Prodigy Real Estate - SI NY Real Estate Blog - May, 2012

The Staten Island Railway (SIRT) today...

Today, the main line of the Staten Island Railway is still in operation and is quite popular.  There are currently twenty-two stations being used.  However, a station just before the last stop in southern Staten Island is planned and will replace the second- and third-to-last stops, which are quite close together.  This station would be known as the Arthur Kill Road station, as that is where it will be located.

The first station of the Staten Island Railway is at the St. George Ferry Terminal, which is located at Bay Street and 
Richmond Terrace.  This wheelchair-accessible station provides passengers with access to the ferry, as well as over one dozen buses which begin or end their routes here and travel to points all over the Island.  These buses…

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Staten Island Railroad- A historic look back

Between April 23 and June 2 of 1860, Staten Island was given its very own rail line. The track consisted of eighteen stations which began at Clifton and traveled along the East Shore of the Staten Island all the way down to Tottenville. This line was known as the Staten Island Railroad and, soon after having been constructed, was purchased by Cornelius Vanderbilt, who had also owned the ferry terminals on this side of the Island.

Many people believed the railroad to be a prosperous business and so it went through a handful of owners. Since Cornelius Vanderbilt had owned the ferries, you can imagine what an impact it had on him when a boiler exploded on the ferry Westfield in 1871. This left Cornelius Vanderbilt bankrupt, which led to the purchasing…

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Bricktown Centre Shopping Center: Staten Island's newest large scale commercial projects.

During the turn of the century, the topic of discussion for many Staten Islanders was over 130 acres of land in the southern portion of the Island.  A debate arose, with one side in favor of building of a shopping center and the other in favor of constructing a school, a park, and less retail.  In 2002, forty-two of the 130 acres were suggested to be used for the shopping center.  By 2005, after having agreed to this, ground was broken by the Blumenfeld Development Group for what would become the Bricktown Centre.

By 2007, the $100 million Bricktown Centre was completed.  That same year, it opened in Staten Island to the still-rural neighborhood of Charleston, at 2700-2900 Veterans Road West.  Within the shopping center are Bed Bath & Beyond, a retail…

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132-Acre Park is well on the way for Staten Island's Great Kills Neighborhood.

Long overdue, the blight of former "Brookfield" is undergoing one of the largest remediation and transformations in New York State history. Now, Staten Island will be graced with one of the most picturesque parks in New York City.

If you live on Staten Island, there's a high chance you've heard about how the Fresh Kills Landfill will be transformed into a park in the future.  What you may not have heard, though, is that Staten Island is home to yet another landfill which will also be transformed into a park.  While it may not take up as much space as the Fresh Kills Landfill, it is still pretty big, itself.(Photo© Below A New Day Awakens Brookfield, Staten Island) 

From the late 1960s, up until the early 1980s, a 132-acre site above Staten Island's…

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The Staten Island Expressway is Staten Island's main artery.

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 before 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…

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Tottenville Pool: A man made oasis provided by New York City

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…

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Arbutus Woods: Part of Staten Island's vast bluebelt system

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…

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Long Pond Park on Staten Island's South Shore.

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 into…

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Faber Park and Pool on Staten Island's North Shore

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 during 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 history of one…

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Woodhull Park in Huguenot is one of Staten Island's more recent additions.

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 Association,…

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