages:
• Mamaroneck (This village is shared with the Town of Mamaroneck. The portion in Rye is unofficially also called "Rye Neck". The city of Rye separates Mamaroneck from the rest of the town of Rye.)
• Port Chester
• Rye Brook (Prior to 1982, Rye Brook was the area of the town not belonging to any village.)
• (The villages cover the entire area of the town.)
• Scarsdale, coterminous with village of same name
• Somers, containing no villages
• (contains the CDPs of Heritage Hills, Lincolndale and Shenorock)
• (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Amawalk, Baldwin Place, Granite Springs, and Somers)
• Yorktown, containing no villages
• (contains the CDPs of Crompond, Jefferson Valley-Yorktown, Lake Mohegan, Shrub Oak and Yorktown Heights)
• (plus additional area belonging to no CDP, including the communities of Kitchawan and Yorktown)