These moments were lost in Yonkers.
Officials in the sprawling suburban city on Tuesday revealed newly discovered and rare film reels that capture life in the bustling City of Hills a century ago when trolleys still clanged through downtown.
“Our city is full of amazing, rich history and we now are fortunate to get a glimpse of our past with these new-found artifacts,” Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said in a statement. “When our team discovered the reels, we couldn’t contain our curiosity.
“We immediately digitized them to see what was on them and it was like opening a time capsule into the early 20th century of life in Yonkers,” the mayor said.
The collection of clips, which run for nearly 10 minutes in total, were found inside a storage area in a building at 87 Nepperhan Ave., which previously housed the Yonkers Department of Planning and Development.
The lost-in-time images show workers paving Yonkers Avenue, one of the city’s busiest roads, Yonkers City Hall in its heyday and a groundbreaking ceremony for the Nepperhan Avenue building where the rare clips were discovered a century later, city officials said.
Another reel captures passersby strolling along the shops in Getty Square, with other clips showing one of the earlier vehicles used by the growing Yonkers Fire Department.
In another, a traffic cop directs cars in downtown Yonkers and halts traffic for passing trolleys.
“I encourage our residents to take a peek at these reels, especially our longtime residents,” Spano said. “It’s possible someone’s grandparents or great grandparents who worked for the city may be on these videos.”
