Staten Island Neighborhood Profile: Graniteville
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During the mid-late 19th century, an open mine existed in the North Shore area of Staten Island. This was known as Quarry Hill, in the neighborhood which was, at the time, known as Fayetteville. The quarry was believed to have contained granite, which led to the area's name being changed to Granite Village. The name was later changed to Graniteville, possibly to coincide with Staten Island's other neighborhoods ending in "ville".
By about 1900, an 88-acre cemetery opened in Graniteville. The cemetery, which is still in existence and use, has its office at 1126 Richmond Avenue, was named in honor of German-Jewish philanthropic banker Maurice de Hirsch. The Baron Hirsch Cemetery is quite possibly Graniteville's most famous landmark and is one of Staten Island's Jewish cemeteries.
In Graniteville, there is a 45-acre area of land known as Graniteville Swamp. In 1997 and 2000, less than one-fifth of the swamp was assigned to the Parks Department. This parcel is now known as Graniteville Swamp Park. The park is protected by the Harbor Herons Wildlife Refuge. Graniteville Swamp Park and its surrounding area are inhabited by a variety of plants and animals, making it quite a site to see.
Today, Graniteville is one of Staten Island's post Verrazano Narrows Bridge communities, basally beyond 1965. nearby towns include Bulls Head, Mariners Harbor, However, in the last ten to 15 years, there was a considerable amount of new home construction development in the neighborhood. Graniteville offers up a number of housing options; from one and two family detached homes to new construction town homes; semi attached and a considerable amount of one and two-bedroom condos.
In October of 2009, construction began at 974 Richmond Avenue, across the street from the neighborhood's ShopRite supermarket. Encompassing almost 49,000 square feet, the building will be replacing the 122nd Police Precinct in New Springville, which is by the Staten Island Mall, and will be known as the 121st Police Precinct stationhouse. It will house up to 389 officers and will cover the northwestern neighborhoods of Staten Island. This includes Bloomfield, Bulls Head, Mariners Harbor, Port Richmond, Westerleigh, Willowbrook, and of course Graniteville. The new precinct is expected to be completed by 2012.
Graniteville is occupied and surrounded by quite a few schools. For public school, children may attend the Staten Island School of Civic Leadership, at 280 Regis Drive; P.S. 22, at 1860 Forest Avenue; P.S. 60, at 55 Merrill Avenue; I.S. 51, to 20 Houston Street; Port Richmond High School, at 85 Saint Josephs Avenue; the Staten Island Residential Center, at 1133 Forest Hill Road; Susan E. Wagner High School, at 1200 Manor Road; and the Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School, at 100 Essex Drive. The Catholic schools in the area are St. Adalbert School, at 355 Morningstar Road, and Moore Catholic High School, at 100Merrill Avenue. Another Private school in the area is Rabbi Jacob Joseph School, at 400 Caswell Avenue. Just a point of note, the schools listed in this summary should only be used as a point of reference and should not be used to determine school zones. For zoning and enrolment information of a particular school, you should contact your public school board or the school administration to determine zoning eligibility for a particular address.
There are several local and express buses, which travel through the neighborhood of Graniteville. Coming from the St. George Ferry Terminal, you have the s44, which travels along Richmond Avenue to get to the Staten Island Mall; s46, which travels along South Avenue to get to the West Shore Plaza; and s48, which travels along Forest Avenue to get to Mariners Harbor. There is also the s59, which comes from Port Richmond, along Richmond Avenue, to get to Tottenville. The x10, traveling along Gannon Avenue, and the x30, traveling along Forest Avenue, both go into Midtown Manhattan. The x10 takes the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, while the x30 takes the Goethals Bridge. The x12 takes Narrows Road to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to get to West Midtown. Depending on the time and day, the x17 will take you to either Lower Manhattan or Midtown Manhattan, by traveling along Goethals Road to get to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.