Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano today called on the State University of New York (SUNY) to purchase the 32-acre property at Rising Ground, formerly Leake & Watts, located in southwest Yonkers to serve as a second major campus for Westchester Community College (WCC).
“The sale of Rising Ground’s property in Yonkers provides our community and SUNY an unmatched opportunity to better serve the growing number of students from Yonkers and lower Westchester,” said Mayor Spano. “This piece of prime real estate overlooking the Hudson River can become more than just additional classroom space – it can also serve as an accessible location for local community activities and events, expanding WCC’s campus presence in the county.”
Citing that twenty-five percent of Westchester Community College’s student body are Yonkers residents, Mayor Spano added, “Many of our graduating students are accepted and attend WCC. Providing them and others local students the ability to take classes near their home and close to public transportation is ideal in promoting their commitment to higher and continuing education. Yonkers enrollment would surely increase.”
“I encourage Governor Cuomo and Westchester County to support our efforts to expand the county’s largest educational institution to the largest city in the county,” commented Mayor Spano. “I believe WCC can better achieve its mission of providing accessible, high quality and affordable education by extending its reach to the diverse community located here in Yonkers.”
From June 2016 through June 2020, twenty-eight percent of Yonkers Public Schools students who graduated high school and attended college began their post high school studies at Westchester Community College. Westchester Community College serves 20,000 full and part-time college credit students and over 10,000 continuing education students each year.
Rising Ground, originally founded in 1831 in Manhattan as the Leake & Watts Orphan House, moved to the Yonkers site in 1890. In 1979, the organization grew to provide a wide range of human services for children, adults, and families in need. Last year, Rising Ground moved its main administration office from its Yonkers campus to Brooklyn to be closer to its New York City-based programs and to its government and community partners.
Rising Ground, located at 463 Hawthorne Avenue, last week announced its intent to sell its Yonkers location.
