Untermyer Park

The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy is a non-profit organization which is collaborating with the City of Yonkers to facilitate the restoration of Samuel Untermyer’s gardens in Yonkers, New York.  Untermyer Park and Gardens is a City of Yonkers public park. In 1899 Samuel Untermyer purchased Greystone, the former estate of Samuel Tilden.  In the forty years Untermyer owned Greystone he transformed the gardens and greenhouses into some of the  most celebrated gardens in America.  After expanding the estate through property purchases to the north and east of the original estate, he hired Beaux Arts landscape artist Welles Bosworth to create gardens in 1912.  These gardens sprawled over 150 acres overlooking the Hudson River and were maintained by 60 gardeners and supplied by 60 greenhouses. It was open to the public on a weekly basis during the 1920’s and '30’s and for special events, including displays of his famous chrysanthemums and tulips.  30,000 people visited it on one day in 1939. Upon his death, the gardens were left in limbo while the estate was settled and a plan to care for the gardens determined. A core part of the gardens was acquired by the City of Yonkers in 1946. In the 1990’s, another parcel was acquired, bringing the total today to 43 acres. While the core is intact, much of the gardens are in ruin.