Staten Island ( ) is a
borough of New York City
in the southwest part of the city.
Staten
Island is separated from 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
487,407, Staten Island is the least populated of the five boroughs
but is the third largest in area at .
The
Borough of Staten Island is coextensive with Richmond
County, the southernmost county in the state of New York
.
Until 1975, the borough was officially named the Borough of
Richmond. Staten Island has been sometimes called "the forgotten
borough" by inhabitants who feel neglected by the
city government.
Staten Island is overall the most suburban of the five boroughs of
New York City.
The North Shore, especially the neighborhoods
of St.
George
, Tompkinsville
, Park Hill
, and Stapleton, is the most urban part
of the island; it contains the officially designated St. George
Historic District and The St. Paul’s Avenue-Stapleton Heights
Historic District, which feature large Victorian homes.
The South
Shore has more suburban-style residential neighborhoods and is home
to the two and one-half mile long F.D.R.
Boardwalk, the fourth longest in the world.
Historically, the central and southern sections of the island were
once dominated by dairy and poultry farms, almost all of which
disappeared in the 20th century.
The
borough is accessible to Brooklyn
via the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
and to New Jersey via the Goethals
Bridge
, Outerbridge Crossing
, and Bayonne Bridge
. Staten Island has Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA) bus service and an MTA rapid
transit line, the Staten Island
Railway, which runs from the ferry terminal at St. George to
Tottenville
. The free Staten Island Ferry connects the borough
to Manhattan
and is a popular tourist attraction, providing
views of the Statue of
Liberty
, Ellis
Island
and lower Manhattan.
History
Geologically, Staten Island was formed in the wake of the last
ice age.
In the late Pleistocene between 20,000 and 14,000 years ago,
the ice sheet that covered northeastern
North America reached as far south as present day New York City, to
a depth of approximately the same height as the Empire State
Building
. At one point, during its maximum reach, the
ice sheet precisely ended at the center of present day Staten
Island, forming a
terminal moraine on the
existing
diabase sill. The central
moraine of the island is sometimes called the
Serpentine ridge because it contains large
amounts of that particular mineral.
At the
retreat of the ice sheet, Staten Island was connected by land to
Long
Island
because The Narrows
had not yet formed. Geologists' reckonings of 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
.
As in much of North America, human habitation appeared in the
island fairly rapidly after the retreat of the ice sheet.
Archaeologists have recovered tool evidence of
Clovis culture activity dating from
approximately 14,000 years ago. The island was probably abandoned
later, possibly because of the
extinction
of large
mammals on the island. Evidence of
the first permanent
American Indian
settlements and agriculture are thought to date from about 5,000
years ago (Jackson, 1995), although early archaic habitation
evidence has been found in multiple locations on the island
(Ritchie 1963).
In the 16th century, the island was part of a larger area known as
Lenapehoking that was inhabited by the
Lenape, an
American Indian people
who
speak their own languages
within the
Algonquian languages
group, and who were later named the "Delaware" by Europeans. The
band that occupied the southern part of the island was called the
Raritan. To the Lenape, the island
was known as
Aquehonga Manacknong and
Eghquaons
(Jackson, 1995). The island was laced with 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.
The staples of their
diet included shellfish, including the
oysters that are native to both Upper New
York Bay
and Lower New York
Bay.
Staten Island
The first
recorded European contact with the island was
in 1524 by Giovanni da
Verrazzano, who sailed through The Narrows. In 1609,
Henry
Hudson established
Dutch trade in
the area and named the island
Staaten Eylandt after the
Staten-Generaal,
the
Dutch parliament.
Although
the first Dutch settlement of the New
Netherland colony was made on nearby Manhattan in 1620, Staaten Eylandt remained
uncolonized by the Dutch for many decades. From 1639 to
1655, the Dutch made three separate attempts to establish a
permanent settlement on the island, but each time the settlement
was destroyed in the conflicts between the Dutch and the local
tribes.
In 1661, the first permanent Dutch
settlement was established at Oude Dorp (Dutch for "Old Village"), just south of
the
Narrows near South Beach
, by a small group of Dutch, Walloon, and Huguenot
families. Today, the last vestige of Oude Dorp exists as the
present-day neighborhood of
Old
Town, adjacent to Old Town Road.
Richmond County
At the
end of the Second Anglo-Dutch
War in 1667, the Dutch ceded New
Netherlands colony to England
in the Treaty of
Breda, and what was now 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 Gov.
Francis
Lovelace. In 1671, in order to encourage an expansion of 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 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 in charge of a company
of infantry. The following year, he settled on Staten Island, where
he was granted a patent for of land. According to one version of an
oft-repeated but inaccurate myth, Capt. Billopp's seamanship
secured Staten Island to New York, rather than to New Jersey: the
Island would belong to New York if the captain could circumnavigate
it in one day, which he did, according to the myth. Mayor
Michael Bloomberg perpetuated the myth by
referring to it at a news conference in Brooklyn on February 20,
2007.
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, were designated as
Richmond County.
The name derives from the title of an illegitimate son of King
Charles II.
In 1687 and 1688, the English divided the island into four
administrative divisions based on natural features: the 5100 acre
(21 km²) manorial estate of colonial governor
Thomas Dongan in the central hills known as
the "Lordship or Manner of Cassiltown," along with the North,
South, and West divisions. These divisions would later evolve into
the four townships Castleton, Northfield, Southfield, and
Westfield. In 1698, the population was 727.
The government granted land patents in rectangular blocks of eighty
acres (320,000 m²), 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 1600 acre (6.5 km²)
parcel on the southwestern tip of the island belonging to
Christopher Billop (Jackson, 1995).
In 1729, a county seat was established at 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.
The American Revolution and 19th century
The island played a significant role in the
American Revolutionary War.
On March
17, 1776, the British forces under William
Howe evacuated Boston
and sailed
for Halifax, Nova Scotia. From Halifax, Howe prepared to attack
New York
City, which then consisted entirely of 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,
which was the largest armada to set sail until the
Second World War. The British troops and
Hessian mercenaries numbered at about
30,000. Howe established his headquarters in New Dorp at the
Rose and Crown Tavern near the
junction of present New Dorp Lane and Amboy Road. It is here that
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 the harbor and the capture of
New York City shortly thereafter. Three weeks later, on
September 11, 1776, the British 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 (known today
as Tottenville) on the former estate of Christopher Billop.
The Americans refused the peace offer from the British in exchange
for the withdrawal of the
Declaration of
Independence, however, and the conference ended without an
agreement.
On August 22, 1777, the
Battle
of Staten Island occurred here between the British and several
companies of the
2nd Canadian
Regiment fighting alongside other American companies. While the
battle was inconclusive, with both sides surrendering over a
hundred troops as prisoners, the Americans withdrew.
British forces remained on Staten Island throughout the war. Most
Patriots fled after
the British occupation, and so local sentiment of the remaining
population was predominantly
Loyalist, the islanders found
the demands of supporting the troops to be onerous. The British
kept headquarters in neighborhoods such as Bulls Head. Many
buildings and churches were destroyed, and the military demand for
resources resulted in an extensive
deforestation of the island by the end of the
war. The British again used the island as a staging ground for
their final evacuation of New York City on December 5, 1783.
After the
war, the largest Loyalist landowners fled to Canada
and their
estates were subdivided and sold.
On July 4, 1827, the end of slavery in New York state was
celebrated at Swan Hotel, West Brighton. Rooms at the hotel were
reserved months in advance as local abolitionists and prominent
free blacks prepared for the festivities. Speeches, pageants,
picnics, and fireworks marked the celebration, which lasted for two
days.
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.
Consolidation with New York City
These towns and villages were dissolved in 1898 with the
consolidation of the
City of
Greater New York, with Richmond as one of its
five boroughs.
Except
for the areas along the harbor, however, the borough remained
relatively undeveloped until the building of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1964, which opened up the island to explosive
suburban development by giving it direct road access to
Brooklyn. The Verrazano, 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 the borough's old
neighborhoods. This road expansion was planned initially by
Robert Moses.
Throughout the 1980s, a movement to
secede
from the city steadily grew in popularity, reaching its peak during
the mayoral term of
David Dinkins. In
a 1993 referendum, 65% voted to secede, 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 was
composed of two sections: a home port in Stapleton and a larger
section around Fort
Wadsworth
, where the
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge enters the island. Originally, this base
was to be the home port for the battleship USS Iowa 
, but an explosion in one of the ship's
turrets led to the vessel's decommissioning. A number of
other vessels, including the
frigates USS
Donald B. Beary FF 1085 and USS Ainsworth FF 1090 and at least one
cruiser, the
USS
Normandy (CG-60), were based there. The base was closed in 1994
through the
Base
Realignment and Closure process because of its small size and
the expense of basing personnel there. A subsequent plan to use the
site as a movie studio headed by actor and New York native
Danny Aiello faltered due to money problems. It
was recently announced that the property will be converted into a
mixed-use waterfront neighborhood with an announced completion date
of 2009.
Opened as
a "temporary landfill" in 1947, Fresh Kills Landfill
was a repository of trash for the city of New
York. The landfill was closed in 2001, but was briefly
re-opened for the debris from Ground Zero following the
September 11 attacks in 2001. The Fresh
Kills Landfill has been treated and cleaned up.
A park larger than
Central
Park
is in the works. Its creeks and wetlands
have been designated a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife
Habitat by the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC). Fresh Kills and its tributaries are part of the
largest tidal wetland ecosystem in the region. Plans for 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. Already,
many of the landscapes of Fresh Kills possess a stark beauty, with
360 degree, wide horizon views from the hills, over of salt marsh
and a winding network of creeks.
Geography
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the borough-county has a total area of
102.5
sq mi (265.5 km²). Land
comprises 58.5 sq mi (151.5 km²) and water 44.0
sq mi (114.0 km²) of it (42.95%).
Staten
Island is separated from Long Island by the
Narrows and from mainland New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull.
In addition to the main island, the borough and county also include
several small uninhabited islands:
The
highest point on the island, the summit of Todt Hill, elevation 410 ft (125 m), is also
the highest point in the five boroughs, as well as the highest
point on the Atlantic Coastal
Plain south of Great Blue Hill
in Massachusetts
and the highest point on the coast proper south of
Maine
's Camden Hills.
In the
late 1960s the island was the site of important battles of
open-space preservation, resulting in the largest area of parkland
in New York City and an extensive Greenbelt
that laces the island with woodland
trails.
Staten
Island is the only borough in New York City that does not share a
land border with another borough (Marble Hill
in Manhattan is contiguous with the
Bronx).
Adjacent counties
Parks
Some of the island's open space and historic areas were
incorporated in 1972 into
Gateway National Recreation
Area, part of the
National Park
System.
The Staten Island Unit of Gateway NRA is
joined by the Jamaica
Bay Unit in Brooklyn and Queens and the Sandy
Hook
Unit in New Jersey. The Staten Island
Unit comprises Great Kills Park, Miller
Field
, Fort
Wadsworth, Hoffman
Island
, and Swinburne Island
.
Transportation
The
Staten Island Ferry is the only
direct transportation network from Staten Island to Manhattan, roughly a 25 minute trip. The St. George
ferry terminal built in 1950 recently underwent a $130-million
renovation and now features floor-to-ceiling glass for panoramic
views of the harbor and incoming ferries. The ferry had its fare
eliminated in 1997.
Unlike the other four boroughs of New York, Staten Island follows
no numbered
grid system to any
significant degree. The only numbered grid is within a small area
in
New Dorp, which only goes up to 10th
street and does not intersect with any numbered avenues. However,
most Staten Island neighborhoods do follow some degree of grid
system, but they don't follow a system where streets are
perpendicular to avenues, they are not numbered, with few
exceptions, and they are often not contiguous to one another. This
is one reason why Staten Island is significantly suburban compared
to other boroughs.
Staten
Island is connected to Brooklyn via the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge using I-278, the Staten Island Expressway.
Once in
Brooklyn, I-278 becomes the Gowanus Expressway and then the Brooklyn Queens Expressway,
providing access to Manhattan through various tunnels and bridges.
Tourists on a Staten Island ferry
Staten Island is connected to New Jersey via three vehicular
bridges and one railroad bridge.
The Outerbridge Crossing to Perth Amboy, New Jersey
is at the southern end of Route 440 and the
Bayonne
Bridge to Bayonne, New Jersey
is at the northern end of Route 440, which
continues into Jersey City, New Jersey
. From the New
Jersey Turnpike, the Goethals Bridge using I-278 connects to the
Staten Island Expressway. The Arthur Kill
Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge
carries freight between the northwest part of the
island and Elizabeth, New Jersey
.
The
Staten Island Railway
traverses the island from its northeastern tip to its southwestern
tip. Staten Island is the only borough not serviced by the
New York City Subway.
As such,
express bus service is provided by NYC Transit throughout Staten
Island to lower and midtown Manhattan.
Beginning
September 4, 2007, the MTA began offering bus service from Staten
Island to Bayonne, NJ over the Bayonne Bridge via the S89 Bus. It allows passengers to
connect to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail 34th St. Station, giving
Staten Island residents a new route into Manhattan. It is notably,
despite Staten Island's proximity to New Jersey, the only route
directly into New Jersey from Staten Island via public
transportation.
Government and politics
Presidential election results
| Year |
Republican |
Democrat |
| 2008 |
51.7%
86,062 |
47.6% 79,311 |
| 2004 |
56.4%
90,325 |
42.7% 68,448 |
| 2000 |
45.0% 63,903 |
51.9%
73,828 |
| 1996 |
40.8% 52,207 |
50.5%
64,684 |
| 1992 |
47.9%
70,707 |
38.5% 56,901 |
| 1988 |
61.5%
77,427 |
38.0% 47,812 |
| 1984 |
65.1%
83,187 |
34.7% 44,345 |
| 1980 |
58.6%
64,885 |
33.7% 37,306 |
| 1976 |
54.1%
56,995 |
45.4% 47,867 |
| 1972 |
74.2%
84,686 |
25.6% 29,241 |
| 1968 |
55.3%
54,631 |
35.2% 34,770 |
| 1964 |
45.5% 42,330 |
54.4%
50,524 |
| 1960 |
56.5%
38,673 |
43.4% 50,356 |
Since New York City's consolidation in 1898, Staten Island has been
governed by the New York City Charter that provides for a "strong"
mayor-council system. The
centralized New York City government is responsible for public
education, correctional institutions, libraries, public safety,
recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare
services on Staten Island.
The office of
Borough President
was created in the consolidation of 1898 to balance centralization
with local authority. Each borough president had a powerful
administrative role derived from having a vote on the
New York City Board of
Estimate, which was responsible for creating and approving the
city's budget and proposals for land use.
In 1989 the Supreme
Court of the United States
declared the Board of Estimate unconstitutional on
the grounds that Brooklyn, the most populous borough, had no
greater effective representation on the Board than Staten Island,
the least populous borough, a violation of the Fourteenth
Amendment's Equal Protection
Clause pursuant to the high court's 1964 "one man, one vote"
decision.
Since 1990 the Borough President has acted as an advocate for the
borough at the mayoral agencies, the City Council, the New York
state government, and corporations. Staten Island's Borough
President is
James Molinaro, a member
of the
Conservative
Party elected in 2001 and reelected in 2005 with the
endorsement of the
Republican Party. Molinaro
is the only Republican-supported borough president in New York
City.
Staten Island's politics differ considerably from New York City's
other boroughs. Although in 2005 44.7% of the borough's registered
voters were registered Democrats and 30.6% were registered
Republicans, the Republican Party holds a small majority of local
public offices. Staten Island is the base of New York City's
Republican Party in citywide elections. In the 2001 mayoral
election, borough voters chose Republican
Michael Bloomberg, with 75.87% of the
vote, over
Democrat
Mark Green, with 21.15% of the vote. Since Green narrowly lost the
election citywide, Staten Island provided the margin of Bloomberg's
victory. The main political divide in the borough is demarcated by
the Staten Island Expressway; areas north of the Expressway tend to
be more liberal while the south tends to be more conservative.
Local party platforms center on affordable housing, education and
law and order. Two out of
Staten Island's three
New York
City Council members are Republicans.
In national elections Staten Island is not the Republican
stronghold it is in local elections, but it is also not the a
Democratic stronghold the rest of New York City is. The borough is
a Republican-leaning swing county, though like the New York suburbs
in Long Island and Westchester County it has become increasingly
Democratic since the 1990s.
Each of the city's five counties (coterminous with each borough)
have its own criminal court system and
District Attorney, the chief public
prosecutor who is directly elected by popular vote. Daniel Donovan,
a Republican, has been the District Attorney of Richmond County
since 2004. Staten Island has three City Council members, two
Republicans and one Democrat, the smallest number among the five
boroughs. It also has three administrative districts, each served
by a local
Community
Board. Community Boards are representative bodies that field
complaints and serve as advocates for local residents.
Staten Island has voted for a Democratic presidential nominee only
three times since 1952: in 1964, 1996, and 2000. In the
2004 presidential
election Republican
George W.
Bush received 57% of the vote in
Staten Island and Democrat
John Kerry
received 42%. By contrast, Kerry outpolled Bush in New York City's
other four boroughs by a cumulative margin of 77% to 22%. In the
2008
presidential election Republican
John
McCain won 51% of the vote and Democrat
Barack Obama won 47%.
Staten Island flag
The flag is on a white background in the center of which is the
design of a seal in the shape of an oval. Within the seal appears
the color blue to symbolize the skyline of the borough, in which
two seagulls appear colored in black and white. The green outline
represents the countryside of the borough with white outline
denoting the residential areas of Staten Island.Below is inscribed
the words "Staten Island" in gold. Below this are five wavy lines
of blue to symbolize the water that surrounds the island borough on
all sides. Gold fringe outlines the flag.
Demographics
| Staten Island
Compared |
| 2000 Census |
Staten
Island |
New York
|
New York
|
| Total population |
443,728 |
8,008,278 |
18,976,457 |
| People per square mile |
7,588 |
26,403 |
402 |
| People per square km |
2,930 |
10,194 |
155 |
Median household
income (1999) |
$55,039 |
$38,293 |
$43,393 |
| Per capita income |
$23,905 |
$22,402 |
$23,389 |
Bachelor's degree
or higher |
27% |
27% |
24% |
| Foreign born |
16% |
36% |
20% |
| White |
78% |
45% |
68% |
| Black |
11% |
27% |
16% |
| Asian |
7% |
10% |
6% |
| Hispanic (any race) |
15% |
27% |
14% |
According to the 2008 estimates of the
United States Census, 487,407 people
live on Staten Island. Staten Island has a
population density of 7,650.5 per square
mile (2,954 per km
2).
According to the 2005-2007 American Community Survey Estimates, the
borough's population was 76.6% White (67.4% non-Hispanic White
alone), 10.6% Black or African American (9.5% non-Hispanic Black or
African American alone), 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native,
7.6% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 6.0%
from some other race and 1.1% from two or more races. 14.7% of the
total population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
20.9% of the population were foreign born and another 1.8% were
born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island areas, or born abroad to American
parents. 29.5% spoke a language other than English at home and
27.1% had a Bachelor's degree or higher.
As of 2000, there were 464,573 people, 256,341 households, and
214,128 families residing in the borough/county. The
population density was 2,929.6/km²
(7,587.9/sq mi). There were 163,993 housing units at an
average density of 1,082.7/km² (2,804.3/sq mi). The racial
makeup is 77.60%
White, 9.67%
Black, .25%
Native American, 5.65%
Asian, .04%
Pacific Islander, 4.14% from
other races, and 2.65%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 12.07% of the
population.
As of 2000 the population represented several European ancestries:
| Staten Island
population |
| By town, by census |
| Census |
Castle-
ton |
Middle-
town |
North-
field |
South-
field |
West-
field |
Total |
| 1790 |
805 |
* |
1,021 |
855 |
1,154 |
3,835 |
| 1800 |
1,056 |
* |
1,377 |
932 |
1,198 |
4,564 |
| 1810 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
5,347 |
| 1820 |
1,527 |
* |
1,980 |
1,012 |
1,616 |
6,135 |
| 1830 |
2,204 |
* |
2,171 |
975 |
1,734 |
7,082 |
| 1840 |
4,275 |
* |
2,745 |
1,619 |
2,326 |
10,965 |
| 1850 |
5,389 |
* |
4,020 |
2,709 |
2,943 |
15,061 |
| 1860 |
6,778 |
6,243 |
4,841 |
3,645 |
3,985 |
25,492 |
| 1870 |
9,504 |
7,589 |
5,949 |
5,082 |
4,905 |
33,029 |
| 1880 |
12,679 |
9,029 |
7,014 |
4,980 |
5,289 |
38,991 |
| 1890 |
16,423 |
10,577 |
9,811 |
6,644 |
8,258 |
51,713 |
| 1900 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
67,021 |
| 1910 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
85,969 |
| 1920 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
116,531 |
| 1930 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
158,346 |
| 1940 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
174,441 |
| 1950 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
191,555 |
| 1960 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
221,991 |
| 1970 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
295,443 |
| 1980 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
352,029 |
| 1990 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
378,977 |
| 2000 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
443,728 |
| est.† 2008 |
* |
* |
* |
* |
* |
487,407 |
|
| † estimate by the Census
Bureau; * = not available
|
Staten
Island (Richmond County) has a higher percentage of Italian-Americans than any other county in
the United
States
, though it comes in 27th amongst Italian-American
communities. Since the 2000 census, a large Russian community has been growing on
Staten Island, particularly in the Rossville, South
Beach, and Great Kills area. There is also a
significant Polish community mainly in the South Beach and Midland
Beach area.
The vast majority of the island's
African-American and
Hispanic residents live north of the
Staten Island Expressway, or
Interstate 278. In terms of religion,
the population is largely
Roman
Catholic.
The Jewish community
is large enough that it would be significant in most other parts of
the country, but it is relatively small compared to other parts of
the New York
Metropolitan Area
. There is a growing presence of
Egyptian Copts, the vast
majority of whom are members of the
Coptic Orthodox
Church.
There were 156,341 households out of which 35.8% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% are
married couples living
together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present,
and 27.0% were non-families. Individuals occupied 23.2% of all
households, and 8.4% of households had someone living alone who was
65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and
the average family size was 3.31.
The population is spread out with 25.5% under the age of 18, 8.5%
from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.6%
who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For
every 100 females there were 93.6 males. For every 100 females age
18 and over, there were 89.6 males.
The median income for a household is $55,039, and the median income
for a family was $64,333. Males had a median income of $50,081
versus $35,914 for females. The
per
capita income for the borough was $23,905. About 7.9% of
families and 10.0% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 13.2% of those under
age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.
Tourism on Staten Island
In 2009, Borough President James Molinaro started a program to
increase tourism on Staten Island. At the top of that program was a
new website, http://www.visitstatenisland.com, the official tourism
website for the Borough of Staten Island, NY. The website was
developed by local web development firm
Mindsaw in
cooperation with the Borough Presidents office and was Launched in
July 2009.
The Tourism Program also includes a "Staten Island Attractions"
video that is aired in both the Staten Island and the Manhattan
Whitehall Ferry Terminals, as well as informational Kiosks at the
Terminals which supply printed information on Staten Island
Attractions, Entertainment and Restaurants.
Culture
Local support for the arts
Artists and musicians have been moving to Staten Island's North
Shore so they can be in close proximity to Manhattan but also have
enough affordable space to live and work in. Recently The New York
Times and NY1 News featured Staten Island as a haven for artists.
Filmmakers, most of whom work independently, also play an important
part on Staten Island's art scene, which has been recognized by the
local government. Conceived by the Staten Island Economic
Development Corporation to introduce independent and international
films to a broad and diverse audience, the Staten Island Film
Festival (SIFF) held its first four-day festival in 2006.
Museums
Snug Harbor
Cultural Center
, the Alice Austen House
Museum, the Conference
House, the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum, Historic
Richmond Town
, Jacques Marchais Museum
of Tibetan Art, the Noble Maritime Collection, Sandy Ground
Historical Museum,, Staten Island Children's
Museum, the Staten Island
Museum and the Staten Island Botanical
Garden
, home of the The New York Chinese
Scholar's Garden.
While Staten Island was selected as the future site of the National
Lighthouse Museum, the fate of that project is unclear.
Attractions
Historic
Richmond Town is New York City’s living history village and
museum complex. Visitors can explore the diversity of the
American experience, especially that of Staten Island and its
neighboring communities, from the colonial period to the present.
The village area occupies of a site with about 15 restored
buildings, including homes, commercial and civic buildings, and a
museum.
The
island is home to the Staten Island Zoo
, which recently opened a newly refurbished reptile
exhibit. Zoo construction commenced in 1933 as part of the
Federal Government’s works program on an eight-acre (three-hectare)
estate willed to New York City. It was opened on June 10, 1936, the
first zoo in the U.S. specifically devoted to an educational
mandate. The Society has remained steadfast in its concentration on
this goal, which is still a vital part of the Society’s current
mission. The Staten Island Zoo was also the first zoo anywhere to
exhibit all the 32 varieties of rattlesnakes known to occur in the
United States. In the late 1960s the Zoo maintained the most
complete rattlesnake collection in the world with 39
varieties.
Theater
The newly renovated St. George Theatre serves as a cultural arts
center for a myriad of activities including outreach educational
programs, architectural tours, television and film shoots,
concerts, comedy, Broadway touring companies and small and large
scale children's shows. It has featured many known artists such as
The Jonas Brothers, Tony Bennett, and Don McLean.
Media
Staten Island's local paper is the
The Staten Island Advance.
They also have an affiliated website called silive.com.
The free monthly
What's Good? magazine launched in
September 2009, by Staten Island born entrepreneur Richard N.
Castaldo, provides a directory of dining, nightlife, culture, and
sightseeing destinations. The publication aims to uplift the
perception of Staten Island by highlighting the positive elements
of the borough. Their website www.whatsgoodmagazine.com
[19157]
offers visitors a way to read the magazine online before they
arrive to help plan their stay.
SI Parent, Staten Island's parenting magazine has been
publishing monthly issues since 1989. Their website
siparent.com debuted in 2005. The parent company, Family
Resource Publications, Inc. also publishes an annual
S.I.
Parent Resource Handbook since 1997.
The
documentary "A Walk Around Staten Island with David Hartman and Barry
Lewis" premiered on public
television station WNET
on
December 3, 2007, profiling Staten Island culture and history,
including major attractions such as the Staten Island Ferry, Historic
Richmondtown
, the Conference House, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, the Chinese Scholars Garden and many more
sites.
Film and television
Movies filmed partially or wholly on Staten Island include
The Godfather;
Working Girl;
War of the Worlds;
Sorry, Wrong Number;
Sisters;
Splendor in the Grass;
GoodFellas;
Donnie Brasco;
Shamus;
School of Rock;
Two Family House;
He Knows You're Alone;
Analyze This;
Big Daddy;
The Astronaut's Wife;
Scent of a Woman;
Freedomland;
The Toxic Avenger;
Easy Money and
Big Fan. Also independent films
The Atomic Space Bug (1999),
Stairwell: Trapped
in the World Trade Center (2002) and
A Conversation with Norman
(2005) were filmed on Staten Island and directed by
Jonathan M. Parisen.
Combat Shock (1986) and
No Way
Home (1996) were filmed by Staten Island director
Buddy Giovinazzo.
How to Lose a Guy in 10
Days was also filmed in Staten Island.
Television series shot partially or wholly on Staten Island include
The Education of Max
Bickford and
The Book of Daniel as
well as parts of many episodes of
Law & Order and
Law & Order: Special
Victims Unit. The sitcom
Grounded for Life was set on Staten
Island, while the animated
Godzilla: The Series, the
Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team (HEAT), which monitors
Godzilla, has their headquarters based on Staten Island in an old
ferry terminal.
Music
Singer
Christina Aguilera,
David Johansen (also known as
Buster Poindexter) of the
New York Dolls,
Ingrid Michaelson,
Eamon,
Rick
Schroder (the actor),
Alyssa
Milano (the actress), and
Vernon
Reid of
Living Colour were born or
reside on Staten Island. The
hard
rock band
White Lion and the
critically acclaimed
hip hop-collective
Wu-Tang Clan (who dubbed the borough
"Shaolin") and rapper
Shyheim all formed on
Staten Island.
Force MD's were from Staten
Island, their top ten hit was Tender Love. Drummer A.J. Pero from
Twisted Sister resides in Staten
Island. Vito and the Elegants had a #1 hit in 1959 with Little
Star, whIch was recorded on South Beach Staten Island.
Joan Baez was born on Staten Island, and
Blackie Lawless from
W.A.S.P..
Sports
Hospitals
Education
Public schools
Education in Staten Island is provided by a number of public and
private institutions. Public schools in the borough are managed by
the
New York City
Department of Education, the largest public school system in
the United States.
Public
middle schools include Intermediate Schools 2, 7, 24, 27,32, 34,
49
, 51,6163 72 and 75, as well as part
of the Petrides School (which runs
from kindergarten to High School)
Public high schools include:
Private schools
- Staten Island Academy
is the only independent private (non-public,
non-religious) grade school on the island and is one of the oldest
in the entire country.
- Catholic high schools include:
Colleges and universities
Libraries
Twelve
branches of the New York Public Library
serve the borough.
Notable natives and residents
Notes
- The Lenape are not "Algonquian Indians". As the
Algonquian languages article explains, this refers to a linguistic
category, not an ethnicity.
- , as cited in:
- [1]
- Fresh Kills: Landfill to close
- Hipsters on Staten Island - Video Library - The New
York Times
References
External links
(at the mouth of Fresh
Kills)
(in the Arthur Kill
(in Newark
Bay
; part of it belongs to New Jersey
– north
– west
– west
– east
– south
.jpg/180px-MTA_New_York_City_Bus_MCI_D4500CL_(2007).jpg)
, near the site of the current-day Staten Island
Yankees' Richmond County Bank Ballpark
and the Staten Island Ferry terminal.
Dreyfus
Intermediate School 49
.
, incorporated in 1866, is the oldest continuously
operating cricket club in the United
States.
Wagner High School
is one of the six senior colleges of the City University of New York
(CUNY). The college offers both associate's and bachelor's
degrees. The College of Staten Island also offers post-graduate
level study from master's to doctoral level study.
has a campus on Staten Island. It is a
private, coeducational Roman Catholic university.
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