By: John Raimonda
Staten Island is one of the five boroughs of New York City. Commonly dubbed the Forgotten Borough, Staten Island is often ostracized as it stands in the shadows of the larger, more populous boroughs of New York City. I, born and raised in Staten Island, have experienced all this borough has to offer- the good and the bad. While it’s obviously not a perfect place, I believe Staten Island is severely misunderstood with many of its great qualities overlooked.
Unlike the other boroughs of NYC, much of Staten Island doesn’t offer that all-encompassing urban feel that you’ll likely experience elsewhere in the city. While the North Shore of the island (the part closest to Manhattan and the Staten Island Ferry) is more urbanized with higher density housing, high walkability, good transit, etc., the further south you go, the more suburban it becomes- consisting heavily of strip malls and commercial centers scattered throughout blocks of single-family homes as you reach the South Shore. Something that you will find all over the island, however, is an abundance of parks. Also dubbed the “Borough of Parks”, Staten Island has a system of forests and wetlands called the Greenbelt that comprises nearly ¼ of the island's total land area.
I am from Mid-Island, more specifically the neighborhood of Oakwood Heights. Basically everywhere that I, a teenager, needed to get to I was able to do so through either walking, biking, or public transport. In high school, every morning I would either bike or walk to school depending on the weather. After school, most days were spent getting food with my friends at the nearby New Dorp Lane or its intersecting street, Hylan Boulevard. A highly walkable commercial street, New Dorp Lane is where I’d get my haircuts, where I went to the dentist, where I worked my first job, and where my favorite bubble tea shop is. On the road’s southeast end, it connected to Midland Beach and Miller Field- a massive grass field where I spent a lot of time playing baseball and hanging out with friends. The northwest end, just a few blocks from my house and high school, had everything I needed including a stop for the Staten Island Railway, conveniently connecting me to the rest of the island. On weekends, I would often bike to the beach with my mom and ride up and down the boardwalk or we’d go for runs along the nature trails located just down my block. On summer nights, my friends and I often spent time in Historic Richmond Town, a historic village preserved from colonial times that hosts an old-fashioned ice cream parlor and weekly performances from local bands. This unique blend of environments, ranging from urban low-rise commercial buildings, to single-family homes with tree-lined streets, to local parks, forests, and a beach plentiful with wildlife, makes for a neighborhood that is diverse in its offerings, easy/comfortable to navigate, and plentiful with local businesses. There’s an almost small-town feel, that when paired with the strong infrastructure of NYC, I am connected to these highly urbanized environments whilst living in areas maintaining that small-town sense of community.
*image #1 of North Shore Staten Island (by Max Touhey; http://www.metouhey.com/)
*image #2 of Historic Richmond Town (https://historichousetrust.org)