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Rye, New York
City
City of Rye
Jay Estate is the childhood home of American Founding Father John Jay.
Jay Estate is the childhood home of American Founding Father John Jay.
Official seal of Rye, New York
Seal
Location in Westchester County and the state of New York
Location in Westchester County and the state of New York
Country United States
State New York
County Westchester
Incorporated (as a village) 1904
Reincorporated (as a city) 1942
Government
 • Type Council-Manager
Area
 • Total 20.02 sq mi (51.86 km2)
 • Land 5.85 sq mi (15.16 km2)
 • Water 14.17 sq mi (36.70 km2)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total 15,720
 • Estimate 
(2019)
15,695
 • Density 2,681.53/sq mi (1,035.43/km2)
Time zone UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes
10580
Area code(s) 914
FIPS code 36-64309
Website http://www.ryeny.gov

Rye is a coastal suburban city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part of the Town until it received its charter as a city in 1942, making it the youngest city in New York State. Its population density for its 5.85 square miles of land is roughly 2,729.76/sq mi.

Rye is notable for its waterfront which covers 60 percent of the city's six square miles and is governed by a waterfront act instituted in 1991. Located in the city are two National Historic Landmarks: the Boston Post Road Historic District was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 1993; its centerpiece is the Jay Estate, the childhood home of John Jay, a Founding Father and the first Chief Justice of the United States.

Playland, a historic amusement park designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987 is also located in Rye. Playland features one of the oldest wooden roller coasters in the Northeast, the Dragon Coaster.

History

Sunday at Rye Beach by Genthe
Rye Beach, early 20th century

Rye was at one time a part of Fairfield County, Conn., which was a belonging of the Sachem Ponus, of the Ponus Wekuwuhm, Canaan Parish, and which was probably named for that chieftain, "Peningoe Neck". The oldest house in the city, the Timothy Knapp House, is owned by the Rye Historical Society and dates in its original version to around 1667. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The Historical Society also owns a former inn/tavern built in 1730, known today as the Square House, which it operates as a museum. George Washington stayed at the inn on two separate occasions, remarking favorably on his experience in his diaries.

Dragoncoastertunnel
The wooden Dragon Coaster is a signature component of Playland Amusement Park, a National Historic Landmark that dates back to 1927.

Rye is also where American Founding Father John Jay grew up and where he is buried. The Jay Estate at 210 Boston Post Road is now the home of the not-for-profit organization the Jay Heritage Center. The Center's mission is to restore and preserve the entire 23 acre property - buildings and landscape - together with the 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House, which occupies the original site of the Jay family farm, "The Locusts." Restoration of the Jay mansion overlooking Long Island Sound is an official project of the Save America's Treasures Program. With its ornate composite Egyptian and Corinthian columns, and pedimented facade, the house is a textbook example of American Greek Revival architecture popularized before the Civil War and is noted for its many design elements influenced by Minard Lafever. The Jay Mansion is the oldest National Historic Landmark (NHL) structure in New York State with a geothermal heating and cooling system and the first in Westchester County to have such an energy efficient system. The Jay Heritage Center was recently designated a member site of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area. It is also listed on Westchester County's African American Heritage Trail. John Jay was well known for advocating emancipation, serving as President of the New York Manumission Society and establishing the first African Free School.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) are The Square House originally known as Widow Haviland's Tavern listed in 1974, the United States Post Office - Rye listed in 1989, the Rye Town Park-Bathing Complex and Oakland Beach listed in 2003, the African Cemetery listed in 2003, the Bird Homestead listed in 2010 and The Rye Meeting House listed in 2011.

Rye is known for its amusement attraction, Rye Playland. This 279 acre theme park is owned and operated by Westchester County and includes rides, games, an indoor skating rink or Ice Casino, beach, a boardwalk and concession stands. It is one of only two amusement parks in the country with National Historic Landmark status, the other one being Kennywood in Pennsylvania. It has been a popular destination since it first opened in 1928. Its wooden roller coaster, the Dragon Coaster, built in 1929, is one of the last roller coaster rides built by engineer Frederick Church that is still operating. The Derby Racer, also built by Church, is one of only 3 rides of its kind remaining in the world. Glenn Close and Ellen Latzen ride the roller coaster in the 1980s thriller, Fatal Attraction. Playland is also the setting for several key scenes in the comedy film Big, starring Tom Hanks.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1910 3,964
1920 5,308 33.9%
1930 8,712 64.1%
1940 9,865 13.2%
1950 11,721 18.8%
1960 14,225 21.4%
1970 15,869 11.6%
1980 15,083 −5.0%
1990 14,936 −1.0%
2000 14,955 0.1%
2010 15,720 5.1%
2020 16,592 5.5%

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 16,592 people living in the city. This is representative of approximately 5491 households. 74.8% have a college degree. 15.5% were over the age of 65 and 51.7% were women. 88.2% identified themselves as White alone. 1.3% identified as Black or African American alone. 6.7% identified as Hispanic or Latino. 5.6% identified as Asian alone.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.0 square miles (52 km2), of which 5.9 square miles (15 km2) is land and 14.2 square miles (37 km2) is water.

Economy

According to a 2018 USA Today article, Rye is ranked 30th among America's wealthiest towns based on the following data: the median household income was $162,394; the median house value was $1,107,000.

Rye is home to:

  • Con Edison
  • Jarden a Fortune 500 company,
  • GAMCO Investors, Inc., (formerly known as Gabelli Asset Management Company)
  • Sims Metal Management

Education

Nursery school programs

  • Rye Presbyterian
  • Christ's Church

Public schools

Rye is served by three public elementary schools: Osborn, Milton, and Midland.

Rye Middle School and Rye High School are part of the same campus, and the two buildings connect.

The Greenhaven and The Preserve at Rye neighborhoods of the City of Rye are served by the Rye Neck School District. Rye Neck High School and Middle School are on one campus also located partially in the City of Rye.

Rye High School has been named a Gold Medal school and the 61st-best high school in the U.S., ninth-best in New York state, and best in New York state if test-in schools are disregarded, according to U.S. News & World Report's 2013 "Best High Schools". The annual Rye-Harrison football game has been played for more than 80 years and is a top high school football rivalry in Westchester County.

Rye schools were recently ranked #18 in New York State with "A" ratings in all aspects except diversity.

Private schools

  • Rye Country Day School, Pre-K through 12th grade, a college preparatory school
  • School of the Holy Child (18 acres), for girls, grades 5–12. The school was founded in 1904.
  • Resurrection Elementary School (grammar school/middle school) is a Catholic school located in Rye.

Infrastructure

Transportation

The Rye train station provides commuter rail service to Grand Central Terminal in New York City or Stamford and New Haven-Union Station via the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line. The Bee-Line Bus System provides bus service to Rye on routes 13 and 61 with additional seasonal service to Rye Playland on routes 75 and 91.

Rye Fire House (1907)
Rye Fire House on Locust (1907)

Fire department

The City of Rye Fire Department is a combination department consisting of 100 volunteer firefighters (only 20 active) and 21 career firefighters of which 4–5 are on duty at all times. The department has two fire stations and man three engines, two ladders, two utility units, and two command vehicles. The Rye Fire Department responds to approximately 1,000 emergency calls annually and does not respond to medical calls.

Emergency medical services

Emergency medical service is provided by Port Chester-Rye-Rye Brook EMS at the Advanced Life Support Level (ALS). They are a combination agency with 50 members (30 paid EMTs, 15 paramedics and five volunteers). They operate up to five ALS ambulances and three paramedic flycars from their station in Port Chester and responds to over 5,000 calls a year between Port Chester, Rye and Rye Brook.

Notable people

  • Roz Abrams, former WABC-TV and WCBS-TV news anchors
  • Christopher Atkins, actor
  • Raymond E. Baldwin, US Senator
  • Lex Barker, actor
  • Jason Bateman, actor
  • Justine Bateman, actress
  • James Bradley, author
  • James Roosevelt Bayley, Catholic bishop
  • John Bello, founder SoBe Beverages; former president NFL Properties
  • Greg Berlanti, TV writer
  • Ralph Branca, Major League Baseball pitcher
  • Roy J. Bostock, Former Chairman of Yahoo!
  • Daniel Burke, Former President of The American Broadcasting Company
  • Barbara Bush, First Lady, attended Milton Elementary School
  • Nelson Chai, Former CFO of Merrill Lynch and Bank of America
  • Bud Cort, actor
  • Eamonn Coghlan, Olympic track and field athlete
  • Buster Crabbe, actor and Olympic swimmer
  • Mike D'Antoni, head coach of the NBA's Houston Rockets
  • William Davis, golfer
  • Jennifer Donnelly, author
  • Eddie Eagan, sportsman
  • Amelia Earhart, aviator; first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean (Born in Atchison, Kansas)
  • Betty Francis, fictional character
  • Mario Gabelli, stock investor, investment advisor, and financial analyst
  • David Gottesman, businessman and billionaire
  • Michael Grabner, professional hockey player
  • Molly Guion, artist
  • Sean Haggerty (born 1976), ice hockey player
  • Mark Halstead, footballer
  • Irving Harper, industrial designer
  • Justin Henry, actor
  • Thomas B. Hess, art writer and curator
  • Alan J. Hoffman, famous mathematician
  • Harold Holzer, Lincoln scholar
  • Iakovos, Archbishop of America, (1911–2005)
  • Marc Jacobs, fashion designer
  • Ajit Jain, head of several reinsurance businesses for Berkshire Hathaway
  • Elizabeth Janeway, author
  • John Jay, Founding Father, negotiator of the Treaty of Paris, first Chief Justice of the United States, two-time Governor of New York State, anti-slavery advocate, and diplomat
  • Peter Augustus Jay (lawyer), President of the NY Manumission Society
  • John Clarkson Jay, physician and notable conchologist
  • Mary Rutherfurd Jay, landscape architect
  • Pierre Jay, first chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
  • Arthur Judson, artists' and orchestra manager
  • Megyn Kelly, Today Show contributor
  • Christopher Kimball, chef, publisher of Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country, co-founder of "America's Test Kitchen", and founder of Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Kitchen.
  • Ralph Kiner, professional baseball player and broadcaster
  • Robert A. Kindler, Global Head of Mergers and Acquisitions and Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley
  • Nick Kroll, actor, comedian
  • George Latimer (New York politician), politician, Westchester County Executive
  • David Lee, physicist
  • John Mack, Morgan Stanley CEO
  • Wellington Mara, owner of NFL New York Giants
  • William Moulton Marston, creator of Wonder Woman
  • Eugene R. McGrath, former Chairman and CEO of Consolidated Edison
  • Allegra Mertz, championship sailor
  • Charles E. F. Millard, President of PBGC
  • Diana Millay, actress
  • Jay Pierrepont Moffat, US Ambassador
  • John Motley Morehead III, mayor of Rye, chemist, philanthropist
  • Ogden Nash, poet
  • Eric Nisenson, author
  • Caroline Love Goodwin O'Day, US Congresswoman
  • Nicholas Patrick, astronaut, Mission Specialist 1 on 2006 Discovery STS-116 mission
  • George P. Putnam, author
  • Steven C. Rattner, owner of Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas
  • Edith Gwynne Read, conservationist
  • Joy Reidenberg, television star of nature documentaries on PBS, NatGeo Wild, Discovery
  • Blanche Ring, Broadway actress and singer
  • Zelia Peet Ruebhausen, policy advisor, UN observer
  • James Sands, professional soccer player for NYCFC and USMNT
  • Tatiana Saunders, soccer player in Iceland, France and England
  • Liz Sheridan, actress
  • Debora Shuger, author
  • Adam Silver, commissioner of NBA
  • Bill Stern, actor and sportscaster
  • Stuart Sternberg (born 1959), owner of the Tampa Bay Rays
  • B. J. Surhoff, Major League Baseball player
  • John Thain, former Merrill Lynch CEO
  • Edgar Wachenheim III, investor and author
  • Diana Williams, WABC-TV news anchor
  • Kimberly Williams, actress
  • Bob Woodruff, ABC television journalist
  • Sean Young, actress

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Rye (Nueva York) para niños

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