Ossining borders the eastern shores of the widest part of the Hudson River, the Tappan Zee.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 6.3 square miles (16.4 km2), of which 3.2 square miles (8.3 km2) is land and 3.1 square miles (8.1 km2) (49.37%) is water.
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 25,060 people living in the village. The racial makeup of the village was 61.8% White, 15.6% Black, 0.1% Native American, 4.2% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from some other race and 1.3% from two or more races. 41.4% were Hispanic or Latino of any race. According to the 2020 American Community Survey, the village was 21.7% Ecuadorian.
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 24,010 people, 8,227 households, and 5,339 families living in the village. The population density was 7,464.8 inhabitants per square mile (2,882.2/km2). There were 8,515 housing units at an average density of 2,647.4 per square mile (1,022.2/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 60.5% White, 20.2% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 4.2% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 10.4% from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 27.7% of the population.
There were 8,227 households, out of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.1% were non-families. Of all households 28.9% were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the village, the population was spread out, with 20.7% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 39.1% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 117.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 119.4 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $52,185, and the median income for a family was $60,179. Males had a median income of $40,412 versus $36,975 for females. The per capita income for the village was $25,036. About 7.6% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.9% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.
Frederick Philipse bought the area that presently constitutes the Town of Ossining from the Sint SinckIndians in 1685. The Sint Sinck are members of the Wappinger Confederacy, who inhabited the land east of Hudson River between what is now Tarrytown and Croton.[4] His manor extended from Spuyten Duyvil Creek on the border between present-day Manhattan and the Bronx to the Croton River. The last Lord of the Manor, Frederick III, was a Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War who fled to England, so the State of New York confiscated the manor in 1779.
In 1838 Benjamin Brandreth built a manufacturing facility for his Vegetable Universal Pills, which became one of the most successful patent medicines in the United States. Brandreth's firm was at one point the nation's leading proprietary advertiser.[5] He was president of the village for many years.[6]
Until 1901, the village was known as Sing Sing.[8] It changed its name to avoid the stigma of association with Sing Sing Correctional Facility, which is still Ossining's largest employer.[9][10]
No interstate highways exist within Ossining. The closest example of a federal highway that runs through the village is US 9, along Highland Avenue and Albany Post Road. NY 133 begins at US 9, running along Croton Avenue, and NY 134 begins at that road along Dale Avenue. Part of NY 9A, along the Briarcliff–Peekskill Parkway runs through the eastern edge of the village.
The Ossining Public Library, originally chartered in 1893 as the Sing Sing Public Library, serves the residents of the Village and Town of Ossining. The current library collections include 110,000 books, 25,000 non-print items, and 300 newspaper and magazine titles. As a charter member of the 38-member Westchester Library System, the Ossining Public Library offers its patrons access to the more than one million holdings of the other county libraries. A $15.8-million building program was started in 2005 to replace the 1960s-era facility with a new 48,000-square-foot (4,500 m2) building. The new Ossining Public Library opened in March 2007 and added many new or enhanced services, including over 50 public Internet terminals, a 250-seat theater, an art gallery, and the county's first radio frequency (RFID) circulation system.[12]
The main reading room of Ossining's library is named in honor of longtime Ossining resident, Pulitzer Prize–winning author John Cheever.[13] When Cheever died, the flags on Ossining's public buildings were lowered for 10 days.[13]
Ossining is also the home of the worldwide Maryknoll Catholic missions, as well as the site of the Crotonville Institute, the famous General Electric leadership training facility, founded in 1956.
In fiction
In seasons 1–3 of AMC's TV series Mad Men, Ossining is home to lead character Don Draper and his family. It remains the home of his ex-wife Betty and their children through much of season 4, until they move to Rye.[14]
In FX's The Shield, transfer to Ossining is offered to an inmate in exchange for testimony, stated as "Safe and sound in Ossining, New York" as opposed to referencing the town's original name of Sing Sing which might have jeopardized the deal.
^Atwater, Edward (2004). An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American. New York: Boydell & Brewer. p. 118. ISBN1-58046-098-4.
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