History of Yonkers, New York - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

  • In the Depression-era film Don't Tell the Wife (1937) Guy Kibbee's character, Malcolm J. Winthrop, lives in Yonkers. One of the characters jokes that going to jail is "better than Yonkers."
  • In the Twilight Zone episode, "What's in the Box"(1964) William Demarest's character, cab driver Joe Britt, mentions Yonkers as one of his customers' locations as a reason for coming home late from work.
  • Yonkers is the setting of two feature films by local filmmaker Robert Celestino: Mr. Vincent, a 1997 Sundance Film entrant in the non-competition Spectrum section, and Yonkers Joe, a scheduled 2009 release by Magnolia Pictures, starring Chazz Palminteri and Christine Lahti. Yonkers' locations also provide the setting for A Tale of Two Pizzas, a "Romeo and Juliet" theme played out among two rival pizza owners.
  • Yonkers' decades-long struggle with racial discrimination and housing segregation was described in a documentary, "Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story," seen on PBS stations in 2007.
  • The film Doubt, starring Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius Beauvier, filmed scenes at St. Marks Lutheran Church's school.
  • Yonkers is also the location for many major filming projects: Catch Me if You Can, with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, with Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet; Mona Lisa Smile, with Julia Roberts; A Beautiful Mind, with Russell Crowe, Big Daddy, with Adam Sandler, The Preacher's Wife (a remake of The Bishop's Wife), with Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston; and Kate and Leopold, with Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman. Some episodes of the TV series Fringe were taped in the downtown area. the City Hall Courtroom is also the setting for many film scenes and commercials.
  • Yonkers was also used as a filming location in the movie Riding in Cars with Boys.
  • In Max Brooks's novel, World War Z, the US armed forces are defeated in the Battle of Yonkers by an army of zombies.
  • Yonkers is one of the settings in the musical Hello Dolly!
  • A character in the musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable is named after Yonkers.
  • Neil Simon's play Lost In Yonkers, set in the city. The story is about two young boys during World War II, whose father leaves them with their grandmother in Yonkers so he can earn money for the family.
  • Yonkers was shown on A Shot at Love 2 with Tila Tequila as it was contestant Kristy's hometown.
  • Yonkers is mentioned in Bon Jovi's song "Raise Your Hands".
  • In 2011, rapper Tyler, The Creator of Odd Future released his song "Yonkers".
  • On October 21, 2011, filming for the movie Disconnect (2012) took place at the Cross County Shopping Center.
  • Jessie - In the episode "Kids Don't Wanna Be Shunned," a new girl at school named Bryn is mean to Emma and claims she's from Europe. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that she is from Yonkers.

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