A History Of The Riverdale Yacht Club

The Riverdale Yacht Club is a small private association on the shoreline
of the Hudson River in the Riverdale section of New York Citys borough
of The Bronx. While author Ruben Mendez furnishes a chronicle of
the institution, he also discloses valuable historical information about
Riverdale, the Hudson River, the building of what is today the
Metro-North railroads Hudson Division, and the creation of the New
York-New Jersey Palisades into an interstate park.


Founded in 1931, the yacht clubs first decade coincided with the
Great Depression. During World War II, over sixty of its members
served in the military.


Mendez not only describes the sports and other activities that occurred
on the clubs ground, he also provides thumbnail sketches of some
noted members. They include Nobel Prize laureates; professors, deans
and presidents of institutions of higher education; journalists; authors;
diplomats; medical doctors; lawyers; and other figures of historical
importance. Thus he has produced a work recounting a little-known,
but essential part of the history of The Bronx and of New York City.


Lloyd Ultan
Bronx Borough Historian