Southeast Yonkers, Yonkers

This past Saturday marked the first annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on McLean Avenue, an event that exemplifies all the best of what this neighborhood has to offer, namely, the strong sense of community that brought so many people together to make the parade a success. Representatives of the neighborhood's schools and clubs marched in the parade, including the St. Barnabas Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, St. Paul's Elementary School, P.S. 19, several Irish cultural societies and dance schools, the Nepperhan Community Drum Corps, the Suburbia Roller Derby team, and Yonkers police and firefighters.

As this (incomplete) list indicates, Southeast Yonkers is an active community. The hub around which the neighborhood is centered is St. Barnabas Parish and its school, St. Barnabas Elementary. (St. Barnabas Elementary has a Bronx address because its front door is in the Bronx--the school itself straddles the border between Yonkers and the Bronx.) There are several other good schools in the area: P.S. 19, St. Paul's, and Mark Twain, which makes Southeast Yonkers an ideal place for raising a family. There are many clubs--both independent and school-associated--for children to participate in after school and over the weekends. The Woodlean Boys and Girls Club runs a kids' basketball league over the winter and a baseball/softball league in the spring. As someone who has grown up in the area, I made many friends on sports teams and in after-school clubs. I had a fun childhood here, and I highly recommend the area to families with kids.

Southeast Yonkers has attractions for older people, too. McLean Avenue is home to many good diners, restaurants, and pubs. Cross County Shopping Center--the oldest shopping center in the U.S.--offers great shopping to Yonkers residents. It has recently undergone some major renovations and has opened up several new stores and restaurants. Cross County also has a movie theater, a Stop-and-Shop, and a new gym called Blink.

The public transportation in Southeast Yonkers is pretty good. Buses can take you to Cross County, White Plains, the Bronx, and into Manhattan. The Woodlawn Metro North station and the Woodlawn subway station are not far. Despite all this, it is still more convenient to own a car.

For all that Southeast Yonkers is a vibrant community, it is not very diverse. The neighborhood that is centered around St. Barnabas Parish is mostly Catholic. This community was primarily German in the early 20th century, and has become predominantly Irish and Italian in recent decades. There also are no GLBTQ community centers or gay/lesbian bars in the area. Although I love living in Southeast Yonkers, this is something that people will want to consider before moving here.