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The First Lady of Jazz (sculpture)

1996 establishments in New York (state)1996 sculpturesBronze sculptures in New York (state)Cultural depictions of jazz musiciansCulture of Yonkers, New York
Ella FitzgeraldMonuments and memorials in New York (state)Outdoor sculptures in New York (state)Sculptures of African AmericansSculptures of women in New York (state)Statues in New York (state)Statues of musicians in the United States
Ella Ftzgerald Yonkers Train Station Statue
Ella Ftzgerald Yonkers Train Station Statue

The First Lady of Jazz is a statue of Ella Fitzgerald situated outside the Yonkers Metro-North station in the city of Yonkers in Westchester County, New York, United States. It was unveiled in October 1996; Fitzgerald had died in June 1996 at the age of 79.The statue is cast in bronze and stands on a two tier granite pedestal. It is 5 feet 10 in height. The statue is life size and depicts Fitzgerald singing with open arms and "snapping fingers" wearing a dress and heels. It is situated on Trolley Barn Plaza at the corner of Buena Vista Avenue and Main Street in Yonkers.It was sculpted by Vinnie Bagwell. It was Bagwell's first commissioned piece of public art, and became her ninth completed sculpture. The work was commissioned by the Bureau of Community Development and the Office of Downtown and Waterfront Development of Yonkers and was funded by a Federal grant of $25,000.Fitzgerald grew up in Yonkers and attended Public School 18 and Benjamin Franklin Junior High School. Her family lived on School Street and Park Hill Avenue.The statue is part of Westchester County's African-American Heritage Trail.

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The First Lady of Jazz (sculpture)
Buena Vista Avenue, City of Yonkers

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Latitude Longitude
N 40.935194444444 ° E -73.902555555556 °
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Buena Vista Avenue & Main Street

Buena Vista Avenue
10701 City of Yonkers
New York, United States
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Ella Ftzgerald Yonkers Train Station Statue
Ella Ftzgerald Yonkers Train Station Statue
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Saw Mill River
Saw Mill River

The Saw Mill River is a 23.5-mile (37.8 km): 9  tributary of the Hudson River in Westchester County, New York, United States. It flows from an unnamed pond north of Chappaqua to Getty Square in Yonkers, where it empties into the Hudson as that river's southernmost tributary. It is the only major stream in southern Westchester County to drain into the Hudson instead of Long Island Sound. It drains an area of 26.5 square miles (69 km2),: 9  most of it heavily developed suburbia. For 16 miles (26 km), it flows parallel to the Saw Mill River Parkway, a commuter artery, an association that has been said to give the river an "identity crisis."The watershed was settled by the Dutch in the 17th century. The land was long owned by Frederick Philipse I and his descendants as Philipsburg Manor, site of Philipse Manor Hall, until the family lost it at the end of the American Revolution. The land along the river was later divided into multiple towns. Industry in Yonkers developed along the Saw Mill, so polluting the river by the end of the 19th century that a local poet called it a "snake-like yellow scrawl of scum". In the 1920s, the last half-mile (800 m) of the stream was routed into tunnels and culverts under downtown Yonkers, a process partially reversed in the early 21st century when it became the first major New York waterway to be daylighted.Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the river's last 2.9 miles (4.7 km) as an impaired water body. Plastics are commonly found along the riverbank, and metals from industrial factories are found in the water in high concentrations. Nonetheless, the river is home to species such as the American eel (Anguilla rostrata), which swim upstream to mature and swim back into the Hudson and the ocean in order to breed.

Philipsburgh Building
Philipsburgh Building

The Philipsburgh Building, also known as Philipsburgh Hall, is an architectural landmark building in Getty Square in downtown Yonkers, New York. The grand, Beaux-Arts style structure was designed by G. Howard Chamberlin and built in 1904 using a unique all-concrete construction making it the first fireproof office building in Westchester County. For years, the enormous grand ballroom within, with its 30-foot (9.1 m) ceilings and extensive gold leaf decor, was a fixture of the social scene in Yonkers, playing host to all manner of meetings, parties and theatrical productions including speeches by Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt (resulting in its being named "The Roosevelt Ballroom" by Encore Caterers.: 3, 11 In the latter half of the 20th century, the building and the neighborhood around it fell into physical and economic disrepair. By the 1980s, most of the building had been converted to low-rent apartments, while parts of it were left entirely unoccupied. In the 1990s, the building benefited from a renewed interest in local development, and was heavily renovated and restored. The grand "Roosevelt" ballroom once again found its place as a focal point of local culture.The building was restored and renamed the Philipsburgh Performing Arts Center (PPAC, pronounced "P-pack" locally) in 2001. The PPAC concept was short-lived, however, and by early 2005 it had ceased to be. The building's primary occupant is a South Asian restaurant called "Nawab" and its owners are also the caterers for events at the Ballroom.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.