Staten Island (map shown below):

• is a nice place to live.
• is one of 5 boroughs of New York City (NYC).. NYC consists of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. The Bronx is the only borough that is part of the mainland, all the other boroughs are on Islands. Manhattan and Staten Island are two separate Islands. Brooklyn and Queens are part of a large Island that includes Long Island. Long Island is part of New York State but not part of New York City. Staten Island is in the process of trying to secede from NYC and become an independent city, but so far the attempt has not been successful.
• has a rich architectural heritage spanning 300 years. Over 180 buildings on Staten Island have received landmark status, including the Alice Austen House , The Conference House (the only surviving colonial manor house in NYC), the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum (the former home of Italian liberator Giuseppe Garibaldi and his friend Antonio Meucci, the Italian inventor of a telephone that pre-dated Bell's telephone) , the Voorlezer's house (the oldest schoolhouse- 1696- still standing in the USA), the Billou-Stillwell-Perrine house (a 17th century farm house) and Richmondtown Restoration (a 96-acre village that consists of 26 buildings dating from pre-revolutionary times to the Victorian era).
• is an archaeologically rich area , especially in the south shore where there are sizable tracts of land that have never been substantially disturbed. Ward's point in Tottenville and Sandy Ground in Rossville, for example, are listed in the Archaeological Register of the State Office of Historic Preservation. Indian Sites have been unearthed throughout Staten Island. Most recently (Winter, 1996) a very large number of Indian pottery fragments have been discovered in Woodrow on the future site of PS 56. The city requires that archaeologists survey land set for development to determine what is there and then excavate. Once excavation is complete development may proceed. The city also encourages private land developers and owners to cooperate with archaeologists. Staten Island has been settled for more than 10,000 years. It is important that we untap and preserve Staten Island's past that lies buried before continued development and construction destroys this prehistoric record. Not all Staten Islander's are pleased with this attempt at preserving the Island's past. Many south shore resident's were concerned that the excavation in Woodrow would indefinitely delay the construction of the desperately needed Public School. It did not. It is over-development of the south shore that has led to the overcrowding of our schools and the increasing anxiety of south shore residents. As fear over the island's future escalates it becomes more difficult to ask resident's to support the preservation of the island's rich past.
• is the site of the Fresh Kills Landfill, the worlds largest dump . Fresh Kills is the only remaining landfill in the city of New York. It receives the residential trash of all 5 boroughs of NYC (approximately14,000 tons daily). The landfill is immence (a 3000-acre site with175 foot mounds making it the highest point on the eastern seaboard) and frightens most Staten Islanders. Many islanders believe the dump is killing people- a cancer producer. Although there is no evidence that this is so (and such causal evidence is unlikely to emerge despite our borough president's lament that any scientific research that says the dump is not a cancer producer is unacceptable) it is time to close the landfill. Staten Island has carried the burdon of living with such a large dump for too long (the first truck load of garbage was dumped on the then remote swampland 48 years ago on April 16 1948). It is too large, it smells, it places much psychological stress on residents and therefore is lowering the quality of life on some areas of the island. Historically dumps close down when residents collectively scream loud enough, not when dumps get "filled to capacity". The screaming may have worked this time because Govenor Pataki and Mayor Guliani recently agreed to set December 31, 2001 as the closing date for the Fresh Kills landfill. But residents are weary because promises were made before. In 1947 Mayor O'Dwyer promised that the landfill would be operational for 2 years and then closed. Several other closing dates have come and gone. The new "closing date" was provided with no alternative plans for refuse disposal. Without a reasonable plan to deal with our refuse the dump will not close; it will continue to grow to perhaps rival Mt. Washington as the highest point on the east coast.
• is rich in wildlife. Staten Island is the least developed of the 5 boroughs of NYC (but at the rate that developers are building this may not be true much longer). There are several protected lands on the island that make up the Greenbelt and Bluebelt. Ironically one of the greatest refuge for wildlife is the Freshkill Landfill. The landfill provides an area of isolation (you can't build on a landfill- at least not while it is still open) and provides a very rich source of nutrients for many species of animals. It is quite ironic that Fresh Kills and the closed Brookfield landfill are seen by area residents as a cancer-causing cesspool , yet wildlife is doing well-- from the microscopic alagae (diatoms) to larger plant life such as spartina grass and sumac trees to small crustaceans, fish,birds and mammals. The dump may smell and may not be fit for human life but it is an oasis of wildlife. Interestingly, the most severe polluter of island creeks and streams appears to be runoff from residents' septic tanks. The bacteria present in untreated human and animal waste is extremely unhealthy for people but nourishes the algae that sit at the bottom of the food chain. Other wildlife areas include:
  1. Clay Pit Ponds State Park - once the site of a clay mining operation it is now New York City's first State Park Preserve. This 250 + acre natural area was once inhabitated by the Leni Lenape Indians and has unique geological and botanical significance as well as a refuge for abundant wildlife.
  2. Prall Island Urban Audubon Wildlife Refuge - this 80 acre strip of land in Arthur Kill of the west shore of Staten Island is a nesting sanctuary for six species of heron: great egret, snowy egret, cattle egret, blackcrowned night heron, green heron and glossy ibis. This small island was named after Arent Jansen van Naersen Prall. The Prall family were among the first settlers in the area coming from Amsterdam in 1660.The Prall family owned the property to grow and sell salt hay on Staten Island. Herons and Egrets also breed on two other nearby Islands, Shooter's and Isle of Meadows.
  3. William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge - 94 acres of woodlands, swamps and freshwater ponds. Named after the Island's most important naturalist.
  4. Great Kills Park - A Gateway National Recreational Area
  5. Blue Heron Pond Park - 195 acres of woodland with a pond, streams, and nature walks. A 5,000-square-foot building with a "wall of windows" for bird watching is under construction.

Do you want to learn a little something about the early history of Staten Island? Click here to see a report that my daughter and I put together for her 4th grade Social Studies Fair Project. It is packed with (hopefully accurate) information.