Prodigy Real Estate - SI NY Real Estate Blog - February, 2013

Huguenot Ponds Park: Huguenot, Staten Island

Before the mid-nineteenth century the neighborhood of Huguenot was originally known as Bloomingview.  Huguenot got its name from the many Huguenots, members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France that had moved to the area.  The Huguenots were being prosecuted in France for not converting to Catholicism during the mid-to-late seventeenth century, so many of them fled to America.

By 1851, the Huguenots had established and built their first church in Bloomingview, called "The Brown Church" or "The Church of the Huguenots".  The church had caught on fire in 1918 and was rebuilt on the site that it sits on now, in 1924.  Today, this church is a New York City Landmark and is known as The Reformed Church of Huguenot Park.

By the mid-to-late 1800s,…

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Kingdom Pond Park: Huguenot, Staten Island a passive park.

The neighborhood of Huguenot began to be established in the middle of the seventeenth century.  At this time, the area was known as Bloomingview. Pierre Billiou and his wife Francoise were some of the first Huguenots to settle on Staten Island. Huguenots were people that were a part of the Protestant Reformed Church of France.  At that time, their people were being prosecuted for not converting to Catholicism and those who were lucky enough fled their homeland for America.

By 1849, there were many Huguenots living in Bloomingview and, thanks to religious freedom, the Church of the Huguenots was established. Just two years later, the church was built and was known as "The Brown Church" or "The Church of the Huguenots".  By 1918, the church had caught on…

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Ingram Woods: Westerleigh, Staten Island

The Staten Island neighborhood of Westerleigh became a popular place a couple of decades after the formation of the Prohibition Party in 1869.  Around the late 1880s, twenty-five acres of the current Westerleigh neighborhood became home to the National Prohibition Campground Association, also known as Prohibition Park.  Prohibition Park started off as a campground with some recreational facilities for its visitors.  Soon, people began to settle there instead of having to visit.

In the early twentieth century, the neighborhood of Westerleigh started to become more a residential area.  As a result, the National Prohibition Campground Association started building homes and transferred some of their land to the City of New York.  By the mid-1900s,…

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A look back Staten Island's Real Estate Market in 2012

When you look at the numbers, one thing has become clear: the real estate market locally has stabilized after 5+ years of some of the most tumultuous times in American history.  By no means was it an easy go of it locally-especially after Hurricane Sandy made it to our shoreline back in October of last year.

The impacts of the hurricane were clearly evidenced in home sale numbers for this past November, a month after the storm.  With just 182 home sales, it was a drop of over 14% from the prior month, and a whopping 33% from a year prior.  However, a brighter side emerged after the storm, rebounding a little over 32% in December.

All in all, it was enough to put the market as a whole above 2011 in many facets and it's the first time the market has…

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Last Chance Pond Park: Dongan Hills, Staten Island

With the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1964, many residents of Brooklyn and other nearby places began to move to Staten Island.  With the increase of Staten Island's population and housing, a decrease occurred in Staten Island's undeveloped areas and many of the natural habitats found in the borough began to disappear.  Many of Staten Island's current parks would today be plots of land taken up by houses and buildings if it were not for the residents of Staten Island who did not want to see the beautiful natural habitats destroyed.  If you look into the past of Staten Island's parks, you will hear many stories about how members of the communities worked together to preserve these places.  One such story is that of Last Chance Pond Park, which…

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Maple Woods: Park Hill, Staten Island

On the North Shore of Staten Island, you can find Maple Woods. This is a woodland park that is in a community sometimes referred to as Park Hill. Maple Woods is bound by Richmond Road and is between the streets of Steuben Street, Rhine Avenue, and Pierce Street.

In 1938, the State of New York had given the City of New York the parcel of land that makes up Maple Woods, but on a contingent basis. The City of New York had to use this land for either a park or a playground. From the time the City of New York had received this land up until 1991, the site was left to its own devices. Weeds and vines started to take over the land, while people began to dump items in the park, and it started to become what looked like a vacant lot. In 1991, the New York City…

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Sobel Court Park: Park Hill, Staten Island

On Staten Island's North Shore, you can find the neighborhood of Park Hill. This neighborhood is close to the eastern shore, right above the Staten Island Expressway.  Within the neighborhood are a few parks-one of which is Sobel Court Park.

Before this neighborhood was known as Park Hill, it was called Fox Hills after Lewis Henry Meyer's estate. Lewis H. Meyer was one of the founders of the Staten Island Savings Bank and was their President for ten years. When he bought his property on Staten Island, he built a nice estate that he named Fox Hill Manor, after his love of fox hunting.

Sobel Court Park stretches between Vanderbilt Avenue and Bowen Street and is located between Roff Street and Sobel Court. Prior to this land becoming a park, Mayor…

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