See main article: Westchester County, New York.
Northern Westchester refers to the upper portion of Westchester County, New York, a suburban area north of New York City. Lying north of Interstate 287/Cross Westchester Expressway, these communities are distinguished by distance from New York City and their more rural character from those of Southern Westchester. The area is notable for its general affluence and high degree of watershed for New York City, being home to two major collection reservoirs supplying drinking water to it, the New Croton and Kensico.
In New York, there are three types of political subdivisions (i.e. municipalities) of counties: cities, towns, and villages. While cities are incorporated entities, towns are not. However, areas within a town can incorporate; when this occurs, the resulting area is called a "village". Villages have their own additional level of government along with the government of the town the village lies within. Some towns contain a village with the same name, which is usually also the town's center.
Certain areas of a town often develop their own identity, based around perhaps a school district or historic feature; the term for such areas which lack any other municipal designation is a hamlet, which may or may not be acknowledged by the United States Census for statistical purposes.
Such hamlets in Northern Westchester include: