All Blog Entries by Anthony Licciardello 
There are currently 2027 blog entries published by Anthony Licciardello.
The Staten Island Expressway is Staten Island's main artery.
Thursday, May 17th, 2012 at 8:18am. 44 Views, 0 Comments.
In April of 1957, plans were approved for a freeway which would be comprised of eight express lanes and four service lanes, running west and east through Staten Island. Construction began in 1959 on what would be known as the Clove Lakes Expressway. On January 30, 1964, the first section opened from the Goethals Bridge to Victory Boulevard. Ten months later, on November 19, the rest of the expressway had been completed--just a few days be
fore the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge first opened.
Today, the Staten Island Expressway is undergoing many changes. The bus lanes that were created in 1998 began to be used as high-occupancy vehicles in 2008. Late last year, it was finalized that these lanes would be extended. Additionally, the removal of certain…
Tottenville Pool: A man made oasis provided by New York City
Sunday, May 13th, 2012 at 8:34am. 60 Views, 0 Comments.
You may recall the reasoning behind the naming of the neighborhood Tottenville, if you have read the historical information we have provided you with on our website. The neighborhood was given its name because of a post office which stood in the area. In 1861, it was given the name Tottenville Post Office, after the first postmaster, John Totten. There were two factors in 
giving the neighborhood the name of Tottenville. First of all, the post office served the neighborhood. Second of all, the Totten family had grown to be quite prominent on Staten Island.
The Totten family was not the only well-known family on Staten Island. In fact, during the end of the seventeenth century, many people came to this Island from France and came to be recognized…
Arbutus Woods: Part of Staten Island's vast bluebelt system
Sunday, May 13th, 2012 at 7:54am. 58 Views, 0 Comments.
Arbutus Woods Park is approximately two and a half acres of woodlands in the neighborhood of Huguenot. It is located between Arbutus Avenue and Stecher Street, with the entrance to the park being on Stecher Street. Arbutus Woods Park is 
named after the trailing arbutus plant, which used to grow all over Staten Island, especially in this area, prior to 1940. It is now extinct due to the fact that many local residents used the plant as a salad vegetable. The trailing arbutus plant grows low to the ground; it has clusters of small pink/white flowers, trailing woody stems, and oval leaves that are smooth on top and slightly hairy on the bottom.
The park is part of the Arbutus Creek watershed. This watershed was given to the Department of Parks and…
Long Pond Park on Staten Island's South Shore.
Saturday, May 12th, 2012 at 12:47pm. 40 Views, 0 Comments.
Long Pond Park is one of the lesser-known parks on Staten Island in Richmond Valley. You can probably get away with saying that it is hidden in plain sight. Long Pond Park is quite large, being about one hundred acres in size, but since this 
undeveloped land does not have any arresting entrances, most people do not even know it’s designated as parkland. It has in fact been in possession of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation since the beginning of the twenty-first century. For the most part, Long Pond Park is bounded by the streets of Amboy Road to the north, Hylan Boulevard to the south, Page Avenue to the west, and Richard Avenue to the east. However, there a number of streets interspersed along Page Avenue, which basically jut…
Faber Park and Pool on Staten Island's North Shore
Saturday, May 12th, 2012 at 12:30pm. 29 Views, 0 Comments.
If you ever took notice of the brand of pencils you used to use in school, there’s a good chance you saw the name Faber on at least one of them. These types of pencils had become quite popular in the nineteenth century. Their origin, however, began d
uring the prior century. In 1761, German cabinet maker Kasper Faber began to manufacture his own brand of pencil in Stein, a town located near Nuremberg, Bavaria. After Kasper Faber’s death in 1784, his son, Anton, took over the company. At this time, he changed the company’s name to the A.W. Faber Company. Soon after, the company’s name came to be quite prominent.
You’re probably wondering why you’re being given the history of pencils, but quite frankly, they played a significant role in the…
Woodhull Park in Huguenot is one of Staten Island's more recent additions.
Thursday, May 10th, 2012 at 6:25am. 45 Views, 0 Comments.
About Woodhull Park, Staten Island
In March of 2001, Staten Island lost one of its most recognized activists: Lorraine Sorge. Lorraine Sorge was greatly involved in the borough. She had been known for speaking her mind on topics such as the closing of the 
South Shore’s Staten Island University Hospital, the construction of a jail on Staten Island, and toll hikes on Staten Island’s bridges. In each case, she was very much against each proposal. At the time of her death, Lorraine Sorge was president of the Staten Island Taxpayer’s Association, a non-profit organization made up of Staten Islanders of all communities who are dedicated to improving the whole of the Island.
Aside from being the president of the Staten Island Taxpayer’s…
Sports Park: Manor Heights, Staten Island
Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 at 10:08pm. 41 Views, 0 Comments.
In 1867, Czechoslovakian Moritz Glauber immigrated to New York. After settling in Colorado and opening his own department store, he removed to Tennessee with his new wife, Elsa. By 1910, the couple was living on Staten Island, where they owned a 35-acre estate. In 1944, while living alone in New York City, Moritz Glauber passed away
. On January 17, 1958, the estate was acquired by the City of New York, who transferred the site to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Soon afterward, a little less than five acres were transformed into a park.
For about three decades, the park of which we speak was comprised of nothing more than vegetation. This all changed on February 26 of 1991, when the New York City Department of Parks and…
Bayview Terrace Park: Southeast Annadale, Staten Island
Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 at 8:13pm. 39 Views, 0 Comments.
Bayview Terrace Park is located in the neighborhood of Annadale. It is made up of about two acres of land between Holdridge Avenue and Bennett Place, below Bayview Terrace and next to the ocean. There used to be a nice beach located next to the park that has submerged under water since the late 1950s. Now the park overlooks what is lef
t of the beach with a 17-foot drop down to it.
Bayview Terrace Park is a garden area created by the local gardeners of the area. Before the local gardeners came along to fix it up, the land used to be a city-owned lot filled with trash. In 1991, the local gardeners leased the land from the City to start cleaning it up. With rising rent prices, they went to Community Board 3 to get their help to transfer the lot to the…
Veterans Park: Port Richmond, Staten Island
Sunday, May 6th, 2012 at 8:40pm. 34 Views, 0 Comments.
Veterans Park is on the North Shore of Staten Island in the neighborhood of Port Richmond. It is fully bordered by streets on three sides, and by a school and a street on the fourth side. Veterans Park is located between the 
streets of Park Avenue, Heberton Avenue, Bennett Street and Vreeland Street, as well as by Public School 20.
Veterans Park is one of the oldest parks located on Staten Island. When Staten Island was consolidated into the Greater New York in 1898 there were only three parks on Staten Island. These three parks were Westerleigh Park, Port Richmond Park (now known as Veterans Park), and Washington Square (now known as Tappen Park). Veterans Park was originally designated in 1836, while the community of Port Richmond was being planned…
Willowbrook Park, Staten Island, a park you can make a day out of.
Sunday, May 6th, 2012 at 8:05am. 54 Views, 0 Comments.
In 1909, the City of New York acquired 105 acres of land in the neighborhood of Willowbrook. Twenty years later, this area of land was assigned to the Parks Department. In 1939 and 1940, land was purchased for the 
Willowbrook Parkway. This parkway would have extended from Great Kills Park to the Bayonne Bridge; however, it was never built, and so the land instead went to Willowbrook Park, making it a whopping 164-acre park. Today, the park consists of over 200 acres in the neighborhood which bears the same name. It is located to the east of Richmond Avenue, between the streets of Ashworth Avenue and Victory Boulevard. The eastern boundary of the park is the 240-acre campus for the College of Staten Island.
One of the most popular Greenbelt parks…
