For centuries, ice harvesting had been a big part of the winter season.During the 19th century, the harvesting of Silver Lake's ice was very important.During the remaining seasons, the lake was used for swimming, boating, fishing, and ice skating.The area also held 1897's National Skating Amateur Championship races.Around 1911, refrigerators were made available to the United States, rendering the industry of ice harvesting useless.In 1917, Silver Lake was drained to be used as a reservoir. It was later replaced by underground storage tanks.

Silver Lake Park was Staten Island's first established city park.By the end of the 19th century, the growing population called for a park that could match the attraction of Central and Prospect Parks in Manhattan…

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Old Town Playground is a small parcel of land, which is roughly two and a half acres inpark_1_400each Houses complex, which was built across the street from this site. Just a few years later, the Board of Estimate transferred the property to be operated by both the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the Board of Education. This was due to the fact that Old Town Playground is located next to Public School 46.

Old Town Playground received its name from the first settlement that was set up on Staten Island. This park was in the confines of this settlement when it was first established. Since the original settlement was split up into a few neighborhoods, today the park sits in the neighborhood of South Beach.

Old Town Playground houses more than…

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In 1906, Happlyland Amusement Park opened in South Beach, on the East Shore of Staten Island. The amusement park was very popular in its day, attracting residents from nearby boroughs as well as Staten Island inhabitants. There were sb_park_2_400concession stands, a carousel, Vaudeville performance, a pool, and more. There were also small hotels which lined the beach for vacationers. During the first third of the 20th century, fires began to destroy what had developed into a summer resort. While Happyland was rebuilt each time, it finally saw its end in the early 1930's, when the rebuilding of the park proved to be financially futile.

With the closing of Happyland, the construction of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk began, replacing the decrepit…

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