There Once Was a Time

I grew up in the city of Mt. Vernon, NY. Mt. Vernon is, next to Yonkers, the southern most city in Westchester County. When I was growing up in Mt. Vernon it had the feel of a small town where people knew one another or worked at getting to know each other. I remember walking down 4th Avenue, which is considered the main thoroughfare of the city, and stopping in stores that were owned by families with roots in the city. I remember visiting a local music store with my mom and the salesman assuming I wanted the Jackson Five album and not the Osmonds. I remember visiting the Five and Dime and purchasing my first bag of marbles - boy did I love those shiny marbles. I also remember the day the first McDonalds opened on the "Avenue" and paying 35c for a hamburger. There was a lot of quality stores and the street was clean and there wern't many low end stores - they would come years later.

The other interesting thing about Mt. Vernon is that it was and probably still is a segregated town. Blacks live on the South side and Whites live on the North side. When I was in high school, I didn't go to the local high school but attended an all girls catholic high school in New Rochelle, I remember writing a paper on Mt. Vernon and during my research found out that the local train station was built to separate the town into North Side and the South Side. The division is still obvious today. There are black families living on the North side but the majority of homeowners are Italian and in recent years there has been an influx of immigrants from Brazil. Other parts of Mt. Vernon boasts million dollar homes and leafy streets where young couples raise their children in peace and quiet. Mt. Vernon was also home to movie stars, famous singers and professional athletes like Denzel Washington, Ozzie Davis and Ruby Dee, before they moved to New Rochelle, Sidney Poitier, Heavy D, Felice Rishad and many more. Denzel Washington still gives to the Boys and Girls Club and has recently endorsed Clinton Young for his run for mayor. With all his donations to the Boys and Girls Club it still remains a hole in the wall than someplace kids go to play. What has been done with the money is probably a good question to ask Mayor Davis.

Mt. Vernon has changed over the years and in my opinion not for the better. Yes, some of the neighborhoods are still considered nice and couples can still raise their families in peace and quiet but change hasn't been good to the city. Even though I no longer live in Mt. Vernon and have had several addresses since then I still have family there so I go back to spend time with them. The main corridor, 4th Avenue has become a haven for low end stores and many of the more established family run stores are gone. Mixed in with these stores are the Korean fruit stands, the Korean fish store, the Jamaican food store, the Asian nails salon and the ever present Afrocentric bookstores. On first glance, 4th Avenue looks like a black ghetto with a sprinkling of Asians, Indians etc. It is very rare that you see a white face on 4th Avenue especially further South unless they are copping drugs. It is unfortunate but it is what it is.

For the past twelve years, Ernest Davis has served as the mayor of Mt. Vernon. It is my opinion, that he has been in this position for so long because he is black in a predominantly black city. He has maintained the status quo throwing the occasional bone to his constituents to keep them happy, i.e. plans to open the first hip hop museum in the city. He has also boasted plans to improve the 3rd Street corridor which is probably the most dangerous street in Mt. Vernon. So, the question is, has there been any improvements in Mt. Vernon? Yes, there has. The Sandford Boulevard corridor has brought much needed economic growth to the city and the mayor is credited for this success. But, there are still many borded up storefronts, dirty streets, drug problems, mediocre municipal services, and a segregated city. The mayor's most recent project, construction of a European style roundabout supposedly celebrates the city's renaissance. Unfortunatley, a roundabout doesn't make a city and a segregated city is not a positive city. So once again Davis is being challenged and once again he assumes the cockey disposition that helped beat his other opponents. In this article Davis' arrogance comes true when he states, "Everybody thinks they can beat me. I don't know. I must have that look." And that is the kind of arrogance that Westchester County Legislator Clinton Young will have to face in the upcoming primary. Good luck to him but more importantly, good luck to Mt. Vernon.