44°
Yonkers is embracing its location to create new opportunities and attract new businesses and jobs to our city. This week, we welcomed 160 new jobs and cut the ribbon on an incredible addition to Yonkers’ Downtown Waterfront neighborhood – Mindspark (learn more at www.mindspark.com).
Mindspark is a cutting edge tech company that creates some of the leading digital applications on the web. The company was looking for a new headquarters that inspires creativity and they found it in Yonkers.
Our landscape has inspired creativity for more than 150 years. In 1854, in the building that Mindspark now calls home – the Otis Elevator building – Elisha Otis began building his elevators. Otis didn’t invent the elevator; he invented the “safety elevator” with a brake, but imagine elevators without brakes! Otis unveiled his elevator at the 1854 World’s Fair at New York Crystal Palace and amazed the crowd when he ordered that the only rope holding the platform be cut. The platform stayed put and the Otis Elevator went on to change the world, making cities and skyscrapers possible.
In 1867, Charles Harvey of Yonkers built the first elevated train line on Greenwich Street in Manhattan. Harvey’s invention led to the subway system, mass transit and the Metro North line just down the street from Mindspark’s headquarters.
And in 1912, Edwin Armstrong, who often worked out of his parent’s attic in Yonkers, invented FM Radio. Armstrong’s radio gave birth to the field of electronics, paving the way for television and wireless communications. His FM tower – known to many as the Alpine Tower – can be seen from Mindspark’s new office.
Those three pioneers drew inspiration from Yonkers’ beautiful waterfront. I know that Mindspark too will draw inspiration from the breathtaking views of the Palisades and Hudson River they now have from their state-of-the-art headquarters. As Mayor, I’m proud to welcome Mindspark and 160 new jobs to Yonkers.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Yonkers and receive free news updates.
