Getty Square
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Getty Square is a square in the downtown area of Yonkers, New York, United States of America. It is near the historic Philipse Manor, Saint John's Episcopal Church, the Yonkers rail station, and many shops and landmarks. It is considered the center of downtown Yonkers.
At the beginning of the 20th century, it was the center of life in Yonkers and one of the cultural capitals of Westchester County. Like many cities in the northeastern United States, Yonkers suffered severe de-industrialization after World War II and the downtown suffered as a result.
The Getty Square area deteriorated as middle class people moved to the other neighborhoods of the city, or left Yonkers entirely. During the 1990s, the area was called "Ghetto Square" and contained so-called "undesirable" businesses such as 99 cent stores and the like.
Beginning in the 1990s, with the drop in crime in nearby the Bronx, Yonkers' crime rate has declined and downtown is undergoing urban renewal. As a result, Getty Square's future is viewed more optimistically.
A branch of the New York and Putnam Railroad formerly served Getty Square. A New York State Dept. of Motor Vehicles is in the Getty Square area, near the Yonkers waterfront, as is the Post Office. Getty Square is named for Robert Parkhill Getty.
