Greenwich

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Greenwich, Connecticut
—  Town  —
Seal
Location in Fairfield County, Connecticut
Coordinates: 41°02′20″N 73°36′49″W / 41.03889°N 73.61361°W / 41.03889; -73.61361
Country	United States
State	Connecticut
NECTA	Bridgeport - Stamford - Norwalk
Region	South Western Region
Settled	1640
Joined Connecticut	1656
Government
- Type	Representative town meeting
- First selectman	Peter Tesei
- Town administrator	Edward Gomeau
- Town meeting moderator	Thomas J. Byrne
Area
- Total	67.2 sq mi (174.0 km2)
- Land	47.8 sq mi (123.8 km2)
- Water	19.4 sq mi (50.3 km2)
Elevation	56 ft (17 m)
Population (2005)
- Total	62,236
- Density	1,302/sq mi (503/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP code	06807, 0683x, 06870, 06878
Area code(s)	203
FIPS code	09-33620
GNIS feature ID	0213435
Website	www.greenwichct.org

Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 61,101. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 37 minutes by train (express) from Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Greenwich 12th on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States. The town is the location of Greenwich Hospital, a community hospital with 174 beds and a teaching affiliate of Yale University School of Medicine.^[1]

The town is named after Greenwich, a suburb of London in the United Kingdom. Vienne, Isère, France, is a sister city of Greenwich. ^[2]

Government

Greenwich has one local government but consists of several distinct sections, each of which often has its own mailing addresses and ZIP codes: as Cos Cob 06807, Riverside 06878, Old Greenwich 06870, and Greenwich 06830 and 06831 (sometimes referred to as Greenwich proper, central, or downtown Greenwich).

The town has three Selectmen and a Representative Town Meeting (RTM). The RTM must approve all budgets, and consists of 230 elected representatives. RTM members are not paid. The three selectmen are elected on a town-wide basis, although each person can only vote for two members. This assures that there will almost always be one Democrat and two Republicans or two Democrats and one Republican. While voter registration is skewed in the Republican's favor, they do not have a lock on the First Selectman's chair, and Democrats have held the seat recently. Many of the other town committees have equal representation between Democrats and Republicans, regardless of the vote breakdown, since each individual can only vote for half as many seats as are available.

History

Low Tide, Riverside Yacht Club (1894) by Theodore Robinson from National Gallery of Art exhibit

For more information, see History of Greenwich, Connecticut.

The Town of Greenwich, settled in 1640 and incorporated in 1665.

During the American Revolution, General Israel Putnam made a daring escape from the British on February 26, 1779. Although British forces pillaged the town, Putnam was able to warn Stamford.

In 1983, the Mianus River Bridge, which carries traffic on Interstate 95 over an estuary, collapsed, resulting in the death of three people.

Originally, Greenwich Point (locally termed "Tod's Point"), was open only to town residents and their guests. However, a lawyer sued, saying his rights to freedom of assembly were threatened because he was not allowed to go there. The lower courts disagreed, but the Supreme Court of Connecticut agreed, and Greenwich was forced to amend its beach access policy to all four beaches.^[when?]

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Greenwich's location as the first Connecticut town off Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway meant that when New York City-area residents wanted to buy Powerball lottery tickets as the jackpot rose above $100 million, they crowded into Greenwich stores to purchase them, creating traffic jams in the business areas. The Connecticut Lottery introduced special rules for such situations. This no longer became a problem after Pennsylvania joined Powerball in 2002; those living west of the Hudson River no longer cross it to buy Powerball tickets.

Geography

Greenwich Town Hall

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 67.2 square miles (174.2 km²), of which, 47.8 square miles (123.9 km²) of it is land and 19.4 square miles (50.3 km²) of it (28.88%) is water. In terms of area, Greenwich is twice the size of Manhattan. The town is bordered to the west and north by Westchester County, New York, to the east by the city of Stamford, and to the south by Long Island Sound.

Greenwich is unofficially divided into several sections, or neighborhoods, among them:

• Belle Haven
• Byram
• Chickahominy
• Cos Cob
• Glenville
• Downtown Greenwich
• Mianus
• Millbrook
• Old Greenwich, also known as Sound Beach
• Riverside
• Round Hill
• Back Country
• North Street (refers to the neighborhood surrounding North Street)

Cos Cob, Greenwich, Old Greenwich and Riverside each have their own ZIP Codes and Metro North stations.

A curious aspect of Greenwich's position in the southwestern "tail" of Connecticut is that by traveling north, south, east or west from any point in town, one will eventually reach the State of New York. Westchester and Putnam Counties lie to the north and west. Nassau County is directly south across Long Island Sound, and a long boat ride due east will land you on the northeast branch of Suffolk County, Long Island. Round Hill, with an elevation of more than 550 feet (170 m), was a lookout point for the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The Manhattan skyline is visible from the top of the hill.^[4]

Climate

Greenwich experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa). During winter storms, it is common for the area north of the Merritt Parkway to receive significantly heavier snowfall than the area closer to the coast, due to the moderating influence of Long Island Sound.

Fire Department

The town of Greenwich is protected 24/7 by the professional firefighters of the Greenwich Fire Department, as well as a large volunteer staff. The Greenwich Fire Department, or GFD, operates out of six fire stations, as well as two fully-volunteer fire stations, Round Hill Fire Company # 6, and the Banksville Volunteer Fire Department, which is located in Banksville, New York, but serves a part of Greenwich. The GFD operates a fire apparatus fleet of nine engines, three ladders(including one tower ladder), two rescues, one tactical unit, one special operations unit, one haz-mat. unit, two decontamination units, three squad units, four utility units, three fire police patrol units, and numerous support units. The GFD responds to, on average, around 5,000 emergency calls annually.

Islands

Memorial to Col. Raynal C. Bolling, first high-ranking officer killed in World War I

Calf Island, a 29-acre (120,000 m²) island about 3,000 feet (910 m) from the Byram shore in Greenwich, is open for visitors although as of the summer of 2006 it was getting relatively few of them.^[6]

More than half of the island (on the west side) is a bird sanctuary off-limits to members of the public without permission to visit. The island is available for overnight stays for those with permits, otherwise the east side is open from dawn till dusk.^[6]

Great Captain Island is also off the coast of Greenwich, and is the southernmost point in Connecticut. There is a Coast Guard lighthouse on this island, as well as a designed area as a bird sanctuary.

Island Beach or "Little Captain Island" once was the venue for the town's annual "Island Beach Day." Ventriloquist Paul Winchell and his dummy, Jerry Mahoney, once came for a show, and on another occasion the National Guard let adults and children fire machine guns into the water, according to an article in the Greenwich Time.^[7]

Island Beach has changed over the decades. The bathhouse once on the island's eastern shore is gone, and erosion is slowly eating away at the beaches themselves.^[7]

Education

Public schools

Greenwich High School

Greenwich Public Schools operates public schools. Greenwich High School is the district's sole high school.

Private schools

• Brunswick School A non-sectarian boys' school (the brother school to Greenwich Academy) (preK-12)
• Greenwich Academy A non-sectarian girls' school (the sister school to Brunswick) (K-12)
• Eagle Hill School (K-10)
• Convent of the Sacred Heart A girls' school with Catholic affiliation (preK-12)
• Greenwich Catholic School (preK-8), 471 North Street
• Greenwich Country Day School (K-9)
• The Greenwich Japanese School a.k.a. New York Nihonjin gakko, a Japanese expatriate school (K-9) (Acquired Daycroft School/Rosemary Hall Campus)
• Rosemary Hall (moved to Wallingford, Connecticut) (Sold campus to Daycroft School)
• Stanwich School (K-9, adding one grade each year until twelfth grade.) Located at 257 Stanwich Road
• Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy (K-8) — the school, founded in 1996 and opened in 1997 with 24 students in rented space in Port Chester, New York, later rented space from Temple Shalom in Greenwich before buying a 17-acre (69,000 m²) campus at 270 Lake Avenue from the Japanese Education Alliance in August 2006. Enrollment was 160 at the start of the 2007–2008 school year, but school officials plan to expand it to 325 students with two classes of 18 students each through eighth grade. The school had been adding a class, grade by grade each year, and in 2006 started adding a second class in each grade. In 2006, school officials said they planned to share the campus with the Greenwich Japanese School for the next few years. In 2006 the school started the PALs program for children with learning disabilities.^[8]
• Whitby School (primary-8), a Montessori program adding International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum. Located on Lake Avenue.

Higher education

Several colleges and universities are close to Greenwich.

Connecticut

• University of Connecticut, Stamford campus
• Norwalk Community College
• University of Bridgeport
• Fairfield University
• Sacred Heart University in Fairfield
• Norwalk Community College
• Yale University
• Western Connecticut State University

New York state

• Purchase College of the State University of New York
• Manhattanville College a small, private, coeducational liberal arts college in Purchase, N.Y.
• Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y.
• Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, N.Y.
• Pace University, with campuses in White Plains and Pleasantville-Briarcliff
• Concordia College, a four-year, co-educational liberal arts college in Bronxville, N.Y.
• Westchester Community College in Valhalla

Recreation

The town has four beaches on the Long Island Sound which are Greenwich Point, Byram Beach, Island Beach (Little Captain's Island), and Great Captain Island.

A single-visit beach pass for non-residents to Greenwich Point (locally termed "Tod's Point" after the previous private owners), which is on a peninsula and so includes picnic areas, a beach and small marina, is $5 per person and $20 per car. Tickets must be purchased at the town hall or the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center. However, anyone can go to the point for free between November and April. The point has views of Manhattan, the bridges connecting the Bronx and Queens and newly-built hi-rises in New Rochelle, New York.

There is also a community sailing center and rental area located in the park. Bicycling and rollerblading are popular sports on the trails and paths in the summer.

The town owns the Griffith E. Harris golf course. The 18-link course is named after "Griff" Harris, first selectman from 1952 to 1958. There are also five country clubs in town with golf courses. The Dorothy Hamill Rink is also in town.

Arts and culture

Winter Harmony (1890s) by John Henry Twachtman

• Greenwich Symphony Orchestra. Begun in 1958 as the Greenwich Philharmonia, it became fully professional by 1967. The orchestra's 90 members perform at the Dickerman Hollister Auditorium at Greenwich High School. It also performs a pops concert in the summer. Emanuel Ax, Barry Douglas, Pamela Frank, John O’Conor, Peter Serkin, and Dawn Upshaw. David Gilbert has been music director and conductor since 1975 and is also the director of the Bergen (NJ) Philharmonic and the Senior Concert Orchestra of New York. He lives in Nutley, N.J.
• Greenwich Choral Society, founded in 1925, has performed locally and elsewhere, including in New York City (at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Carnegie Hall, St. Thomas Church, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine), and Europe. It has also performed several times with the Greenwich Symphony, New Haven Symphony, New Haven Chorale, and Stamford Symphony, as well as at the Ives Festival in Danbury. The chorus previewed Dave Brubeck's La Fiesta de la Posada, and has commissioned works by James Furman, Stephen Paulus, Rob Mathes, and Michael Schelle. In 2000 the chorus premiered a work by Adolphus Hailstork, Songs of Innocence, commissioned especially for the 75th anniversary season. The current music director and conductor is Paul F. Mueller. Notable past conductors include Lowell Beveridge, Jack Ossewaarde, Vernon de Tar, Louie L. White and Richard Vogt.^[9]
• The Bruce Museum is a town-owned institution with sections devoted to art and natural history.

Business

• Antares Investment Partners – headquarters. 333 Ludlow St.
• AQR Capital  – headquarters. 2 Greenwich Plaza.
• Arch Capital Group, Ltd. – headquarters
• Blue Sky Studios  – 1 American Ln. Academy Award winning animation studio, creators of the popular animated films: Ice Age, Robots, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Horton Hears a Who!, and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.
• Blyth, Inc. (BTH) – headquarters, 1 East Weaver St.; the nation's largest candlemaker, the company designs and markets home fragrance products, seasonal decorations, home décor and household convenience items internationally; 5,500 employees company-wide, 45 in Connecticut; $1.6 billion in annual revenues (2005); CEO Robert B. Goergen
• Cambridge Solutions, Ltd. – headquarters, 340 Pemberwick Road; is a strategic global outsourcing firm, one of the largest BPO companies worldwide; 4,400 employees companywide; CEO Christopher A. Sinclair.^[10]
• First Reserve Corp. – headquarters, a private equity firm with $12.5 billion under management that buys energy-related companies, founded by CEO William Macaulay.
• Nestle Waters North America, division of the "world's biggest water bottler" (headquartered in Switzerland; Nestle Waters world division headquartered in Paris) accounting for 48 percent of its water sales and 10 percent of its revenue; with "Poland Spring, Deer Park, Perrier, S. Pellegrino and other brands it has 43 percent of the U.S. single-serve market. (All figures as of August 2006.)^[11]
• United Rentals Inc. (URI) – headquarters, 5 Greenwich Office Park; the largest equipment rental company in the world, with more than 750 rental locations in 48 states, Canada and Mexico; 13,400 employees companywide, 400 in Connecticut; $3.6 billion in annual revenues (2005); CEO Wayland R. Hicks
• Urstadt Biddle Properties, Inc. – headquarters, 1 East Weaver St.
• W.R. Berkeley Corp. (BER) – headquarters, 475 Steamboat Road; a holding company for subsidiaries that sell property-casualty insurance; 4,961 employees company-wide, 319 in Connecticut; $5 billion in annual revenues; CEO William R. Berkley
• World Wrestling Entertainment.

Media based in town

• Greenwich Time - daily newspaper based in Greenwich; published by Southern Connecticut Newspapers Inc. out of Stamford, a subsidiary of the Tribune Company, which also owns The Advocate of Stamford and The Hartford Courant. Some sections are identical to the same sections in The Advocate, including the arts and business sections.
• Greenwich Citizen - the older weekly in town, tabloid-sized and a part of the Brooks Community Newspapers chain, now owned by Media News Group Inc., which also owns the daily Connecticut Post in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
• Greenwich Post - weekly broadsheet, part of the Hersam Acorn chain of local weeklies.
• Greenwich Magazine, owned by Moffly Publications, which publishes other local magazines, including New Canaan-Darien Magazine and Westport Magazine.
• WGCH-AM 1490 radio station; 1,000 watts
• Vivapop Publishes local news, charitable events and calendars.
• Greenwich Kids News Greenwich Kids News A kids newspaper by and for kids.
• Another Financial Publishing Company

Transportation

The town is served by the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line (the four stations, from west to east, are Greenwich, Cos Cob, Riverside, and Old Greenwich) and is approximately a 40 minute train ride to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan on the express train and a 50 minute ride on the local. Amtrak stops in the adjacent city of Stamford.

Interstate 95 (one of the busiest highways in the world) goes through the southern end of town, and there are four exits from I-95 in Greenwich, exits 2 through 5. The Boston Post Road (also known as East or West Putnam Avenue or simply Route 1) also goes through town, as does the Merritt Parkway, although the Merritt Parkway is a considerable distance from the downtown area.

Two bridges in Greenwich were among 12 in the state listed in "critical" condition by state safety inspectors as of August 2007. The Riversville Road bridge, built in the 1950s, now has a weight limit of 3 tons, but as of August 5, 2007, the bridge had not been inspected in over two years (in March 2005), according to state records obtained by The Hartford Courant, although a state official said the bridge was inspected in August 2005 and would be inspected again in August 2007. In the March 2005 inspection, the bridge's above-ground structure was deemed to be in critical condition, with other components in poor condition. The Bailiwick Road bridge in town was closed in April 2007 and remained closed as of August 2007 due to storm damage. The ratings for the two bridges were worse than the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, which collapsed during rush hour on August 1, 2007.^[12]

Demographics

As of the census^[15] of 2000, there were 61,101 people, 23,230 households, and 16,237 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,277.6 people per square mile (493.2/km²). There were 24,511 housing units at an average density of 512.5/sq mi (197.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 90.02% White, 1.66% African American, 0.09% Native American, 5.18% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.46% from other races, and 1.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 6.29% of the population.

There were 23,230 households out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 4.1% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town is $99,086, and the median income for a family is $122,719 (these figures had risen to $117,857 and $168,779 respectively as of a 2007 estimate^[16]). Males have a median income of $95,085 versus $47,806 for females. The per capita income for the town is $74,346. About 2.5% of families and 4.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

Wealth

Artist's Home in Autumn, Greenwich, Connecticut (ca. 1895), by John Henry Twachtman

Both the Official AENGLC Wealth Value and the CPR AENGLC Wealth Value show Greenwich as having the highest wealth value in Connecticut at over $430,000 per person. The AENGLC is based on the value of residential and commercial real estate and measures the town's tax base available to pay for public education(see Conn. Dep of Ed). It is not a measure of the personal wealth of individual residents. New Canaan is the wealthiest town in Connecticut, with a per capita income of $82,049, second is Darien at $77,519 and Greenwich third at $74,346 per the 2000 Census. Greenwich was the highest income place with a population of 50,000 or more in 2000. However, using the list of the 100 richest places in the United States with at least 1,000 households yields a different result. This is the most common list used for referring to the richest communities in the country, as it eliminates any places with insignificant populations. On this list Greenwich ranks 56th after New Canaan at 32nd, Darien at 44th, and Weston at 55th.

The median price for a single-family home in town was $1.7 million in 2006, when about 140 properties sold for $5 million or more, according to Prudential Connecticut Realty. In 2007, the highest asking prices for residential property in town were $39.5 million for the 76-acre (310,000 m²) estate of actor Mel Gibson on Old Mill Road, $19.7 million for a 13,000-square-foot (1,200 m²) mansion on 8.7 acres (35,000 m²) with a private lake, and $38 million for an estate with formal gardens and a greenhouse the size of a cottage.^[17]

Notable people, past and present

Due to its affluence and convenient location near New York City, Greenwich has long been associated with or has been home or birthplace to well-known people in various fields.

Films shot in Greenwich

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2008)

Spring by John Henry Twachtman, 1890s, a painting of his Greenwich farm

List is in reverse chronological order:

• Revolutionary Road (2009) with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet
• All Good Things (2009) with Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst
• Old Dogs (2009) with John Travolta and Robin Williams, both of whom have been seen around town. Travolta is staying in a private home in Greenwich while in town.^[18]
• The Accidental Husband (2006)^[19]
• The Life Before Her Eyes (2006)^[20]
• The Path of Most Resistance (2006)
• The Good Shepherd (2006) included scenes from the Byram section of town.^[21]
• After Roberto (2005)^[20]
• The Family Stone (2005)
• Domino One (2005)
• The Stepford Wives (2004)
• Stateside (2004)
• Chubby Kid, A (2002)
• Fabled (2002)
• The Ice Storm (1997)
• Ransom (1996)
• Deadtime Stories (1986)
• Danny (1977)
• The April Fools (1969)
• Time Piece (1965)
• Open the Door and See All the People (1964)
• The Magic Hat (1935)
• Via Wireless (1915)
• Two Little Waifs (1910)
• The Golden Supper (1910)
• The Cardinal's Conspiracy (1909)
• A Change of Heart (1909)
• The Country Doctor (1909)
• Sweet and Twenty (1909)
• Tender Hearts (1909)
• The Message (1909)
• The Little Teacher (1909)
• Triple H (1989–Present)
• Die Hard 3: With a Vengeance (1995) - Car chase scene (the out of focus Exit 29 Lake Ave sign gives it away)

See also

• Putnam's Cottage (Knapp's Tavern) Historic House Museum

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Greenwich, Connecticut

• Town of Greenwich, CT - town government official site
• Greenwich Public Schools
• Greenwich Chamber of Commerce
• Local Guide to Greenwich
• Our Place Books - Historical Book Series Greenwich, CT
• Greenwich, Connecticut at the Open Directory Project

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