&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-98-139
May 1998
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Yonkers, NY
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 150 Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of
brownfields solutions. The Pilots are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful
information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment,
environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Yonkers for a
Brownfields Pilot. Like many industrial cities in the
northeast, Yonkers (population 188,082) has
experienced a sharp decline in its tax and job base
over the past 30 years. Once an important river port,
the Yonkers Municipal Pier became too frail and
dilapidated for docking large river boats and was not
used after the 1950s. Between 1977 and 1992,
Yonker's manufacturing base declined by more than
25%, causing a loss of more than 2,400 of the city's
8,900 manufacturing jobs. Thus, the city has watched
its once-productive Alexander Street Waterfront
(ASW) turn into an industrial wasteland.
The economic and environmental decay caused by
underuse of the ASW has had a negative impact on
the Southwest Yonkers community (population
73,474): more than half of this community falls
within the bottom 20% of median income levels city-
wide . Furthermore, the city has virtually no land for
industrial and commercial expansion, and must clean
up and redevelop brownfields to create new jobs.
The city believes that the ASW is a cornerstone for its
economic growth, and has adopted a comprehensive
plan that focuses on preservation and reuse of the
area.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Yonkers, New York
Date of Announcement:
May 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
the Alexander Street
Waterfront, a 22-acre
cluster of 11 mostly vacant
industrial properties with
high potential for
redevelopment.
Contacts:
City of Yonkers
(914)377-6010
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 2
(212)637-4314
Visit the EPA Region 2 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/r02earth/superfnd/brownfld/
bfmainpg.htm
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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The Pilot will assist the ASW Brownfields Initiative
in building upon the successes of the adjacent
downtown waterfront redevelopment efforts by
continuing waterfront revitalization along the Hudson
River. The ASW has a high potential for
redevelopment, in part because of its rail, water, and
road transportation access. The ASW site is a 22-
acre cluster of 11 mostly vacant industrial properties
bordered on the south by the downtown waterfront
development area, on the west by the Hudson River,
and on the east by the Hudson Line railroad tracks.
The area is characterized by vacant industrial
brownfields with potential ownership and
environmental issues that constitute barriers to the
city's redevelopment needs.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of the city's ASW Brownfields
Initiative is to prepare the city for waterfront cleanup
and redevelopment. The Pilot plans to: 1) empower
community groups to be a part of the revitalization
decision-making process; 2) create a working plan to
assess, plan for cleanup, and return the ASW
brownfields area to productive use; 3) protect the
Hudson River from any further environmental
degradation; 4) provide Southwest Yonkers
community members with an understanding of
potential environmental and ownership concerns to
enable them to help shape redevelopment in an
informed manner; and 5) develop a program to
institutionalize brownfields decision making in all
city development and planning activities.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Developing a "one-stop" shop for brownfields
information for community members, business
groups, and government organizations;
• Conducting apreliminary environmental assessment
of the 22-acre ASW area;
• Implementing a community involvement program,
including distributing outreach materials in both
Spanish and English and establishing programs
with youth groups, to ensure all members of the
affected communities are actively involved; and
• Developing a brownfields cleanup and reuse plan
for the ASW area that will direct future area use,
promote job and economic growth, and maximize
public access to the waterfront.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been
negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet
are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
May 1998
Yonkers, New York
EPA500-F-98-139
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