Demographics

As of the United States Census of 2000, there were 36,318 people, 12,556 households, and 9,831 families residing in the town.). Males had a median income of $96,071 versus $75,899 for females. The per capita income for the town was $63,570. About 1.1% of families and 1.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.3% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.

For the 2010 census, the results showed 87.9% White, 3.3% African-American, 0.1% American Indian, 4.7% Asian, 9.4% Latino.

Some of Yorktown's multiple ethnic groups, nationalities and religious communities are, for example, Italians, Mexicans and American Jews. There is an annual feast of San Gennaro represents the Italian community. Also there are Irish, Japanese and African-Americans, among others.

Government

Yorktown is governed by a five-member town board. It determines policy and is the branch of government that appropriates funds for governmental functions and services. The Board is composed of four Council members, who are elected for a four-year term, and the Supervisor who is elected for a two-year term. Terms are staggered. Two Council positions are elected at each biennial election.

Politics

Communities and locations in Yorktown

The town is made up of five business hamlets: Mohegan Lake, Shrub Oak, Jefferson Valley, Crompond, and Yorktown Heights, and twelve historical residential neighborhoods each with their own unique character and identity.

;Hamlets

  • Mohegan Lake
  • Shrub Oak
  • Jefferson Valley-Yorktown
  • Crompond (partially in the town of Cortlandt)
  • Yorktown Heights

;Historical Neighborhoods

  • Copper Beech/Oakside
  • Croton Heights
  • Manhattan Park
  • Crow Hill
  • Huntersville/Hunterbrook
  • Kitchawan/Pinesbridge
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park (formerly Mohansic Park)
  • Quarry/Stony Street
  • Sparkle Lake/Cottage Farms
  • Teatown (not completely in the town of Yorktown)
  • Turkey Hill/Underhill Heights
  • Yorkhill/Amawalk Nursery
  • Yorktown

Education

The Town of Yorktown is served by four school districts: Yorktown Central School District, Lakeland Central School District, Croton-Harmon Union Free School District, and Ossining Union Free School District.

The Yorktown School District encompasses a large part of the Town of Yorktown and small sections of Cortlandt and New Castle. The district includes two, grade K-3 elementary schools; one, grade 4-5 elementary school; one, grade 6-8 middle school; and one grade 9-12 high school.

Lakeland is a suburban school district located in the Northwest corner of Westchester County and includes parts of six towns: Yorktown, Cortlandt, and Somers in Westchester County; Carmel, Philipstown, and Putnam Valley in Putnam County. Lakeland includes five grade K-5 elementary schools, one grade 6-8 middle school, and two grade 9-12 high schools, as well as the Lakeland Alternative High School.

The Croton-Harmon School District encompasses parts of the towns of Cortlandt, Yorktown, and Ossining and includes the village of Croton-on-Hudson. The district population is approximately 15,000 with some 1,700 students attending Croton schools this year. The district includes one, grade K-4 elementary school; one, grade 5-8 middle school; and one, grade 9-12 high school.

The Ossining Union Free School District encompasses parts of the towns of Yorktown, New Castle, Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, and the Village of Ossining. The district includes the Park Early childhood center, which houses three programs: First Steps for Ossining families with children ages 0 to 4, Pre-Kindergarten for four year-olds and Kindergarten, one grade 1-2 elementary school, one, grade 3-4 elementary school, one grade 5 elementary school, one grade 6-8 middle school, and one grade 9-12 high school.

Economy

thumb|left|IBM's [[Watson (computer)|Watson computer at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center]]

The main site of the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center is located in the Kitchawan part of Yorktown.

The headquarters for Contractors Register is located in the Hamlet of Jefferson Valley. Contractors Register publishes The Blue Book of Building and Construction.

Regional bank PCSB Bank is headquartered in Yorktown Heights.

Jefferson Valley Mall, the area's major shopping center, is located in Yorktown, in the hamlet of Jefferson Valley.

Parks

Parks in Yorktown includes several state parks: Donald J. Trump State Park (with north and south sections), sold to the state at a discount by Donald Trump, and Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park. There are also many local parks: Downing Park, Granite Knolls Park, Hilltop Hanover Farm & Environmental Center, Kitchawan Preserve, part of the North County Trailway (now also known as the Empire State Trailway), Patriot Park, Railroad Park, Sylvan Glen Park Preserve, Teatown Lake Reservation (partially in the towns of Cortlandt and New Castle), Turkey Mountain Nature Preserve, and Woodlands Legacy Fields Park.

Rail stops

thumb|The [[Tudor Revival architecture|Tudor Revival Yorktown Heights station]]

Yorktown once had five stations along the New York and Putnam Railroad — Kitchawan, Croton Lake, Croton Heights, Yorktown Heights, and Amawalk. The railroad was purchased by the New York Central Railroad, and ran into the early 1960s, when changes in vacation patterns impacting the numerous resort hotels further upline in Lake Mahopac and the dominant car culture killed the rail service. The old right of way is now part of the North County Trailway, which runs north as far as Carmel, New York. There is currently no rail service in Yorktown, but there are multiple Metro-North Railroad stations nearby, in Katonah in the east on the Harlem Line and Peekskill on the Hudson Line.

One of the New York Central stations was restored and today serves as the centerpiece of a small town park.

Events

  • Feast of San Gennaro
  • Yorktown Grange Fair
  • Battle of Yorktown, a litter cleanup initiative held annually in April
  • Greasestock, a yearly festival showcasing alternative fuel vehicles.

Notable people

  • Roy Colsey, Major League Lacrosse player, grew up in Yorktown
  • Nargis Fakhri, Bollywood actress, owns a house in Yorktown
  • Susan Faludi, American feminist, journalist, author, and Pulitzer Prize winner grew up in Yorktown
  • Charlie Gasparino, American financial journalist
  • Robert Hannsen, convicted Russian spy, lived with his family in Yorktown in the mid-1980s
  • Margaret Illington, stage actress popular in the first decade of the 20th century, lived on her Dreamlake estate in Yorktown
  • Consuelo Kanaga, photographer and writer who became well known for her photographs of African-Americans
  • Andrew Kavovit, actor, grew up in Yorktown
  • Dave Matthews, singer/songwriter, lived with his family in Yorktown before he moved to Virginia
  • William Keepers Maxwell Jr., fiction editor for The New Yorker and novelist
  • Terrence Murphy, Former New York State Senator
  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Congresswoman, born in NYC, but moved to Yorktown when she was five and later attended Yorktown High School
  • Buster Olney, ESPN baseball analyst and former New York Yankees beat writer
  • Clifford A. Pickover, writer. In his book, The Mobius Strip, he models the fictional New Devonshire on Yorktown. Pickover also used the Jefferson Valley Mall as the locale for his book The Heaven Virus.
  • Al Roker, meteorologist, lived in Yorktown while he was married to the town clerk, Alice Bell
  • Anthony "Romeo" Santos, Dominican-American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and lead vocalist of the American bachata band Aventura who is the first Latino artist to sell out Yankee and MetLife Stadium
  • Matt Slater, American politician currently serving as a member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 94th district. Former Town Supervisor of Yorktown.
  • Lawrence Treat, mystery writer and pioneer of the genre of novels police procedurals
  • Halsey (H.W.) Wilson, founder of the H. W. Wilson Company, a publisher, lived in the Croton Heights section of Yorktown
  • Dan Scavino, Former general manager of Trump National Golf Club Westchester. Deputy Chief of Staff and head of personnel for the 2nd Trump administration, and long-time aide to Donald Trump

References

  • Citizens for an Informed Yorktown
  • Town of Yorktown official website
  • Yorktown Heights Fire Department