Editing Mount Vernon, New York (section)

==History==
[[File:South Fourth Avenue, Mt. Vernon, N. Y (NYPL b12647398-66687).tiff|thumb|South Fourth Avenue in the 1890s]]
[[File:Westchester Electric RR Company 519 S 5th Av.jpg|thumb|Former trolley company building, Southside]]
The Mount Vernon area was first settled in 1664 by families from [[Connecticut]] as part of the [[Eastchester (town), New York|Town of Eastchester]].<ref name="Lew 1985">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/13/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-of-living-in-mount-vernon.html|title=If You're Thinking of Living in: Mount Vernon|last=Lew|first=Julie|date=January 13, 1985|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 18, 2019|archive-date=December 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211060709/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/13/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-of-living-in-mount-vernon.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Mount Vernon became a [[Administrative divisions of New York (state)#Village|village]] in 1853, and a [[Administrative divisions of New York (state)#City|city]] in 1892.<ref name="Lew 1985" /> Early development was driven by the New York Industrial Home Association No. 1, a home building cooperative organized to build homes for "tradesmen, employees, and other persons of small means".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Shonnard |first1=Frederic |url=http://archive.org/details/historyofwestche00inshon |title=History of Westchester County, New York, from its earliest settlement to the year 1900 |last2=Spooner |first2=Walter Whipple |publisher=New York History Co. |year=1900 |pages=578–581 |oclc=1046597892 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

Mount Vernon takes its name from [[George Washington]]'s [[Mount Vernon]] plantation in [[Virginia]], much as neighboring [[Wakefield, Bronx|Wakefield]] (in the [[Bronx]]) was named for the [[Virginia]] plantation where Washington was born.<ref name="Cohen" />

In 1894, the voters of Mount Vernon participated in a [[referendum]] on whether to consolidate into a new "[[City of Greater New York]]". The cities of [[Brooklyn, New York|Brooklyn]] (coterminous with [[Kings County, New York|Kings County]]) and [[Long Island City]], the western towns and villages of [[Queens|Queens County]], and all of [[Richmond County, New York|Richmond County]] (present day Staten Island) all voted to join with the existing city (present day [[Manhattan]] and [[The Bronx]]). However, the returns were so negative in Mount Vernon and the adjacent city of [[Yonkers, New York|Yonkers]] that those two areas were not included in the consolidated city and remain independent to this day.<ref>{{cite inside}}, p.177-78</ref>

The Mount Vernon Public Library, a gift to the city from [[Andrew Carnegie]], opened in 1904 and is now part of the [[Westchester Library System]], providing educational, cultural and computer services to county residents of all ages. The [[Mount Vernon Trust Company]] opened in 1903. It was the largest bank in  [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]], with branches in the east and west sections of the city.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92451521/american-national-bank/|title=2 Banks Merge In Mt. Vernon|work=The Yonkers Herald|place=Yonkers, New York|date=July 18, 1930|page=2|access-date=January 11, 2022|archive-date=January 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112235020/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92451521/american-national-bank/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92498949/largest-bank/|title=Financial Institutions of County Owed Deb By Real Estate Industry|work=The Daily Times|place=Mamaroneck, New York|date=June 22, 1928|page=4|access-date=January 13, 2022|archive-date=January 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113174724/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92498949/largest-bank/|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the 1960s, Mount Vernon was a divided city on the brink of a "northern style" segregation. Many African Americans from the [[southern United States]] migrated north and settled in the city of Mount Vernon for better job opportunities and educational advancements. At the same time, many [[white American]]s from the [[Bronx]] and [[Manhattan]] looked to Mount Vernon as a new "[[bedroom community]]" because of rising crime in New York City (a "[[white flight]]" factor contributed as well). As a result, Mount Vernon became divided by the [[New Haven Line]] (today part of [[Metro-North Railroad]]) into North Side and South Side. The population south of the tracks became predominantly African-American, while that north of the tracks was largely white.

At the height of this segregation in the 1970s, August Petrillo was mayor. When he died, Thomas E. Sharpe was elected mayor. Upon Sharpe's death in 1984, Carmella Iaboni took office as acting mayor until [[Ronald Blackwood]] was elected; Blackwood was the first [[Afro-Caribbean American|Afro-Caribbean]] mayor of the city (as well as of any city in New York State). In 1996, Ernest D. Davis was elected the mayor of Mount Vernon; he served until 2007. Clinton I. Young, Jr. became the city's mayor on January 1, 2008. Four years later, on January 1, 2012, Ernest D. Davis became the 21st mayor of Mount Vernon. In 2013, Davis was investigated for failure to report rental income.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.lohud.com/article/20130213/NEWS/302130069/Feds-investigate-Mount-Vernon-Mayor-Ernest-Davis-finances|title= Feds investigate Mount Vernon Mayor Ernest Davis' finances|date= February 13, 2013|newspaper= The Journal News|first= Jonathan|last= Bandler|via= LoHud.com|access-date= February 23, 2013|archive-date= February 16, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130216224654/http://www.lohud.com/article/20130213/NEWS/302130069/Feds-investigate-Mount-Vernon-Mayor-Ernest-Davis-finances|url-status= live}}</ref> In 2015, Richard Thomas defeated Davis in an upset victory in the September primary. in the November general election, Thomas received 71% of the votes to become the mayor of Mount Vernon.<ref>{{cite news | last=Lungariello | first = Mark | title = Westchester County Primaries: Thomas Wins in Mount Vernon | via = LoHud.com | work = The Journal News | date = September 11, 2015 | url = http://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/2015/09/10/westchester-county-primary-2015/71959272/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin= | access-date = December 20, 2015 | archive-date = December 26, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151226075313/http://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/2015/09/10/westchester-county-primary-2015/71959272/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin= | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last = Garcia | first = Ernie | title = Richard Thomas Wins Mount Vernon Mayoral Race | via = LoHud.com | work = The Journal News | date = November 4, 2015 | url = http://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/11/03/thomas-wins-mount-vernon/74895762/ | access-date = December 20, 2015 | archive-date = January 17, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190117111558/https://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/elections/2015/11/03/thomas-wins-mount-vernon/74895762/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

In the subsequent 2019 election, Shawyn Patterson-Howard unseated the incumbent Mayor Thomas in a hotly contested June primary to become the new Democratic nominee and went on to capture 81% of the vote to defeat André Wallace (who had since been named Acting Mayor and ran as a Republican) in the general election in November to become the first black woman mayor of Mount Vernon (and of any city in Westchester County).<ref>{{cite news | last = Bandler | first = Jonathan | title = Patterson-Howard declares victory in Mount Vernon mayoral primary | via = LoHud.com | work = The Journal News | date = July 3, 2019 | url = https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/mount-vernon/2019/07/03/patterson-howard-declares-victory-mount-vernon-mayoral-primary/1640686001/ | access-date = January 2, 2020 | archive-date = September 4, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190904013056/https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/mount-vernon/2019/07/03/patterson-howard-declares-victory-mount-vernon-mayoral-primary/1640686001/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last = Bandler | first = Jonathan | title = Patterson-Howard cruises to victory to become first woman elected Mount Vernon mayor | via = LoHud.com | work = The Journal News | date = November 6, 2019 | url = https://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/11/06/shawyn-patterson-howard-first-woman-elected-mayor-mount-vernon/4166691002/ | access-date = January 2, 2020 | archive-date = December 18, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191218104618/https://www.lohud.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/11/06/shawyn-patterson-howard-first-woman-elected-mayor-mount-vernon/4166691002/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

Mount Vernon has in recent years undergone a transition from a city of homes and small businesses to a city of regional commerce. Between 2000 and 2006, Mount Vernon's economy grew 20.5%, making it one of the fastest-growing cities in the New York metropolitan area.<ref name="engel.house.gov">{{Cite web|url=https://engel.house.gov/about-our-district/|title=Congressman Eliot Engel : About Our District|website=engel.house.gov|access-date=October 7, 2018|archive-date=October 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007223103/https://engel.house.gov/about-our-district/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In January 2019, [[Moody's Ratings|Moody's]] withdrew its credit rating for Mount Vernon because of the city's failure to provide audited financial statements.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/mount-vernon/2019/01/29/mount-vernon-loss-credit-rating/2713486002/|title=Mount Vernon credit rating falls; who is to blame?|last=Bandler|first=Jon|date=January 29, 2019|work=Lohud.com|access-date=September 8, 2019|archive-date=January 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130191553/https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/mount-vernon/2019/01/29/mount-vernon-loss-credit-rating/2713486002/|url-status=live}}</ref> The failure to prepare and deliver audited financial statements stemmed from a disagreement as to which entity would pay for the audit of  the Urban Renewal Agency (URA), one of the city's agencies, and which auditing firm would perform the audit.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TWGz-mfZqun4xv_F-iQ-GM5r40EaJNJp/view?usp=sharing&usp=embed_facebook%7Ctitle%3DMountVernonInspectorGeneralReport.02-25-19.pdf&usp=embed_facebook |title=MountVernonInspectorGeneralReport.02-25-19.pdf|website=Google Docs|access-date=September 8, 2019|archive-date=July 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712100932/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TWGz-mfZqun4xv_F-iQ-GM5r40EaJNJp/view?usp=sharing&usp=embed_facebook%7Ctitle%3DMountVernonInspectorGeneralReport.02-25-19.pdf&usp=embed_facebook|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fH_jh2a44wBRpGrMHqhfBsUVbkPq5vzu/view?usp=sharing&usp=embed_facebook%7Ctitle%3DFebruary2019_ErasmusMemo.pdf&usp=embed_facebook|title=February2019_ErasmusMemo.pdf|website=Google Docs|access-date=September 8, 2019|archive-date=July 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711192629/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fH_jh2a44wBRpGrMHqhfBsUVbkPq5vzu/view?usp=sharing&usp=embed_facebook%7Ctitle%3DFebruary2019_ErasmusMemo.pdf&usp=embed_facebook|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TvX0bgC3T2559RJyKkpnY-gBXcktdY6S/view?usp=sharing&usp=embed_facebook%7Ctitle%3D2018.11.20.ErasmusAudited.pdf&usp=embed_facebook |title=2018.11.20.ErasmusAudited.pdf|website=Google Docs|access-date=September 8, 2019|archive-date=July 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712125337/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TvX0bgC3T2559RJyKkpnY-gBXcktdY6S/view?usp=sharing&usp=embed_facebook%7Ctitle%3D2018.11.20.ErasmusAudited.pdf&usp=embed_facebook|url-status=live}}</ref> Further clouding the city's financial condition is the prospect that it might have a repayment obligation to HUD in connection with grants previously awarded to the city <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FyEZIGGmrGTMC-Z3mkVJvo8X0m0-u8wU/view?usp=sharing&usp=embed_facebook|title=Ex. B 2018-03-28_Letter_Baker Tilly to the Mayor of Mt Vernon.pdf|website=Google Docs|access-date=November 4, 2019|archive-date=May 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522002322/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FyEZIGGmrGTMC-Z3mkVJvo8X0m0-u8wU/view?usp=sharing&usp=embed_facebook|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 2019 mayoral dispute ===
On July 9, 2019, mayor Richard Thomas pleaded guilty to stealing campaign funds and lying to the [[New York State Board of Elections|State Board of Elections]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2019/attorney-general-james-and-comptroller-dinapoli-announce-guilty-plea-mount-vernon|title=Attorney General James And Comptroller DiNapoli Announce Guilty Plea Of Mount Vernon Mayor Richard Thomas &#124; New York State Attorney General|website=ag.ny.gov|date=July 8, 2019 |access-date=September 24, 2019|archive-date=September 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924230741/https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2019/attorney-general-james-and-comptroller-dinapoli-announce-guilty-plea-mount-vernon|url-status=live}}</ref> Thomas was ordered to resign from office by September 30, 2019. The city council then appointed council president Andre Wallace as acting mayor.<ref name="Nir 2019">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/nyregion/mount-vernon-mayor.html|title=Mt. Vernon Has 2 Mayors, and Its Police Commissioner Was Just Arrested|first=Sarah Maslin|last=Nir|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 18, 2019|access-date=September 24, 2019|archive-date=September 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915100442/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/nyregion/mount-vernon-mayor.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Thomas refused to resign from his post. Wallace then appointed Shawn Harris as new police commissioner. After arriving for work, Thomas ordered the Mount Vernon Police to arrest Harris for trespassing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/mountvernon/news/da-orders-release-after-police-commissioner-named-by-mount-vernon-city-council-charged/772174/|title=DA Orders Release After Police Commissioner Named By Mount Vernon City Council Charged|last=Failla|first=Zak|date=July 17, 2019|website=Mount Vernon Daily Voice|access-date=September 24, 2019|archive-date=July 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718195115/https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/mountvernon/news/da-orders-release-after-police-commissioner-named-by-mount-vernon-city-council-charged/772174/|url-status=live}}</ref> Harris was released after an order from the Westchester County District Attorney. Both Thomas and Wallace occupied offices in the city hall, with Thomas in the mayor's office, under the guard of the Mount Vernon Police.<ref name="Nir 2019"/> Finally, before a packed courtroom in White Plains, Judge Ecker made a decisive ruling that Thomas had actually vacated the office of mayor on July 8, that Wallace had automatically assumed the office at that time, and that Wallace would be the acting mayor of Mount Vernon until January 1, 2020.

=== Mount Vernon Charter Revision Commission ===
In March 2019, Mayor Richard Thomas called for the formation of the Mount Vernon Charter Revision Commission, suggesting the charter was antiquated, dating to the late 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/mount-vernon/2019/03/28/mount-vernon-mayor-city-charter-revision/3287678002/|title=Mount Vernon mayor calls for revision of city charter|last=Bandler|first=Jonathan|date=March 28, 2019|website=lohud.com|language=en|access-date=August 31, 2019|archive-date=June 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611081807/https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/mount-vernon/2019/03/28/mount-vernon-mayor-city-charter-revision/3287678002/|url-status=live}}</ref>  In August 2019, the Commission presented its final report <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g3E1T16CNwG3a21vOutIzZtrDhTQVrTp/view?usp=sharing|title=City of Mount Vernon Charter Revision Commission Final Report|last=Cullen|first=Kevin|date=August 31, 2019|website=google drive|access-date=August 31, 2019|archive-date=May 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522002327/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g3E1T16CNwG3a21vOutIzZtrDhTQVrTp/view?usp=sharing|url-status=live}}</ref> which included four key proposed changes to the City's Charter:
# A new requirement for annual financial audits.
# Quarterly financial reports showing the city's fiscal condition.
# An updated comprehensive plan for economic growth.
# A periodic review of the city charter.<ref>{{Cite web|date=August 1, 2019|url=http://westchester.news12.com/story/40867935/residents-skeptical-of-mount-vernons-plan-to-overhaul-city-charter|title=Residents skeptical of Mount Vernon's plan to overhaul city charter|website=westchester.news12.com|language=en|access-date=August 31, 2019|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802053950/http://westchester.news12.com/story/40867935/residents-skeptical-of-mount-vernons-plan-to-overhaul-city-charter|archive-date=August 2, 2019}}</ref>