Westchester County, New York

Westchester County generally leans toward the political left in recent decades. The Republican nominee for president last won a majority in 1988.

Historically, Westchester County was a classic "Yankee Republican" county. It supported Republican presidential candidates in all but two elections from 1896 to 1988. The only exceptions were 1912, when the GOP was divided between William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt, and 1964, when Lyndon B. Johnson won a national landslide and swept every county in New York. As a measure of how Republican the county was for years, it was one of the few counties where Franklin D. Roosevelt of neighboring Dutchess County was completely shut out in all four of his campaigns for president.

However, it swung Democratic in the early 1990s—much like other New York City suburbs. In the most recent national elections, Westchester voters tended to be far more Democratic than the national average. In fact, Westchester, after New York City and Albany County, has produced the biggest margins for statewide Democrats in recent years. Democratic voters are mainly concentrated in the more populated southern and central parts of the county. More than 63 percent of Westchester County voters voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential race, the seventh-highest percentage of any New York county.

Currently, Westchester County is represented in the U.S. House by Republican and Democrat . Lawler's district covers most of the county's northern half. It also includes all of Rockland and Putnam Counties and a portion of Dutchess. Latimer's district includes most of the southern half of the county, including Yonkers, Mount Vernon, White Plains, New Rochelle and Rye along with a sliver of the Bronx.

Additionally, Republicans remain competitive with Democrats in state and local elections. For instance, it voted for Republican George Pataki, by a margin of 23.07% against Democratic candidate, Carl McCall in the gubernatorial race of 2002, and by 26.22% in 1998. Pataki hails from Westchester; he previously served as mayor of Peekskill and represented part of the county in the state Assembly and state Senate prior to being elected governor.

In 1998, County Executive Andrew Spano became just the second Democrat to hold the post in at least a half-century. In 2006, county legislator Andrea Stewart-Cousins defeated 20-year incumbent Nicholas Spano for a seat in the New York State Senate in a rematch of the 2004 race, which she had lost by only 18 votes. His brother, Assembly Member Mike Spano, switched parties in July 2007 to become a Democrat. District attorney Janet DiFiore also switched parties from Republican to Democratic in August 2007. In 2009, Republican Rob Astorino ousted three-term county executive Andy Spano, who had the endorsement of the New York Conservative Party, winning in a landslide. Astorino became the first Republican county executive since Andrew O'Rourke left the post in 1997. In 2011, the GOP broke the Democratic two-thirds majority in the county legislature by picking up two seats. However, two of the Democrats formed a coalition with the Republicans to control the board, with a Republican becoming vice-chair. In 2017 Democrats gained three seats to take outright control of the board. In 2019 Democrats gained two seats and in 2020 the last remaining Republican switched parties to become a Democrat. As of the 2021 elections the current composition is fifteen Democrats, one Republican and one Conservative.

{| class=wikitable

! colspan = 6 | Voter registration as of April 1, 2016

! colspan = 2 | Party

! Active voters

! Inactive voters

! Total voters

! Percentage

| Democratic

| style="text-align:center;"| 263,855

| style="text-align:center;"| 26,561

| style="text-align:center;"| 290,416

| style="text-align:center;"| 47.65%

| Republican

| style="text-align:center;"| 128,152

| style="text-align:center;"| 12,200

| style="text-align:center;"| 140,352

| style="text-align:center;"| 23.02%

| Unaffiliated

| style="text-align:center;"| 129,709

| style="text-align:center;"| 14,297

| style="text-align:center;"| 144,006

| style="text-align:center;"| 23.62%

| Other

| style="text-align:center;"| 31,460

| style="text-align:center;"| 3,348

| style="text-align:center;"| 34,808

| style="text-align:center;"| 5.71%

! colspan = 2 | Total

! style="text-align:center;"| 553,176

! style="text-align:center;"| 56,406

! style="text-align:center;"| 609,582

! style="text-align:center;"| 100%

Westchester County was the home of U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, who occupied the Kykuit mansion near the hamlet of Pocantico Hills.

The county is also home to 42nd U.S. President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who live in Chappaqua. Former First Lady Barbara Bush grew up in Rye.

U.S. President Donald Trump owns a home in Bedford. The 230-acre Seven Springs estate was acquired by Trump in 1996.

Law enforcement and emergency services

There are currently 42 local police agencies located in Westchester County. These agencies frequently work with one another and with other agencies, including county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies responsible for protecting Westchester County.

Westchester County has a wide array of emergency services and is the home to 58 municipal fire departments, one federal fire department, 42 ambulance services, three Haz-Mat teams, a volunteer technical rescue team, a fire academy and a fire investigations unit. Each department has career, volunteer or a combination of personnel. Westchester County Department of Emergency Services operates the main dispatching system for EMS and fire departments, located in Valhalla. The department also provides numerous support services for the various agencies throughout the county.

The Career Chief's Association, a cooperative of career fire departments, also operates the Special Operations Task Force. The force consists of six squad companies that can be rapidly assembled for a major hazardous materials incident, CBRNE event, collapse or confined space rescue, or other incident requiring a large number of HazMat or rescue technicians. Over 700 firefighters, police officers and EMS providers were trained to be part of this effort and serve over half the population of Westchester County including Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains, Scarsdale, Eastchester, and the Fairview, Hartsdale, and Greenville Fire Departments in the Town of Greenburgh.

Media

County-wide media outlets include:

Print

The Daily Voice, a news website for Fairfield and Westchester Counties.
El Sol, a Spanish news website covering Connecticut and Westchester.
The Hudson Independent, a monthly newspaper serving Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow and Irvington.
The Journal News, a daily newspaper and news website for Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam.
The Westchester County Press, a print newspaper produced in White Plains, part of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
The Westchester Guardian, a print and online newspaper, distributed three days a week.
The Rivertowns Enterprise, a print and online newspaper covering Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley and Irvington.
The Scarsdale Inquirer, a weekly newspaper that serves the residents of Scarsdale and Greenburgh.
El Sentir Hispano Kaffury Latin Magazine, a magazine and website that covers news, culture, lifestyle, nightlife, shopping, and other local information within Westchester, New York. It is published monthly by Today Media
Westchester Magazine, a magazine and website that covers news, culture, lifestyle, nightlife, shopping, and other local information within Westchester County, New York. It is published monthly by Today Media, LLC, a company located in Rye, NY. Its circulation in 2010 was over 800,000.
Black Westchester, one of the biggest African-American newspapers in Westchester county.

Television and radio

FiOS1 Lower Hudson Valley, a television news station available on Verizon FiOS.
News 12 Westchester, a television news station.
WHUD (100.7 FM), a Peekskill station that focuses on the Hudson Valley.
WRNN-TV, a television news station in Rye Brook.
WVBN (103.9 FM), a Hartsdale radio station focusing on Westchester.
WVIP (93.5 FM, formerly known as WRTN), a Whitney Radio-owned New Rochelle radio station with varied programming.
WVOX (1460 AM), a Whitney Radio-owned New Rochelle radio station with varied programming.
WXPK (107.1 FM), a White Plains/Briarcliff Manor radio station for music.

Transportation

thumb|The [[Tappan Zee Bridge (2017–present)|Tappan Zee Bridge connecting Tarrytown to South Nyack]]

thumb|[[Westchester County Airport near White Plains]]

The combination of the county's numerous roadways and bridges, proximity to New York City, and the county's large population all lead to substantial traffic enforcement and busy local courts.

Transportation routes have been responsible for the county's development patterns, with city and town growth being most pronounced along these corridors. There are five mostly north–south corridors and three which traverse the county in the east–west direction. The north–south routes are (going from west to east): S. Route 9/Albany Post Rd/Broadway Corridor, the Saw Mill River Parkway Corridor, the Sprain Brook Parkway, the Hutchinson River Parkway, and the I-95/New England Thruway. The east–west corridors are, from south to north: the Cross County Parkway, the Cross Westchester Expressway/I-287, and the U.S. 202 corridor. About upstream, the Bear Mountain Bridge crosses the Hudson between Cortlandt and Orange County.

Public transit

Westchester County Airport serves the county, and is adjacent to White Plains. Bus service is provided by the Bee-Line Bus System (owned by the Westchester County Department of Public Works and Transportation) within Westchester and to/from the Bronx, Manhattan, and Putnam County. Additionally, the MTA Bus Company runs to and from Getty Square in Yonkers to Midtown Manhattan. The Hudson Link operates express bus routes from city centers and train stations in Tarrytown and White Plains to Nyack, Nanuet, Spring Valley in Rockland County on the opposite side of the Hudson River.

Additionally, NY Waterway operates a water ferry service between Ossining in Westchester and Haverstraw in Rockland County.

Railroads

Amtrak serves Croton-Harmon, New Rochelle, and Yonkers. Commuter rail service in Westchester is provided by Metro-North Railroad (operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority). Metro-North operates three lines in the county; west to east, they are the Hudson, the Harlem, and the New Haven lines. These are former operations of the New York Central and the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads (and their successors, Penn Central and Conrail), each of which stops in the Bronx between Westchester and Manhattan.

In popular culture

thumb|upright|The [[Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow|Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow]]

Westchester County has been the home of many novelists, including Washington Irving. His most famous work is "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", which is set at the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow among other locations in Sleepy Hollow, New York. The story has inspired a variety of works, including the 2013 television series Sleepy Hollow, set in the modern village.

In the X-Men multimedia series, the X-Mansion is located on the Titicus Reservoir, on Graymalkin Lane, outside of Salem Center. At the mansion, Professor Charles Xavier runs the Xavier "School for Gifted Youngsters" to educate mutant children and keeps a headquarters for the X-Men.

One of the most successful films shot in the county was the 1988 film Big. While the majority of the film takes place in New York City, the amusement park scenes were filmed in Rye Playland in Westchester.

E. L. Doctorow's novel Ragtime and the subsequent musical adaptation Ragtime: The Musical are both partially set in New Rochelle. The town serves as a setting that represents the affluence of white suburbanites in the early stages of the 20th century.

Notes

References

; Bibliography

External links

Westchester County Government
The Westchester County Department of Public Safety
Hudson Valley Directory, listings pertaining to Westchester County, New York
Westchester County Virtual Archives
About Westchester at Visit Westchester