By: Dennis Richmond, Jr.
If you grew up in Yonkers during the 1990s or early 2000s, you already know that the city felt different back then. Before everybody had a smartphone in their hand, before social media told us where to go, and before ordering everything online became normal, we actually had places where we went to see people. You walked around, bumped into friends and family, heard the latest neighborhood gossip, and sometimes stayed outside until somebody’s mother started calling.
One of those places was Getty Square. For generations of Yonkers residents, Getty Square was more than a downtown shopping district. You could catch the bus, grab something to eat, shop, run into somebody from school, and see half the city without planning to meet anybody. South Broadway and the surrounding blocks stayed busy, and depending on what year you remember, there was always a particular store, restaurant, or corner that meant something to you.
Then, of course, there was Cross County. If you were a kid or teenager growing up in Yonkers, going to Cross County Shopping Center could feel like an event. You might have gone shopping with your parents when you were younger and eventually graduated to walking around with your friends when you got older. You weren’t just there to buy something. Sometimes you went because that was simply where everybody was.
And what about Central Avenue? Anybody who grew up around Yonkers remembers riding up and down Central Avenue and watching businesses come and go. Restaurants changed. Stores disappeared. New buildings replaced familiar ones. You can drive down the same road today and suddenly remember exactly what used to be standing on a particular corner 20 or 25 years ago. If you were really cool, you could take the bus to White Plains and hang out at the mall too.
The same thing can be said about other places in Yonkers: Yonkers Avenue, South Broadway, McLean Avenue, the Waterfront, neighborhood pizza shops, local corner stores, parks, basketball courts, movie theaters, and the little neighborhood businesses whose names might mean absolutely nothing to outsiders but instantly unlock a memory for somebody from Yonkers.
Sometimes we aren’t really missing the building. We’re missing who we were when we walked through its doors. We remember being 12 years old with our friends or being 17 and thinking we were grown. We remember taking the bus somewhere with five dollars in our pocket or seeing relatives who aren’t here anymore.
Yonkers has changed tremendously, and change is part of every city. But those of us who remember Yonkers during the 1990s and 2000s, or even before that, carry around a version of this city that doesn’t completely exist anymore. What store, restaurant, club, park, neighborhood spot, or hangout from old Yonkers do you remember? And most importantly, what did I forget?
Dennis Richmond, Jr. (@NewYorkStakz) is a journalist, historian, and educator from Yonkers, NY. He writes to uplift unheard voices, honor history, and inspire change.