From Yonkers Newswire Journalist Brian Harrod.

 

YONKERS HISTORY: In August 2008, Republican Yonkers Mayor #PhilipAmicone unveiled the latest revision of the Alexander Street Master Plan, part of The City of Yonkers' ongoing effort to promote its downtown through transit-oriented development.

BIG CHANGES: WERE PLANNED: The Alexander Street neighborhood plans called for 12 mixed-use towers to be built along the riverfront, some on land that is currently underwater.

TRANSIT ORIENTED: The height of the proposed towers was intended to draw attention to #Yonkers station; the towers will range from 30 stories close to the station to 12 stories in the northern-most section of the redevelopment area.

These new buildings were offer spectacular views of #Manhattan and the #Palisades and will provide as many as 3,750 housing units in the form of one- and two-bedroom condominiums, as well as a small number of studios.

Plans also called for 209,850 square feet of neighborhood-scale, street-level retail space, along with 213,350 square feet of second floor office space.

Attention was to be paid to the pedestrian experience, as designs for the new buildings are required to avoid blank walls and to use small, street-level signage.

The new development plan also called for 8.5 acres of new parkland and Yonkers officials will require developers to extend a riverfront esplanade by 1.3 miles.

The esplanade was a recent addition to the #YonkersWaterfront, with the first phase dedicated in September 2003.

Until then, there was no public access between the #HudsonRiver and #DowntownYonkers.

An earlier version of the plan drew criticism from groups such as Scenic Hudson and the Yonkers Committee for Smart Development, which cited a perceived lack of public input and concerns about the loss of views of the river and the Palisades resulting from the new condominium towers.

After the process was reopened to public comment, city officials reduced the number of towers from 19 to 12, reoriented the towers to mitigate the impact upon existing views of the Palisades, and added 4.5 acres of public open space....

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