Armonk, New York

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Armonk, New York
Armonk, New York (New York)
Armonk, New York
Armonk, New York
Location within the state of New York
Coordinates: 41°7′43″N 73°42′28″W / 41.12861, -73.70778
Country United States
State New York
County Westchester
Government
 - Supervisor Reese Berman
Area
 - Total 6.1 sq mi (15.8 km²)
 - Land 6.1 sq mi (15.8 km²)
 - Water 0.0 sq mi (0.1 km²)
Elevation 387 ft (118 m)
Population (2000)
 - Total 3,461
 - Density 568.9/sq mi (219.7/km²)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 10504
Area code(s) 914
FIPS code 36-02649
GNIS feature ID 0942567
Downtown Armonk
Downtown Armonk

Armonk is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of North Castle in Westchester County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 3,461.

Armonk is home to the headquarters of IBM. "Armonk" as a metonym refers to both the headquarters and the company as a whole.

The North Castle Public Library is located in Armonk and is a member of the Westchester Library System.

Smith's Tavern, a local historical site and landmark of the Revolutionary War, is also located in Armonk. Today, it is the home of the North Castle Historical Society.

Armonk is also unique in that there are no national chain stores within the town itself. With the exception of the two gas stations, a supermarket, and three banks, all of the businesses are locally owned and operated.

Contents

[edit] Geography

Armonk is located at 41°7′43″N, 73°42′28″W (41.128631, -73.707886)[1].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.1 square miles (15.9 km²), of which, 6.1 square miles (15.7 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.65%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census[2] of 2000, there are 3,461 people, 1,172 households, and 995 families residing in the CDP. The population density is 568.9 per square mile (219.8/km²). There are 1,204 housing units at an average density of 197.9/sq mi (76.5/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP is 93.53% White, 0.61% African American, 0.06% Native American, 4.16% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.40% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. 3.76% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 1,172 households out of which 44.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.7% are married couples living together, 7.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 15.1% are non-families. 13.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 6.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.95 and the average family size is 3.23.

In the CDP the population is spread out with 29.8% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 39 years. For every 100 females there are 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.2 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP is $108,508, and the median income for a family is $122,066. Males have a median income of $86,779 versus $50,179 for females. The per capita income for the CDP is $64,157. 1.3% of the population and 0.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 0.0% of those under the age of 18 and 3.9% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

[edit] Schools

The Byram Hills Central School District serves North Castle, New Castle, Mount Pleasant, and Bedford. All of the schools in the district are located in Armonk. The district has one secondary school, Byram Hills High School (9-12), one middle school, H. C. Crittenden Middle School (6-8), and two primary schools, Wampus Elementary School (3-5) and Coman Hill Elementary School (K-2). Before 2002, grade 5 was in Crittenden, grades 3 and 4 were in Coman Hill, and grades K through 2 were in Wampus.

At the 2006 National Academic Championship, Byram Hills placed 1st.

H.C. Cittenden is the winner of the national blue ribbon award which is the no child left behind award also, only .002% of the nation get it.

H.C. Crittenden has been holding something called children's village, it is when all 3 grades (6-8), host another school and entertain them by putting on short dances and musical performances, then they get a free lunch from the school and they then go back to their school at the end of the day.

Athletics included NY State finalist in Soccer, Runner ups in 2006. Coached by Matt Allen. Lead by all American Hayden Morris-C-SR, Josh Lewis-C-SR and Matthew Poulton-C-SR. 2007 State Champions, lead by All-American, Gatorade Player of the Year for New York State, William Ogden-C-SR, and William Shaheen- C- JR The Byram Hills Track Team, led by former NCAA All-American Greg Govan, has also achieved great success. With 18 All New York State honors and 13 All America honors in the past two years alone, the Byram Hills Track Team has established itself as one of the top teams in the Northeast. Led by seniors James Granata, Nick Fasano, and Pete Skurman, the team looks to continue its past successes during the 2007-2008 school year.

Fordham University's Louis Calder Center is a biological field station established in 1967 for ecological research and environmental education. The Calder Center consists of 113 forested acres, with opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to gain hands-on skills in field biology and environmental studies. The Calder Center is one of the few field stations in North America with relatively undisturbed natural communities near a large urban center.

[edit] Annual events

Armonk plays host to several events that take place annually. Most notably is the Armonk Outdoor Art Show, a fine art and fine crafts juried show sponsored by Friends of the North Castle Public Library, where nearly two hundred artists working in various media gather in IBM Park to show and sell their work to patrons. The event draws a big crowd every year and involves many members of the local community as volunteers. The proceeds from this show and the Art After Dark Preview Party fund raiser held prior to the opening benefit the North Castle Public Library and its Whippoorwill Hall performance auditorium. The Friends also sponsors the Armonk Players, a community theater group that stages two full productions and several readings each year at Whippoorwill Hall to benefit the library.

In addition, the Armonk chapter of the Lions Club sponsors a Fol-De-Rol, held during either the first or second weekend in June. The three day event takes place in Wampus Brook Park and by Wampus Elementary School. It is very similar to a country fair in that it draws local businesses and artisans to come set up tents and sell their merchandise. In addition, local restaurants set up tents to sell food and there are rides and midway games for children. Also, local student and professional music groups play in the gazebo to entertain the crowds.

Furthermore, Armonk also holds a community-wide Relay For Life during the first weekend in May. This event is sponsored locally by the Byram Hills chapter of Youth Against Cancer (commonly referred to as YAC).

Lastly, the Byram Hills High School, towards the beginning of the school year, holds homecoming. It is when the whole town is welcome and the high school students rally to show the school spirit. They hold soccer matches, field hockey matches and on the actual day of homecoming, there is a football game held. During the school day (not open to the whole town), the representing students from each grade compete against each other to win the whole school over. It lasts for 5 days, a school week, and students from all schools wear their school colors on all 5 days.

[edit] Housing boom and construction

Armonk experienced a surge in new housing construction and development beginning in the late 1990s. New condominiums, townhomes, and large stately mansions were constructed primarily north of the Armonk Business District and just to the west. The construction solidified Armonk's newly established reputation as an upper-crust town, with the residents profile moving away from the middle-working class and towards a much wealthier upper-class image. In the most recent construction project, Antares Real Estate of Greenwich, Connecticut purchased the long-standing Schultz's Cider Mill just south of Main Street, only to have it razed and in its place construct a premium gated townhouse and family home community (named "Cider Mill"). As a result, the population of Armonk increased significantly, but caused the public schools to become overcrowded and push forth a series of expensive school expansion projects that significantly raised property taxes.

Much of the new construction was pinned on the connections that former Town Supervisor John Lombardi had with the areas construction and development companies. In 2005, after over 40 years in office, Lombardi was ousted in the election by political newcomer Reese Berman. A former librarian at the town's middle school, Berman's campaign promise was to put a moratorium on new residential construction to be enacted during her term in office. As of Berman's election, no new purely residential projects have broken ground in Armonk.

[edit] Armonk Square

Antares has announced plans to acquire a three acre lot in downtown Armonk and convert it into an open air pedestrian mall. In addition to adding new commercial property downtown, Antares also announced that the property would contain modestly priced townhouses as well, aimed at keeping empty nesters and seniors in the community.

[edit] Celebrity residents

Celebrity'alumni of Armonk's Byram Hills High School include Peter Gallagher, who plays Sandy Cohen on the FOX show The O.C., Eddie Cahill, who played American hockey goalie Jim Craig in "Miracle", Sean Maher of "Firefly" and "Serenity", rising film star Bryce Dallas Howard, popular 80s singer Laura Branigan, acclaimed Broadway actor David Harbour, and Debora Shuger, author. Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist Dave Barry was born and raised in Armonk. Famous attorney David Boies, who represented Al Gore in the litigation concerning the Year 2000 Presidential Election, maintains his firm's headquarters in Armonk, and lives in Armonk as well. The corporate headquarters of IBM are also located in Armonk. Mike Mussina, Bernie Williams, and Joe Girardi of the New York Yankees reside in Armonk. When they were with the team, and Jeff Nelson resided in Armonk as well.

Aerosmith were brief residents in 1977, when they recorded their album Draw the Line at the Cenacle in Armonk, where they also lived for several months while recording the album.

In the spring of 2006, The Hoax, a 2007 movie about a fictitious biography of eccentric aviator and mogul Howard Hughes, shot several of its scenes in Armonk.

As far as minor celebrities are concerned, Armonk is home to one somewhat famous resident in Scott Harper, who was made famous on August 9th, 2005, at a New York Yankees ballgame, when he jumped from the Upper Deck of the stadium down to the net some 40 feet (12 m) below. He is currently banned from attending the team's games for life.

[edit] References

  1. ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  2. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.

[edit] External links