Named after Thomas Dongan, governor of the Province of New York.
Dongan (1634–1715), an Irish-born officer, governed New York from 1683 to 1688. The area was first called Garretson’s, after a family who had lived there since the late 1600s, and the station was first named Garretsons; the name was changed to avoid confusion with Garrison-on-Hudson. The ‘hills’ are the eastern ridge of Todt Hill.