Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the borough of the Bronx. As of the 2020 census, Mount Vernon had a population of 73,893, making it the eighth-largest city in the state and largest African-American majority city in the state.

Mount Vernon has two major sections. South-side Mount Vernon is more urban, while north-side Mount Vernon is more residential. Mount Vernon's downtown business district is on the city's south side, which includes City Hall, Mount Vernon's main post office, Mount Vernon Public Library, office buildings, and other municipal establishments.

History

The Mount Vernon area was first settled in 1664 by families from Connecticut as part of the Town of Eastchester.

Mount Vernon became a village in 1853 and a city in 1892. Early development was driven by the New York Industrial Home Association No. 1, a home building cooperative organized to build homes for "tradesmen, employees, and other persons of small means".

Mount Vernon takes its name from George Washington's Mount Vernon plantation in Virginia, much as neighboring Wakefield (in the Bronx) was named for the Virginia plantation where Washington was born.

For many years, the Schleicher & Sons Piano Company, which was founded by Prussian immigrant Gustav Schleicher, had a factory in Mount Vernon, which was established in 1864. The company at its apex had over three factories, the company's headquarters being in Mount Vernon. Over three hundred Schleicher pianos would be in use in the town.

In 1894, the voters of Mount Vernon participated in a referendum on whether to consolidate into a new "City of Greater New York". The cities of Brooklyn (coterminous with Kings County) and Long Island City, the western towns and villages of Queens County, and all of Richmond County (present day Staten Island) all voted to join with the existing city (present day Manhattan and The Bronx). The referendum failed in Mount Vernon and the adjacent city of Yonkers, both of which remain independent cities., p.177-78

The Mount Vernon Trust Company opened in 1903. It was the largest bank in Westchester County, with branches in the east and west sections of the city. The Mount Vernon Public Library, a gift to the city from Andrew Carnegie, opened in 1904. It is now part of the Westchester Library System.

By the 1960s, Mount Vernon was a racially segregated city. Black Americans from the southern United States migrated north during the Great Migration and settled in Mount Vernon for better job opportunities and educational advancements. At the same time, many white Americans from the Bronx and Manhattan moved to Mount Vernon as a result of white flight and suburbanization. Mount Vernon was divided by the New Haven Line (today part of Metro-North Railroad) into North Side and South Side. The population south of the tracks became predominantly Black, while the population north of the tracks was largely white.

At the height of the city's segregation in the 1970s, August Petrillo was mayor. When he died, Thomas E. Sharpe was elected mayor. Upon Sharpe's death in 1984, Carmella Iaboni took office as acting mayor until Ronald Blackwood was elected in 1985; Blackwood was the first Afro-Caribbean mayor of the city (as well as of any city in New York State). Ernest D. Davis was mayor from 1996 to 2007. Clinton I. Young, Jr. became the city's mayor in 2008. In 2012, Ernest D. Davis became the 21st mayor of Mount Vernon. In 2013, Davis was investigated for failure to report rental income. In 2015, Richard Thomas defeated Davis in an upset victory in the September primary. in the November general election, Thomas received 71% of the votes to become the mayor of Mount Vernon.

In the subsequent 2019 election, Shawyn Patterson-Howard unseated the incumbent Mayor Thomas in a hotly contested June primary to become the new Democratic nominee and went on to capture 81% of the vote to defeat André Wallace (who had since been named Acting Mayor and ran as a Republican) in the general election in November to become the first Black woman mayor of Mount Vernon (and of any city in Westchester County).

Mount Vernon has in recent years undergone a transition from a city of homes and small businesses to a city of regional commerce. Between 2000 and 2006, Mount Vernon's economy grew 20.5%, making it one of the fastest-growing cities in the New York metropolitan area. In 2019, Moody's withdrew its credit rating for Mount Vernon because of the city's failure to provide audited financial statements. The failure to prepare and deliver audited financial statements stemmed from a disagreement as to which entity would pay for the audit of the Urban Renewal Agency (URA), one of the city's agencies, and which auditing firm would perform the audit. Further clouding the city's financial condition was the prospect that it might have a repayment obligation to HUD in connection with grants previously awarded to the city

2019 mayoral dispute On July 9, 2019, mayor Richard Thomas pleaded guilty to stealing campaign funds and lying to the State Board of Elections. Thomas was ordered to resign from office by September 30, 2019. The city council then appointed council president Andre Wallace as acting mayor. Thomas refused to resign from his post. Wallace then appointed Shawn Harris as new police commissioner. After arriving for work, Thomas ordered the Mount Vernon Police to arrest Harris for trespassing. Harris was released after an order from the Westchester County District Attorney. Both Thomas and Wallace occupied offices in the city hall, with Thomas in the mayor's office, under the guard of the Mount Vernon Police. Judge Ecker ruled that Thomas had actually vacated the office of mayor on July 8, that Wallace had automatically assumed the office at that time, and that Wallace would be the acting mayor of Mount Vernon until January 1, 2020.

Mount Vernon Charter Revision Commission In March 2019, Mayor Richard Thomas called for the formation of the Mount Vernon Charter Revision Commission, suggesting the charter was antiquated, dating to the late 19th century. In August 2019, the Commission presented its final report which included four key proposed changes to the City's Charter: A new requirement for annual financial audits. Quarterly financial reports showing the city's fiscal condition. An updated comprehensive plan for economic growth. A periodic review of the city charter.

Notable sites St. Paul's Church is designated as a National Historic Site in 1978. Other Mount Vernon sites included on the National Register of Historic Places include: First United Methodist Church John Stevens House Trinity Episcopal Church Complex United States Post Office on First Street

Geography

Location Mount Vernon is at (40.914060, −73.830507). It is the third-largest and the most densely populated city in Westchester County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.39%, is water.

Mount Vernon is bordered by the village of Bronxville and city of New Rochelle to the north, by the town of Pelham and village of Pelham Manor to the east, by the Hutchinson River and the Eastchester and Wakefield sections of the Bronx to the south, and by the city of Yonkers and the Bronx River to the west.

Elevation Mount Vernon's elevation at City Hall is about , reflecting its location between the Bronx River to the west and the Hutchinson River to the east. On a clear day, the Throgs Neck Bridge can be seen from away from many parts of the city, while at night, the bridge's lights can also be seen. The city's seal, created in 1892, depicts what were then considered the highest points in Mount Vernon: Trinity Place near Fourth Street, Vista Place at Barnes Avenue, and North 10th Avenue between Washington and Jefferson places. Since then, it was discovered that the city's highest elevation is on New York Route 22, North Columbus Avenue, at the Bronxville line.

Neighborhoods

Mount Vernon is typically divided into four major sections in four square miles: Downtown, Mount Vernon Heights, North Side, and South Side.

Downtown Downtown Mount Vernon features the Gramatan Avenue and Fourth Avenue shopping district (known as "The Avenue" by locals) and the Petrillo Plaza transit hub, and houses the city's central government.

Downtown is in the same condition it was 40 years ago. It features the same mid-century architecture and format. Former mayor Clinton Young vowed to make Mount Vernon a new epicenter with a new central business district. His failed plans included establishing commercial office space and rezoning to allow high density development in the downtown, as well as affordable and market rate housing.

Mount Vernon Heights Mount Vernon Heights' highly elevated terrain has earned the moniker "the rolling hills of homes". It is home to the city's commercial corridor, along Sandford Boulevard (6th Street).

Sandford Blvd (6th Street)—also known as "Sandford Square"—is a commercial corridor which attracts residents from Mount Vernon, nearby communities in Westchester County and the Bronx as well as other locales.

Most of the commercial development in this corridor has occurred since the 1980s. The area is still undergoing revitalization to encourage economic development within this of land along and around the boulevard.

North Side Mount Vernon's North Side is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Westchester County. The northern part of the city consists of five neighborhoods: Chester Heights, Estate Manor/Aubyn Estates, Fleetwood, Huntswood, and Oakwood Heights. In Fleetwood, many large co-op buildings line the center of town, which is bisected by Gramatan Avenue.

South Side

Mount Vernon's South Side, which abuts The Bronx, resembles New York City and includes the neighborhoods Parkside, South Side and Vernon Park. Numerous industrial businesses are in Parkside, while the rest of South Side Mount Vernon features multi-family homes, apartment buildings, and commercial businesses.

South Side Mount Vernon features notable city landmarks such as Brush Park, Hutchinson Field, the Boys and Girls Club, and St. Paul's Church National Historic Site.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition +Mount Vernon city, New York – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)16,67712,4499,07724.39%18.50%12.28%Black or African American alone (NH)39,88941,26644,65558.33%61.26%60.43%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)1602001400.23%0.30%0.19%Asian alone (NH)1,4331,2061,3982.10%1.79%1.89%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)3627210.05%0.04%0.03%Other race alone (NH)6639221,4590.97%1.37%1.97%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)2,4401,6703,1403.57%2.48%4.25%Hispanic or Latino (any race)7,0839,59214,00310.36%14.25%18.95%Total68,38167,29273,893100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Mount Vernon had a population of 73,893. The median age was 39.6 years. 20.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 15.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 83.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 78.6 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 28,286 households in Mount Vernon, of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 30.1% were married-couple households, 20.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 43.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.