You know you grew
up in Yonkers if:
the first bar you ever went to was Dicey Riley's
you drank a 40 0z in a park at
night
Cafe Billiards was the highlight of your evening out with
your friends.
you drove up and down Central Ave cause it was the cool
thing to do.
you wondered what it would be like to skate or bike
down Roberts Ave.
you feel a sense of pride when you hear DMX rapping about
Yonkers
you remember that Bradlees was there before Burlington Coat
Factory, and that Alexanders was there before Bradlees
you are intimately familiar with the term Ghetto Square
you hung out Dragons Den when it was on Central
you know what Rockin Rex was.
you went to Tower Records at 1130 in the evening cause it
was the only place still open.
you were born in St. Johns Hospital
you preferred going to the Will Library even though the
Getty Square Library was closer.
you know that Thursday night is race cars at nathans night
on Central Ave.
you or someone you went to school with or is now a Yonkers
cop.
you went to the County Fair on McDonald's night
your friends thought you were cool when you told them you
hung out all the way up at the Galleria the other day.
you had a connection at Movieland or the Muliplex.
you used to buy your music at the Sam Goody in Cross County
you've hung out or considered hanging out at Untermeyer at
night.
you think son of sam buried bodies at untermeyer
you've gone to an underage drinking party somewhere in the
southwest part of town.
you know where all the McDonalds in town are, have eaten in
all of them, and still prefer a particular one.
you know that
the guy with the funny voice (JIMMY!) STILL works at
McDonalds
no matter where the hell you are, you always still seem to
run into someone who knows some who you know in Yonkers.
you dont believe a word of it when they say they
are rebuilding downtown Yonkers.
you thought the playground at Tibbetts Park was THE SHIT!
you feel you have a special connection with the Central
Avenue Bum. ( and think u know his story)
you rode a sled down the hill at Pelton Park before that
kid was killed.
you went to Raceway or Argonaut at like 4 oclock in the
morning and ran into someone you know
you had to be home by 10PM on Halloween because of the
stupid curfew.
you knew the story behind that abandoned house before the
one-lane bridge on Mile Square Road near Tuckahoe.
your parents shopped at Caldors on Central Ave.
you gazed down at Nathans as you walked with your parents
into Caldor's hoping that theyd take you there afterwards.
you' ve gone skating at Murrays
you realize that the props they use to decorate Cross
County during the holidays are the same ones they've been
using for the past 20 years.
you've made an art out of getting off at that shitty little
exit ramp for Lockwood Ave on the southbound Saw Mill
Parkway.
you remember when Sizzler was THE hottest restaurant in
town.
you knew where the Adventures was in Cross County
youre weirded out by anyplace that doesn't have a lot of
hills.
you refer to it as Y.O.
youve never eaten at Ricky's Clam House on
Central Restaurant even though you pass it all the
time.
you did midnight bowling at Brunswick, or youve bowled at
Homefield.
you remember the flea market at Yonkers Raceway being a
hell of a lot better when you were younger.
you find it somewhat amusing to know that people from other
towns in the county and the Bronx come all the way to
Yonkers just to go drinking at Rory Dolans.
you or someone you grew up with is a teacher in the Yonkers
Public Schools.
you were profoundly saddened when the Roy Rogers on South
Broadway, and then the the RoyCross County closed
down.
no matter how much you say you hate it, or how long you've
been away from it, or how long you attempt to avoid
visiting or going back to it, or how much its changed, no
other place quite feels like home the way Yonkers
does