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99-575: On May 8, 1902, the Actors Fund opened a home for retired entertainers on Staten Island , a borough of New York City , New York . In 1928, the New York City government took the property using eminent domain to enlarge an adjacent city park. That year, the residents were moved to the former mansion of American businesswoman Hetty Green in Englewood. The mansion was razed in 1959, and a modern facility

198-634: A "temporary landfill" in 1947, the Fresh Kills Landfill was a repository of trash for the city of New York. The landfill, once the world's largest man-made structure, was closed in 2001, but it was briefly reopened for the debris from Ground Zero following the September 11 attacks in 2001. It is being converted into a park almost three times the size of Central Park and the largest park to be developed in New York City in over 100 years. Plans for

297-546: A boardwalk. During World War I , air and water pollution quality and fears of German attacks discouraged tourists from coming to Staten Island. However, visitation rebounded after the war, and by 1923 Staten Island was seeing record-high numbers of visitors, including 150,000 on a single day in June 1923. The parks were mostly destroyed following a series of devastating fires in the 1920s. A 1919 fire in South Beach destroyed much of

396-538: A compromise that established the maritime boundary in the middle of the Hudson River and gave Staten Island to New York. Ellis Island and Bedloe's Island , both uninhabited at the time, also became controlled by New Jersey. From 1800 to 1858, Staten Island was the location of the largest quarantine facility in the United States. Angry residents burned down the hospital compound in 1858 in a series of attacks known as

495-498: A granite stele . The Midland Beach War Memorial is located near Fr. Capodanno Boulevard and Midland Avenue. It is composed of a three-paneled upright slab of Barre granite. An eagle figure is inscribed atop the pedestal. The Ben Soto Skate Park is a skateboarding and BMX biking park located at the Midland Beach Playground. The skate park is composed of concrete and metal. It was opened in 2005 and named in honor of

594-404: A local Marine who died four years prior. By 2010, the skate park had deteriorated and the soon-to-be U.S. Representative for Staten Island, Michael Grimm , had promised to fix it. Since being renovated in 2011, the skate park has been criticized by local skateboarders and bikers who state that it lacks a variety of traditional skatepark features such as ramps. Staten Island's East Shore

693-479: A local chronicler in Staten Island, was responsible for originating the legend in the mid-1800s. In 1683, the colony of New York was divided into ten counties. As part of this process, Staten Island, as well as several minor neighboring islands, was designated as Richmond County . The name derives from the title of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond , an illegitimate son of King Charles II . In 1687 and 1688,

792-448: A major overhaul during the 1990s. In May 1994, following an accidental fire that destroyed 200 feet (61 m) of the boardwalk, then-borough president Guy Molinari announced that the damaged section of boardwalk would receive a $ 650,000 renovation. Several million dollars of funds were allocated for multiple related projects. These included the conversion of parking lots into South Beach Park, which opened in June 1996; reconstruction of

891-413: A skate park. Originally, the Staten Island shorefront was occupied by multiple amusement parks, which had closed by the 1930s. Construction on the boardwalk started in 1935 and was complete by 1937. Amusements continued to occupy the boardwalk until the late 1950s, when water pollution and other changes started to repel potential visitors. The boardwalk was restored under a multi-million dollar project in

990-581: Is composed of two main beaches: South Beach to the north of Sea View Avenue and Midland Beach to the south. The beaches contain facilities for baseball , handball , shuffleboard , bocce , checkers , volleyball , and roller hockey , as well as the Ben Soto Skate Park and the Ocean Breeze Fishing Pier. The boardwalk contains eight baseball fields along its length: five adjacent to Midland Beach and three adjacent to South Beach. Two of

1089-448: Is extremely sparse, however, and most historians conclude that it is entirely apocryphal. In 2007, The New York Times addressed the issue in a news article, which concluded that this event was heavily embellished over the years and almost certainly originated in local folklore. YouTuber CGP Grey addressed the story of the Staten Island race and its historical discrepancies in a 2019 video, in which he concluded that Gabriel Disosway,

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1188-405: Is home to the 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (4-kilometer) FDR Boardwalk , the world's fourth-longest boardwalk . The South Shore , site of the 17th-century Dutch and French Huguenot settlement, developed rapidly beginning in the 1960s and 1970s and is now very suburban. The West Shore is the island's least populated and most industrial part. Motor traffic can reach the borough from Brooklyn by

1287-510: Is separated from the adjacent state of New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull and from the rest of New York by New York Bay . With a population of 495,747 in the 2020 Census , Staten Island is the least populated New York City borough but the third largest in land area at 58.5 sq mi (152 km ); it is also the least densely populated and most suburban borough in

1386-660: Is the largest oceanfront recreational pier built in the New York metropolitan area in over a century. According to one estimate, some $ 20 million had been allocated to the improvement of South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk since 1995. In 2002, NYC Parks started enforcing an obscure rule prohibiting bicycling on the boardwalk. Afterward, a segregated bike lane was painted on the boardwalk. The beaches continued to suffer from pollution. A New York City Council report in 2004 designated South Beach and Boardwalk as

1485-478: Is the largest pre-European burial ground in New York City. Bodies have been reported unearthed at Burial Ridge from 1858 onward. After conducting independent research, which included unearthing bodies interred at the site, ethnologist and archaeologist George H. Pepper was contracted in 1895 to conduct paid archaeological research at Burial Ridge by the American Museum of Natural History . The burial ground today

1584-559: Is the only borough without a New York City Department of Correction major detention center. The construction of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge , along with the other three major Staten Island bridges, created a new way for commuters and tourists to travel from New Jersey to Brooklyn, Manhattan, and areas farther east on Long Island . The network of highways running between the bridges has effectively carved up many of Staten Island's old neighborhoods. The bridge opened many areas of

1683-614: Is the third-smallest county in New York by land area and fourth-smallest by total area. Although Staten Island is a borough of New York City, the island is geographically part of New Jersey. Staten Island is separated from Long Island by the Narrows and from mainland New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull. Staten Island is positioned at the center of New York Bight , a sharp bend in

1782-528: Is unmarked and lies within Conference House Park . The first recorded European contact on the island was in 1524 by Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano who sailed through The Narrows on the ship La Dauphine and anchored for one night. The Dutch did not establish a permanent settlement on Staaten Eylandt for many decades. Its name derived from the Staten Generaal , the parliament of

1881-756: The FDR Boardwalk or the South Beach Boardwalk , is a boardwalk facing the Lower New York Bay on the East Shore of Staten Island , one of the five boroughs of New York City . The boardwalk is the main feature of a public park that stretches from Fort Wadsworth and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to Miller Field , both part of the Gateway National Recreation Area . The park also contains numerous recreational facilities, including

1980-833: The Hudson River in Palisades Interstate Park . The sill extends southward beyond the cliffs in Jersey City beneath the Upper New York Harbor and resurfaces on Staten Island. The Palisades sill date from the Early Jurassic period, 192 to 186 million years ago. Staten Island has been at the southern terminus of various periods of glaciation . The most recent, the Wisconsin glaciation , ended approximately 12,000 years ago. The accumulated rock and sediment deposited at

2079-414: The Kill Van Kull was frozen over, Lord Stirling led an unsuccessful Patriot raid from New Jersey on the western shore of Staten Island. It was repulsed in part by troops led by British Commander Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings . In June 1780, Wilhelm von Knyphausen , commander of Britain's Hessian auxiliaries , led many raids and a full assault into New Jersey from Staten Island with

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2178-581: The New York City Board of Estimate changed the city's zoning map so that the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) shorefront along South, Graham, Midland, and Woodland Beaches would be public land. Subsequently, Staten Island borough president Joseph A. Palma proposed constructing a boardwalk to connect South Beach and New Dorp . The 2.5-mile boardwalk was to cost $ 2 million and would be built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Part of

2277-459: The New York City Board of Estimate , which had given equal representation to the five boroughs. Dinkins and the city government opposed a non-binding secession referendum, contending that the vote should not be permitted by the state unless the city issued a home rule message supporting it, which the city would not. Governor Mario Cuomo disagreed, and the vote went forward in 1993. Ultimately, 65% of Staten island residents voted to secede through

2376-609: The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands . From 1639 to 1655, Cornelis Melyn and David de Vries made three separate attempts to establish one there, but each time the settlement was destroyed in conflicts between the Dutch and the local tribe. In 1661, the first permanent Dutch settlement was established at Oude Dorp (Dutch for "Old Village") by a small group of Dutch, Walloon , and French Huguenot families, just south of

2475-647: The Rose and Crown Tavern , near the junction of present New Dorp Lane and Richmond Road. There the representatives of the British government reportedly received their first notification of the Declaration of Independence . In August 1776, the British forces crossed the Narrows to Brooklyn and outflanked the American forces at the Battle of Long Island , resulting in the British control of

2574-644: The Staten Island Quarantine War . In 1860, parts of Castleton and Southfield were made into a new town, Middletown . The Village of New Brighton in the town of Castleton was incorporated in 1866, and in 1872 the Village of New Brighton annexed all the remainder of the Town of Castleton and became coterminous with the town. An 1887 movement to incorporate Staten Island as a city ended up resulting in nothing. The towns of Staten Island were dissolved in 1898 with

2673-641: The Unami division of the Lenape . In Lenape , one of the Algonquian languages , Staten Island was called Aquehonga Manacknong , meaning "as far as the place of the bad woods", or Eghquhous , meaning "the bad woods". The name is spelled as Eghquaons in the deed to Lubbertus van Dincklage for the purchase of Staten Island, 1657. The area was part of the Lenape homeland known as Lenapehoking . The Lenape were later called

2772-638: The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and from New Jersey by the Outerbridge Crossing , Goethals Bridge and Bayonne Bridge . Staten Island has Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus lines and an MTA rapid transit line, the Staten Island Railway , which runs from the ferry terminal at St. George to Tottenville . Staten Island is the only borough not connected to the New York City Subway system. The free Staten Island Ferry connects

2871-524: The city government and the media. It has also been referred to as the "borough of parks" due to its 12,300 acres of protected parkland and over 170 parks. The North Shore —especially the neighborhoods of St. George , Tompkinsville , Clifton , and Stapleton —is the island's most urban area. It contains the designated St. George Historic District and the St. Paul's Avenue-Stapleton Heights Historic District, which feature large Victorian houses. The East Shore

2970-512: The "Delaware" by the English colonists because they inhabited both shores of what the English named the Delaware River . The island was laced with Native American foot trails, one of which followed the south side of the ridge near the course of present-day Richmond Road and Amboy Road . The Lenape did not live in fixed encampments but moved seasonally, using slash and burn agriculture. Shellfish

3069-664: The Atlantic Ocean, where visitors could catch the steamboat William Story to the Battery at the tip of Lower Manhattan . The pier was so long that the Midland Beach Railway Company operated a miniature railroad to take fishermen and other visitors to the end of the pier. Like South Beach, it offered theater performances, a beach, picnicking areas, snack kiosks, numerous hotels and bungalows, and several amusement attractions and roller coasters. The beach also contained

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3168-507: The Charleston section of the island. Various Clovis artifacts have been discovered since then, on property owned by Mobil Oil . The island was probably abandoned later, possibly because of the extirpation of large mammals on the island. Evidence of the first permanent Native American settlements and agriculture are thought to date from about 5,000 years ago, although early archaic habitation evidence has been found in multiple locations on

3267-469: The Declaration of Independence, and the conference ended without an agreement. On August 22, 1777, the Battle of Staten Island occurred between the British forces and several companies of the 2nd Canadian Regiment fighting alongside other American companies. The battle was inconclusive, though both sides surrendered over a hundred troops as prisoners. The Americans finally withdrew. In early 1780, while

3366-544: The Dutch settlements, the English resurveyed Oude Dorp (which became known as 'Old Town') and expanded the lots along the shore to the south. These lots were settled primarily by Dutch families and became known as Nieuwe Dorp (meaning 'New Village'), which later became anglicized as New Dorp . Captain Christopher Billopp , after years of distinguished service in the Royal Navy, came to America in 1674 along with

3465-465: The English divided the island into four administrative divisions based on natural features: the 5,100-acre (21 km ) manorial estate of colonial governor Thomas Dongan in the northeastern hills known as the "Lordship or Manor of Cassiltown", along with the North, South, and West divisions. These divisions later evolved into the four towns of Castleton , Northfield , Southfield , and Westfield . In 1698,

3564-511: The Lower New York Bay to protect the adjacent uplands. Moses claimed that in the original project, the area inland of the boardwalk was too narrow to accommodate recreational facilities, but that the city now had the land on which to build these facilities. The project also included the construction of Seaside Boulevard parallel to the boardwalk (now Fr. Capodanno Boulevard), the first section of which opened in 1957. The first portion of

3663-584: The Narrows near South Beach. Many French Huguenots had gone to the Netherlands as refugees from the religious wars in France, suffering persecution for their Protestant faith, and some joined the emigration to New Netherland. At one point nearly a third of the residents of the Island spoke French. The last vestige of Oude Dorp is the name of the present-day neighborhood of Old Town adjacent to Old Town Road. Staten Island

3762-710: The South Beach Boardwalk is the fourth-longest boardwalk in the world. From north to south, it runs through the neighborhoods of Arrochar , South Beach , and Midland Beach . When built it was 40 feet (12 m) wide for its length, half that of the 80-foot-wide (24 m) Riegelmann Boardwalk at Coney Island , located across the Lower New York Bay in Brooklyn . The FDR Boardwalk was made with concrete and timber and contains several pavilions, restrooms, and "comfort stations" along its length. A 200-foot-wide (61 m) boulevard, now known as Father Capodanno Boulevard ,

3861-559: The South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk due to regulations preventing wheelchairs from using the boardwalk. As a result, in 1945 Palma arranged an agreement whereupon these veterans could instead use Midland Beach, which at the time was privately owned. Staten Island borough president Edward G. Baker and NYC Parks commissioner Moses proposed a redevelopment of the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk in 1953. Baker and Moses stated that

3960-500: The South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk remained polluted, and in 1983, New York City Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin rated the boardwalk's quality as "poor" due to polluted waters and badly maintained boardwalks. At the time, the beach only saw 1,200 visitors on a busy day. In 1985, a small part of the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk, as well as three other city beaches and Central Park 's Sheep Meadow , were designated as "quiet zones" where loud radio-playing

4059-478: The South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk was allocated in 1967, and additional funds were disbursed under the Public Works Employment Act of 1977. The boardwalk started to decline in the 1950s because of issues such as water pollution, caused by sewage outflows from Manhattan and New Jersey flowing into the bay. By the 1960s, even some lifeguards were refusing to swim in the water near

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4158-497: The South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk. Another issue was the withdrawal of Staten Island Railway services from South Beach in the mid-1950s, basically isolating the boardwalk from all except residents of nearby areas. The 1970s saw several arson attempts as well as a high concentration of drug users and prostitutes. In 1971, the city studied replacing the city's boardwalks with plastic to make them easier to maintain, though this did not come to fruition. The beaches along

4257-534: The aim of defeating George Washington and the Continental Army . Although the raids were successful in the Newark and Elizabeth areas, the advance was halted at Connecticut Farms (Union) and the Battle of Springfield . British forces remained on Staten Island for the remainder of the war. Most Patriots fled after the British occupation, and the sentiment of those who remained was predominantly Loyalist . Even so,

4356-446: The amusement area there. A pair of fires also affected Midland Beach in 1924: the first severely reduced the ability of boats to travel to Midland Beach, while the second destroyed part of the amusement area. Both amusement areas were rebuilt, only for both to burn down in 1929. One remnant of the amusement area, the 1-acre (0.40 ha) South Beach Amusement Park at the northern end of South Beach, continued to operate through

4455-494: The amusement areas are now occupied by the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk. By the mid-1880s, South Beach's amusement area consisted of a 1,700-foot (520 m) boardwalk, a beach, and numerous rides. After much of the area was destroyed by a fire in September 1896, the 15-acre (6.1 ha) Happyland Amusement Park, an enclosed park with numerous attractions and landscape features, opened on June 30, 1906. Among

4554-642: The approval of a new city charter making Staten Island an independent city , but implementation was blocked in the State Assembly . In the 1980s, the United States Navy had a base on Staten Island called Naval Station New York . It had two sections: a Strategic Homeport in Stapleton and a larger section near Fort Wadsworth , where the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge enters the island. The base

4653-526: The baseball fields in Midland Beach are also shared with a rugby pitch . There is also a basketball court near the south end of the boardwalk, at Greeley Avenue. The Detective Russel Timoshenko Soccer Field, named after a police officer killed in 2007 , is located further north on the beach at Slater Boulevard. The northern end contains three bocce boards near Drury Avenue and two volleyball courts near Doty Avenue. Three children's playgrounds exist along

4752-518: The boardwalk were made under the administration of Molinari and his successor, James Molinaro . The improvements included the addition of a Dolphin Fountain at the boardwalk's northern end and a veterans' monument called Freedom Circle at its southern end. New parking lots, a $ 1.8 million pavilion, and new lighting were also installed. The Ocean Breeze Fishing Pier, a steel and concrete recreational pier, opened in September 2003. At 835 feet (255 m), it

4851-399: The boardwalk, but construction did not progress in that exact sequence, which resulted in some parts of the boardwalk site being flooded at high tide. As a result, WPA employees sometimes worked 6-hour days and other times worked less than 4 hours in a day. Nevertheless, the boardwalk was built relatively quickly, and the first 1-mile (1.6 km) section between Fort Wadsworth and South Beach

4950-460: The borough to Manhattan across New York Harbor . It provides views of the Statue of Liberty , Ellis Island , and Lower Manhattan . As in much of North America, human habitation appeared on the island fairly rapidly after the Wisconsin glaciation . Archaeologists have recovered tool evidence of Clovis culture activity dating from about 14,000 years ago. This evidence was first discovered in 1917 in

5049-431: The borough to residential and commercial development from the 1960s onward, especially in the central and southern parts of the borough, which had been largely undeveloped. Staten Island's population doubled from 221,991 in 1960 to 443,728 in 2000. Nevertheless, Staten Island remained less developed than the rest of the city. A New York Times article in 1972 stated that despite the borough having 333,000 residents, parts of

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5148-453: The captain could circumnavigate it in one day, which he did. This story is most likely untrue, due to conflicting information on the time Christopher Billopp took to complete the race and whether he received a personal prize or not. Mayor Michael Bloomberg perpetuated the myth by referring to it at a news conference in Brooklyn on February 20, 2007. Reliable historical documentation of the event

5247-477: The ceremonies remotely. In September 1937, three hundred bathhouses on the newly completed boardwalk burned down. The United States Army announced plans for a pier at Lily Pond Avenue , at the northern end of the FDR Boardwalk, in 1940. The pier would support their activities on nearby Hoffman Island and Swinburne Island . Furthermore, a NYC Parks rule initially prevented wounded war veterans from using

5346-568: The city. A home to the Lenape Native American's, the island was settled by Dutch colonists in the 17th century. It was one of the 12 original counties of New York state. Staten Island was consolidated with New York City in 1898 . It was formerly known as the Borough of Richmond until 1975, when its name was changed to Borough of Staten Island. Staten Island has sometimes been called "the forgotten borough" by inhabitants who feel neglected by

5445-529: The collision zone and now forms the oldest bedrock strata of Staten Island, the serpentinite . This strata of the Lower Paleozoic (approximately 430 million years old) consists predominantly of the serpentine minerals, antigorite , chrysotile , and lizardite ; it also contains asbestos and talc . At the end of the Paleozoic era (248 million years ago) all major continental masses were joined into

5544-644: The colonies, residents of the island were so uninterested that no representatives were sent to the First Continental Congress , the only county in New York to not send anyone. This had economic repercussions in the months up through 1776, where New Jersey towns such as Elizabethport, Woodbridge , and Dover instituted boycotts on doing business with islanders. On March 17, 1776, the British forces under Sir William Howe evacuated Boston and sailed for Halifax, Nova Scotia . From Halifax, Howe prepared to attack New York City, which then consisted entirely of

5643-599: The consolidation of the City of Greater New York , as Richmond County became one of the five boroughs of the expanded city. Although consolidated into the City of Greater New York in 1898, the county sheriff of Staten Island maintained control of the jail system, unlike the other boroughs, which had gradually transferred control of the jails to the Department of Correction. The jail system was not transferred until January 1, 1942. Staten Island

5742-647: The continent of Laurentia and the plate containing the continent of Gondwanaland were converging, the Iapetus Ocean that separated the two continents gradually closed, and the resulting collision between the plates formed the Appalachian Mountains . During the early stages of this mountain building known as the Taconic orogeny , a piece of ocean crust from the Iapetus Ocean broke off and became incorporated into

5841-417: The cost would be funded by the Public Works Administration . The project was expected to raise real estate prices, similar to previous boardwalk projects in New York City. On August 11, 1935, officials held three groundbreaking ceremonies with more than 10,000 spectators combined, which marked the start of construction. Work on the boardwalk itself did not begin until a month later. Palma estimated that

5940-407: The course of the Hudson River have placed it alternatively through the present course of the Raritan River , south of the island, or through present-day Flushing Bay and Jamaica Bay . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , Richmond County has a total area of 102.5 square miles (265 km ), of which 58.5 square miles (152 km ) is land and 44.0 square miles (114 km ) (43%) is water. It

6039-429: The dirtiest of the city's seven beaches. A separate, independent survey in 2007 rated South Beach as being "challenged", though Midland Beach was in much better condition. In a 2009 survey, South Beach's boardwalk, facilities, and beach had been rated as being poorly maintained, but by 2011, it was rated as the best-maintained beach in the city, in even better condition than Midland Beach. Wi-Fi service from AT&T

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6138-448: The eastern edge of New Jersey was located at the Hudson River 's shoreline during high tide, which would give New York control of all the docks and wharves on the Hudson River. New Jersey argued that the maritime boundary should be down the middle of the Hudson River and then continue out to the Atlantic Ocean, which would give New Jersey control of the docks and wharves as well as Staten Island. Vice President Martin Van Buren negotiated

6237-458: The end of the 20th century, though much of that park was destroyed in 1955. Beachland Amusements , an adjacent amusement arcade, operated from 1941 to 2006 and was the last amusement attraction on the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk. A law passed by the New York State Legislature in 1930 allocated $ 1 million for the construction of a beach and boardwalk at Staten Island, running between Fort Wadsworth and Miller Field. In 1934,

6336-411: The family of Canadian historian Peter Fisher , John Dunn, who founded St. Andrews, New Brunswick , and Abraham Jones , fled to Canada, and their estates were subdivided and sold. Staten Island was occupied by the British longer than any single part of the Thirteen Colonies. On July 4, 1827, the end of slavery in New York state was celebrated at Swan Hotel, in the West Brighton neighborhood. Rooms at

6435-439: The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) . 40°54′41″N 73°58′32″W  /  40.91129°N 73.97551°W  / 40.91129; -73.97551 Staten Island Staten Island ( / ˈ s t æ t ən / STAT -ən ) is the southernmost borough of New York City , coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York . The borough

6534-562: The fire-damaged section of boardwalk; and renovation of a playground. NYC Parks also started looking for concessionaires for a pavilion at Sand Lane, which had previously been damaged in a fire. New recreation facilities for senior citizens and a program of concerts were also added. The renovation of the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk came with a cleanup of the waterfront, as well as full funding for lifeguards, who started working at South Beach again in July 1997. The rebuilt boardwalk opened in October 1997. Other improvements to

6633-430: The harbor and the capture of New York City shortly afterwards. Three weeks later, on September 11, 1776, Sir William's brother, Lord Howe , received a delegation of Americans consisting of Benjamin Franklin , Edward Rutledge , and John Adams at the Conference House on the southwestern tip of the island on the former estate of Christopher Billopp. The Americans refused a peace offer from Howe in exchange for withdrawing

6732-422: The hotel were reserved months in advance as local abolitionists, including prominent free blacks, prepared for the festivities. Speeches, pageants, picnics, and fireworks marked the celebration, which lasted for two days. In the early 19th century, New Jersey and New York disputed the location of their maritime boundary. The original charters were of no help because they were worded ambiguously. New York argued that

6831-408: The island still maintained a bucolic atmosphere with woods and marshes. Throughout the 1980s, a movement to secede from the city steadily grew in popularity, notably championed by longtime New York state senator and former Republican Party mayoral nominee John J. Marchi . The campaign reached its peak during the mayoral term of David Dinkins (1990–1993), after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated

6930-420: The island. Rossville points are distinct arrowheads that define a Native American cultural period from the Archaic period to the Early Woodland period , dating from about 1500 to 100 BC. They are named for the Rossville section of Staten Island, where they were first found near the old Rossville Post Office building. At the time of European contact, the island was inhabited by the Raritan band of

7029-512: The islanders found the demands of supporting the troops to be heavy. The British army kept headquarters in neighborhoods such as Bulls Head . Many buildings and churches were destroyed for their materials, and the military's demand for resources resulted in an extensive deforestation by the end of the war. The British army again used the island as a staging ground for its final evacuation of New York City on December 5, 1783. After their departure, many Loyalist landowners, such as Christopher Billop ,

7128-421: The late 1990s. However, it is still relatively lightly used: in 2017, South Beach and Boardwalk saw 334,000 visitors, about 5% of the visitor count at Coney Island . The South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk stretches 2.5 miles (4.0 km) between Fort Wadsworth to the north and Miller Field to the south. According to the second edition of The Encyclopedia of New York City , published in 2010 ,

7227-549: The newly appointed royal governor of New York and the Jerseys Sir Edmund Andros, in charge of a company of infantry. The following year, he settled on Staten Island, where he was granted a patent for 932 acres (3.8 km ) of land. According to one version of an oft-repeated but apocryphal tale, Captain Billopp's seamanship secured Staten Island to New York, rather than to New Jersey: the island would belong to New York if

7326-458: The park include a bird-nesting island, public roads, boardwalks, soccer and baseball fields, bridle paths, and a 5,000-seat stadium. Today, freshwater and tidal wetlands, fields, birch thickets, and a coastal oak maritime forest, as well as areas dominated by non-native plant species, are all within the boundaries of Fresh Kills.   During the Paleozoic Era , the tectonic plate containing

7425-463: The park's attractions were a beachfront of 1,000 feet (300 m), a 1,500-foot (460 m) pier, a 30-foot-wide (9.1 m) boardwalk, a system of over 10,000 lights, and numerous attractions and roller coasters. Midland Beach, located southwest of South Beach, became a resort by the 1890s when the South Beach Branch came to the area. It contained a 1,700-foot (520 m) pier jutting into

7524-512: The population was 727. The government granted land patents in rectangular blocks of 80 acres (320,000 m ), with the most desirable lands along the coastline and inland waterways. By 1708, the entire island had been divided up in this fashion, creating 166 small farms and two large manorial estates, the Dongan estate and a 1,600 acres (6.5 km ) parcel on the southwestern tip of the island belonging to Christopher Billopp. The first county seat

7623-701: The promised goods for the land a few months later. At the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667, the Dutch ceded New Netherland to England in the Treaty of Breda , and the Dutch Staaten Eylandt , anglicized as "Staten Island", became part of the new English colony of New York . In 1670, the Native Americans ceded all claims to Staten Island to the English in a deed to Governor Francis Lovelace . In 1671, in order to encourage an expansion of

7722-513: The redevelopment of the boardwalk would serve to improve the quality of Staten Island's East Shore in general, similar to how the Rockaway Boardwalk's construction had improved the Rockaways. At the time, 1.2 million people per year were visiting the beach and boardwalk. The $ 6.46 million redevelopment of Staten Island's East Shore beaches was commenced the following March, though the project

7821-464: The renovation was completed in 1958. When the project was entirely completed in the 1960s, it included three sections, the original South Beach as well as two new sections at Graham and Midland Beaches. The renovation was performed in conjunction with the planning of what would become the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge , which would provide Staten Island's first physical connection to the rest of New York City. Close to $ 1 million for additional improvements to

7920-489: The route of the boardwalk. From north to south, they are Playland at Sand Lane; Midland Playground at Graham Avenue; and Midland Beach Playground at Greeley Avenue. Fountain of the Dolphins is a statue at South Beach by sculptor Steven Dickey . It was donated in 1998 by the Staten Island borough president and consists of six bronze depictions of dolphins, attached to poles with multicolored water jets. The Capodanno Memorial

8019-572: The shore. In particular, two amusement parks were developed on the site of the modern-day boardwalk: Happyland Amusement Park and Midland Beach . In 1884, opened the South Beach Branch of the Staten Island Railway , which in turn led to the Staten Island Ferry at St. George Terminal . As a result of its easy accessibility from Brooklyn and Manhattan , the resorts evolved into amusement places similar to Coney Island . The sites of

8118-627: The shoreline between New Jersey and Long Island. The region is considered vulnerable to sea-level rise. On October 29, 2012, the island experienced severe damage and loss of life along with the destruction of many homes during Hurricane Sandy . In addition to the main island, the borough and county also include several small uninhabited islands: South Beach%E2%80%93Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk The South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk , alternately referred to as

8217-553: The southern end of Manhattan Island . General George Washington led the entire Continental Army to New York City in anticipation of the British attack. Howe used the strategic location of Staten Island as a staging ground for the invasion. Over 140 British ships arrived over the summer of 1776 and anchored off the shores of Staten Island at the entrance to New York Harbor. The British soldiers and Hessian mercenaries numbered about 30,000. Howe established his headquarters in New Dorp at

8316-562: The supercontinent of Pangaea . The Palisades Sill has been designated a National Natural Landmark , being "the best example of a thick diabase sill in the United States". It underlies a portion of northwest Staten Island, with a visible outcropping in Travis , off Travis Road in the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge . This is the same formation that appears in New Jersey and upstate New York along

8415-463: The television sitcom Gilligan's Island (1964–1967), who left $ 1.5 million to the Actors Fund after her death. In 2003, it was named in honor of Lillian Booth, a philanthropist who donated $ 2 million to the facility. (year of birth–year of death; sorted by year of death) The facility was the subject of the short documentary film Curtain Call (2000), directed by Charles Braverman ;

8514-408: The terminus of the glacier is known as the terminal moraine present along the central portion of the island. The evidence of these glacial periods is visible in the remaining wooded areas of Staten Island in the form of glacial erratics and kettle ponds . At the retreat of the ice sheet, Staten Island was connected by land to Long Island, as the Narrows had not yet formed. Geologists' reckonings of

8613-427: The work would employ up to 4,000 people. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) commissioner Robert Moses criticized the boardwalk, saying that its development would encourage private developers to block access to the beach. The project was described as a mixture of Coney Island's Riegelmann Boardwalk and Jones Beach . The plans called for a 180-foot-wide (55 m) beach to be built before

8712-599: Was a staple of their diet, including the Eastern oyster ( Crassostrea virginica ) abundant in the waterways throughout the present-day New York City region. Evidence of their habitation can still be seen in shell middens along the shore in the Tottenville section, where oyster shells larger than 12 inches (300 mm) are sometimes found. Burial Ridge , a Lenape burial ground on a bluff overlooking Raritan Bay in Tottenville ,

8811-610: Was built on the landward side of the boardwalk. A "protected" bicycle lane , segregated from other traffic, stretches the length of the boardwalk. The South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk is very lightly used compared to other beaches in New York City. In 2017, South Beach and Boardwalk saw 334,000 visitors, compared to 2 million at Orchard Beach in the Bronx , 5 million at Rockaway Beach in Queens , and 6.7 million at Coney Island. The South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk

8910-549: Was closed in 1994 through the Base Realignment and Closure process because of its small size and the expense of basing personnel there. Fresh Kills and its tributaries are part of the largest tidal wetland ecosystem in the region. Its creeks and wetlands have been designated a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation . Opened along Fresh Kills as

9009-420: Was enabled along the boardwalk in 2012, making it one of several Wi-Fi hotspots around the city. That October, the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk was damaged by Hurricane Sandy . Over a period of nine months, portions of the boardwalk were gradually repaired and reopened, and NYC Parks workers from other boroughs were sent to Staten Island to repair the boardwalk quickly. One damaged portion of

9108-692: Was erected in 1961. In 1975, the facility was merged with the Percy Williams Home on Long Island , New York. The facilities were expanded in 1988 with a 50-bed nursing home . In the same year, the Edwin Forrest wing was created at the nursing home after a merger with the Edwin Forrest Home in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . In 1993, a wing was named in honor of actress Natalie Schafer , notable for her role as Eunice "Lovey" Wentworth Howell on

9207-705: Was established in New Dorp in what was called Stony Brook at the time. In 1729, the county seat was moved to the village of Richmond Town, located at the headwaters of the Fresh Kills near the center of the island. By 1771, the island's population had grown to 2,847. Staten Islanders were solidly supportive of the Crown, and the island played a significant role in the American Revolutionary War . General George Washington once called Islanders "our most inveterate enemies". As support of independence spread throughout

9306-466: Was named after Father Vincent R. Capodanno , a local resident who was a chaplain in the United States Navy and was killed in 1967 during the Vietnam War . A granite monument on the boardwalk was dedicated to him in 1976, and Seaside Boulevard was renamed after Capodanno the same year. Located at Sand Lane and Fr. Capodanno Boulevard, the memorial consists of a bronze and steel tablet recessed in

9405-448: Was nearly completed by the end of 1936. Twelve jetties and a parallel beach section had also been completed, though a section across New Creek in Midland Beach was progressing slowly. By June 1937, the entire boardwalk was essentially completed. An official opening ceremony was held on July 4, 1937, and was attended by 25,000 people. Upon its opening the boardwalk was named after U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt , who participated in

9504-569: Was not approved until that May. Moses also proposed to charge 25 cents for parking and 10 cents to enter the boardwalk, drawing up to 2.4 million people within 30 years. The development included adding bathhouses; parking lots with spaces for 7,000 cars; several small bus terminals; comfort stations; and recreational facilities such as playgrounds, baseball fields, handball courts, roller hockey fields, skateparks , shuffleboard courts, bocce courts, and checkers tables. Some 2,000,000 cubic yards (1,500,000 m ) of fill were dredged from

9603-459: Was not spared the bloodshed that culminated in Kieft's War . In the summer of 1641 and in 1642, Native American tribes laid waste to Old Town. On July 10, 1657, the Native Americans signed a deed to Lubbertus van Dincklage, attorney of Henrick van der Capelle tho Ryssel, for the purchase of all indigenous lands on Staten Island. However, this deed was annulled when the Dutch purchasers failed to deliver

9702-419: Was originally settled by the Dutch, who created the modern-day neighborhoods of Midland Beach and South Beach. Though summer homes were built along the beach in the mid-18th century, these areas remained rural until the later portion of the century. By 1882, businessmen realized that the area could be developed as a resort, and amusements such as theaters, hotels, bathing pavilions, and casinos were added along

9801-470: Was prohibited. In the mid-1980s, the NYC Parks budget increased greatly, allowing the agency to renovate two ballfields at the boardwalk in 1986, as well as install new benches. Meanwhile, the water pollution near the boardwalk became so bad that the city stopped placing lifeguards in 1990. The beach and boardwalk continued to be affected by vandalism, pollution, and general neglect. The beachfront received

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