Hudson River Valley | ||
Westchester CountyTown of Eastchester |
About the Town of Eastchester The Town of Eastchester is located in southern Westchester County, New York in the lower-Hudson Valley. The Town includes the incorporated villages of Bronxville and Tuckahoe, a census-designated area, also called Eastchester, and a CDP (unincorporated village) called Chester Heights. The Town of Eastchester is approximately 5 square miles, and is situated about 5 miles south of White Plains and 20 miles north of New York City. "The town of Eastchester has developed on top of a geologic feature known as the Manhattan Prong. This feature supports the characteristic landscape of rolling hills and valleys common in central Westchester. Throughout the Manhattan Prong, the shape of the land surface is closely controlled by the underlying bedrock. Much of this bedrock however, is covered with Atlantic Coastal Plain deposits. Metamorphic rocks that are resistant to erosion make up the hills (including Fordham Gneiss, Yonkers Gneiss, and Manhattan Schist), and Inwood Markble makes up the valleys because it is easily erodible. The Hudson, Harlem and East Rivers, as well as the major north/south valleys in Westchester County are all underlain by Inwood Marble (named for an extensive exposure in Inwood Hill Park visible from Spuyten Duyvil). It is Inwood Marble that became known locally as Tuckahoe Marble, prized in 19th century Greek Revival architecture." Source: Eastchester Town website - Environment
MTA Metro-North Train Stations
The MTA Metro-North in Bronxville to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan is 15.3 miles and takes an average of 31 to 42 minutes, depending on the time of day. The MTA Metro-North in Tuckahoe to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan is 16 miles and takes an average of 33 to 45 minutes, depending on the time of day. An MTA train ride from Grand Central Station in Manhattan to the Bronxville or Tuckahoe stations in Westchester County, average 27 minutes to 37 minutes depending on the time of day.
Town Government
The Supervisor is the chief administrator of the Town government and is responsible for overseeing legislation. As chief financial officer, the Supervisor prepares the annual Town budget. As Chair of the Town Board, the Supervisor presides over all meetings. The Town Clerk is responsible for keeping records of the Town Board meetings and all contracts and agreements the Town makes. The Clerk processes numerous licenses and permits and also serves as the Records Management Officer, acts as the Registrar of Vital Statistics, and is in charge of running Local Elections. The Town Clerk is elected to a four-year term. The Town Clerk’s Office is the gateway to government and the hub of the Town's administrative system. It is often the initial source of information about the Town, serving residents and visitors in person at the office, over the telephone and on the Town’s web site. The role of the Town Clerk includes:
Neighborhoods of Eastchester
"North Eastchester neighborhood extends from Scarsdale Avenue (the Metro North Harlem Line) in the west, across to White Plains Road in the east. From Scarsdale in the north, to Harney Road in the south. The neighborhood is 116.7 acres in size, and accounts for approximately 5.3 percent of the town. "The northern portion of North Eastchester has been predominantly developed into 5,000 square foot building lots supporting single family homes."
Eastchester School District
The Town of Eastchester Today
For outdoor activities year-round, visit one of Eastchester's parks. The Town of Eastchester is home to Twin Lakes Park adjacent to Nature Study Woods in New Rochelle. Combined, these parks offer 220 acres of woods, marsh, lakes, ponds, and fields where you can go birding, study nature, go hiking, or have a family picnic at the park. Eastchester offers many town parks, including Lake Isle Country Club, a self supporting recreational facility offering swimming, golf, and tennis. The Town of Eastchester also utilizes a number of school fields and facilities for recreation. Town parks in Eastchester include:
Eastchester offers many things to do year-round. Find things to do in cold weather, or enjoy warm weather activities and attractions. Visit Twin Lakes Park for
Fishing at Twin Lakes Park Nature trails and birding at Nature Study Woods Spend the day shopping in Bronxville or shop for Women's fashions in Scarsdale, just north of Eastchester. For the best shopping, offering high fashion and fabulous stores, drive a short distance north and go shopping in White Plains. Or drive south to Westchester's Ridge Hill, an outdoor shopping center in Yonkers. After a day in the stores, select a place to eat from one of many excellent restaurants in Eastchester, restaurants in Bronxville, or a restaurant in Tuckahoe.
Historic Zenger Trial
Among the famous people associated with the Town of Eastchester, is John Peter Zenger. Learn about the Zenger Trial and its impact on the American Revolution, and the Bill of Rights, First Amendment relating to Freedom of the Press .
"John Peter Zenger, the printer whose prosecution helped establish the principles of press freedom and jury nullification, came to America in his early teens. His father died during the family's voyage to America, and the younger Zenger worked for several years as an indentured servant for printer William Bradford before opening his own print shop in 1726. Seven years later he started the New York Weekly Journal, the second newspaper in the colony of New York, competing with the Gazette published by his former master. Stridently partisan in its approach, the Journal was relentless in its criticism and lampooning of Royal Governor William Cosby (1690-1736) and his administration, and on 17 November 1734 Cosby had Zenger arrested and imprisoned for seditious libel. Though Zenger had neither written nor edited the pieces that outraged the Governor, as publisher he could be held liable under law. "He engaged two lawyers to represent him, and both were promptly disbarred. He then called upon an out-of-state barrister, Andrew Hamilton (c. 1676-1741), who had less to fear from New York's oppressive Governor Cosby. At trial Hamilton admitted that the Journal had printed the items in question, but he made the novel claim that because the criticism was truthful, Zenger should not be punished. When the prosecution pointed out that truth was no defense to charges of sedition, Hamilton's next argument, perhaps even more radical, was to tell the jury to not merely judge whether the law was broken but to determine whether the law was just. "Zenger was held behind bars for 35 weeks but his trial took only two days, and in the next edition of the paper he reported that "The jury returned in ten minutes, and found me not guilty". During his time in jail, Zenger's wife and colleagues had continued publishing the Journal, and continued its criticisms of the Governor. His prosecution and trial, and his letters written from jail and published in the Journal, helped galvanize American resentment of the colonies' British overlords. More than forty years after his death, Zenger's name was frequently mentioned in the debate that culminated with the American Bill of Rights in 1789." Sourced from Trial of John Peter Zenger.
Learn more about the events leading up to the
Trial of John Peter Zenger
History And Antiquities
"The village of East Chester is situated at the head of a bay on Long Island sound, 16 miles NE. from New York, on the old turnpike and stage road to Boston, and contains an Episcopal church and about 25 dwellings. Bronx is the name of a small settlement and post-office in the northern part of the town, in the vicinity of which are valuable marble quarries. Pop. 1,502." |