Downtown has played a vital role in Yonkers’ evolution from a small Indian village to the fourth largest city in New York State. Its location at the juncture of two important transportation corridors—the Hudson and Nepperhan Rivers—made it a focal point of settlement throughout history. It was here that Elisha Graves Otis invented the elevator, Edwin Armstrong the FM radio, and Charles T. Harvey the elevated train. Although no longer the city’s financial, geographical or population center, it remains its judicial and governmental seat.