Staten Island

Staten Island is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County. With a population of 495,747 in the 2020 Census, Staten Island is the least populated borough but the third largest in land area at 58.5 sq mi (152 km²) The North Shore is the island's most urban area. The East Shore is home to the 2+12-mile (4-kilometer) F.D.R. Boardwalk, the world's fourth-longest boardwalk. The South Shore, site of the 17th-century Dutch and French Huguenot settlement, developed rapidly beginning in the 1960s and 1970s. Motor traffic can reach the borough from Brooklyn by the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and from New Jersey by the Outerbridge Crossing, Goethals Bridge and Bayonne Bridge. Staten Island has Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus lines and an MTA rapid transit line, the Staten Island Railway, which runs from the ferry terminal at St. George to Tottenville. The free Staten Island Ferry connects the borough to Manhattan across New York Harbor. It provides views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Lower Manhattan. In Lenape, one of the Algonquian languages, Staten Island was called Aquehonga Manacknong, meaning "as far as the place of the bad woods" The area was part of the Lenape homeland known as Lenapehoking. The Lenape were later called the "Delaware" by the English colonists because they inhabited both shores of the Delaware River.

History

The first recorded European contact on the island was in 1520 by Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano. In Lenape, one of the Algonquian languages, Staten Island was called Aquehonga Manacknong, or Eghquhous, meaning "the bad woods" In 1661, the first permanent Dutch settlement was established at Oude Dorp (Dutch for "Old Village") by a small group of Dutch, Walloon, and French Huguenot families. At one point nearly a third of the residents of the Island spoke French. In 1670, the Native Americans ceded all ceded their claims to Staten Island to the English colony of New York. In the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667, the Dutch ceded Staaten Eylandt, anglicized as "Staten Island", to England in the Treaty of New Netherland. The island was probably abandoned later, possibly because of the extirpation of large mammals on the Island. Archaeologists have recovered tool evidence of Clovis culture activity dating from about 14,000 years ago. The first permanent Native American settlements and agriculture are thought to date from about 5,000 year ago. Evidence of their habitation can still be seen in shell middens along the shore in the Tottenville section, where oyster shells larger than 12 inches (305 mm) are sometimes found. Burial Ridge, a Lenape burial ground on a bluff overlooking Raritan Bay, is the largest pre-European burial ground in New York City.

Geology

Staten Island has been at the southern terminus of various periods of glaciation. The evidence of these glacial periods is visible in the remaining wooded areas of Staten Island in the form of glacial erratics and kettle ponds. At the retreat of the ice sheet, Staten Island was connected by land to Long Island, as the Narrows had not yet formed. The Palisades Sill has been designated a National Natural Landmark, being "the best example of a thick diabase sill in the United States." It underlies a portion of northwest Staten Island, with a visible outcropping in Travis, off Travis Road in the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge. This is the same formation that appears in New Jersey and upstate New York along the Hudson River in Palisade Interstate Park. The sill extends southward beyond the cliffs in Jersey City beneath the Upper New York Harbor and resurfaces on Staten Island. The oldest bedrock strata of the Lower Paleozoic (approximately 430 million years old) consists predominantly of the serpentine minerals, antigorite, chrysotile, and lizardite; it also contains asbestos and talc. The most recent, the Wisconsin glaciation, ended approximately 12,000 years ago. The accumulated rock and sediment deposited at the terminus. of the glacier is known as the terminal moraine present along the central portion of the island. The Hudson River may run through the present course of the Raritan River, south of the Island, or through present-day Flushing Bay and Jamaica Bay.

Geography

Richmond County is the third-smallest county in New York by land area. The island is separated from Long Island by the Narrows and from mainland New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull. The highest point on the island, the summit of Todt Hill, is also the highest point in the five boroughs. Staten Island is home to Atlantic horseshoe crabs, cottontail rabbits, opossums, raccoons, garter snakes, red-eared slider turtles, newts, spring peeper frogs, leopard frogs, fox, box turtles, skunks,northern snapping turtles and common snapping turtles. The National Park Service maintains full-time wildland firefighters to patrol Staten Island sites in wildfire brush trucks. The borough has a land border with Elizabeth and Bayonne, New Jersey, on uninhabited Shooters Island. The parks on Staten Island are managed by various state, federal and local agencies. The New York City Parks and Recreation Department manages 156 parks, including five sites in the Gateway National Recreation Area, managed by the U.S. Park Service and patrolled by the United States Park Police. There are thousands of acres of federal, state, and local park land, including the "greenbelt" and "blue belt" park systems, in addition to hundreds of acres in private wooded areas. The park system includes state Forests, state wildlife management areas and Wetlands, including 359 acres (145 ha) of State Wetlands.

Demographics

At the 2010 Census, there were 468,730 people living in Staten Island, which is an increase of 5.6% since the 2000 Census. The borough's population is largely Roman Catholic, peaking near 60% in the 2000 census. There is a growing presence of Egyptian Copts, most of whom are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The island houses more Liberians than anywhere outside Liberia, and has included three Liberian heads of state: David D. Kpormakpor, Ruth Perry, and George Weah. In 2009, approximately 20.0% of the population was foreign born, and 1.8% was born in Puerto Rico, U.S. Island areas, or born abroad to American parents. About 11.9% of residents live below the poverty line, the lowest of the five boroughs. There are 181,199 housing units, with a 69.5% owner occupancy rate, as well as a median value of $460,200. The top ten European ancestries were the following:Italian: 33.7%Irish: 14.2% German: 5.7%. Polish: 3.4% Romanian: 1.9%. Ukrainian: 1,3%Norwegian:1.0%. Greek:1,0% Italian: 1, 0%. Russian: 3,8%. Polish and Sri Lankan communities are growing on Staten Island. The Little Sri Lanka in the Tompkinsville neighborhood is one of the largest Sri Lanka communities outside of the country of Sri Lanka.

Government and politics

Staten Island has been governed by the New York City Charter that provides for a "strong" mayor-council system. The office of Borough president was created in the consolidation of 1898 to balance centralization with local authority. The main political divide in the borough is demarcated by the Staten Island Expressway. While the other four boroughs tend to be strongly Democratic, Staten Island is considered the most conservative, and the only one where Republicans usually do well. In 2016, Republican Donald Trump carried Staten Island by 15.1%, the largest margin of any presidential candidate since 1988. The borough stayed Republican on election day 2020, delivering 56.9%a record of more than 123,000 votesto reelect incumbent President Donald Trump. In 2005 44.7% of the borough's registered voters were registered Democrats and 30.6% were registered Republicans. Two out of Staten Island's three New York Council members are Republicans, including conservative commentator Joe Borelli. In 2012, the borough flipped and was won by incumbent Democrat Barack Obama, who took 51%. This made the borough one of the few parts of the country where Barack Obama gained as compared to 2008. Staten Island has voted for a Democratic presidential nominee only four times since 1940: in 1964, 1996, 2000, and 2012. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 56% of. the vote in Staten Island, and Democrat John Kerry received 43%. By contrast, Kerry outpolled Bush in New York. City's five counties (coterminous with each other) have their own criminal court system and District Attorney.

Tourism

Empire Outlets New York City, is a 350,000-square-foot (33,000 m2) retail complex constructed in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island. Staten Island's Arts District is located in the North Shore region with many locations to see music and experience art. Moses Mountain, a hill known for its view of the borough, is the location where Robert Moses wanted to build the Richmond Parkway before protests defeated this arrangement. The Alice Austin House is a historic landmark and photography gallery with a view of Manhattan. Although Staten Island lacks venues one can see many live music artists at local restaurants and spaces such as Flagship Brewery and Taproom, O'Henry's, The Hop Shoppe, Seppe Pizza Bar, The Burrito Bar, Adobe Blues and Hub17 on most weekends. The Staten Island Shakesperean Theater, Illuminart Productions, Hemlock Theater, Sundog Theater, The Arts Center at the College of Staten Staten Island, Seaview Playwrights Theater and The Little Victory Theater are among the theaters on the island. The borough is known as the borough of parks because of its numerous parks. Some well known parks are Clove Lakes, Silver Lake, Greenbelt and High Rock. It is also home to the Staten Island Children's Museum, Heritage Farm, The Newhouse Gallery, The Chinese Scholar's Garden and the Great Hall. The only community radio station on Staten Island is Maker Park Radio, which is based in Stapleton.

Culture

Staten Island is home to the Staten Island Zoo. The National Lighthouse Museum recently undertook a major fundraising project and opened in 2012. The Staten Island Museum (art, science, and history) plans to open a new branch in Snug Harbor by 2014. The island's local paper is The Staten Islanders' local paper, The Staten Islands Advance. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are among the newspapers based on the island. Staten Island has a strong music scene, with many bands playing on the North Shore and in the boroughs of Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens. The city has a thriving arts scene, which has been recognized by the local government. It also has a vibrant music scene with many local bands playing all over the island, as well as a thriving film and music scene. It is also home to a number of museums and galleries, including the New York Chinese Scholar's Garden, the National Museum of American Art, and the National Gallery of Modern Art. It has a history of more than 100 years, dating back to the 18th century, when it was part of the French colony of New York. It was also the site of the Battle of the Somme in World War One, and was home to many famous people, such as the author of The Gossamer, The Giver, and The Secret Magdalene, who were born and raised on Staten Island. It's also the home of the St. Marks Place ferry stop, where many of the island's famous people were born.

Sports

Staten Island's Little League won the 1964 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The New York Metropolitans of the American Association played baseball on Staten Island from April 1886 through 1887. The Staten Island Cricket Club, founded in 1872, is the oldest continuously operating cricket club in the United States. The Wagner College Seahawks participate in NCAA Division I athletics and are a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC) National Basketball Association (NBA) coach P. J. Carlesimo coached the men's basketball team from 1976 to 1982. Staten Island has been home to a number of national champions and world-class bowlers, including Mark Roth, Johnny Petraglia, Mary Ontek, Ben McNevich, Dom LaBargo, and Joseph Berardi. In 2015, the New York Post listed Staten Island's all-time basketball team as: Warren Fenley, Kyle McAlarney, Bill Murtha, Kevin OConnor, Kenny Page. The Yankees have stated they hope to assist in creating a new team for Staten Island in the independent Atlantic League. The Stapes were a National Football League (NFL) team, also known as the Stapes. They played in the league from 1929 to 1932, defeating the New New York Giants twice and the Chicago Cardinals once. During the 1932 NFL season, the Stapletons played the last in the eventual season champion Chicago Bears to a scoreless tie. The following NFL players were born on Staten island: Joe Andruzzi, Frank Ferrara, James Richards, Mike Siani, Frank Umont, and Louarumo.

Education

Non-charter public schools in the borough are managed by the New York City Department of Education. Public middle schools include Intermediate Schools 2, 7, 24, 27, 30, 34, 49, 51, 61, 72 and 75; and 861, a Kto8 school. Public high schools include: College of Staten Island High School for International Studies and Tottenville High School. Private schools include Staten Island Academy, a non-public, non-religious grade school. Private colleges include Wagner College, St. John's University and Jewish Foundation School. The borough is home to Staten Island University, a private, co-educational Roman Catholic university with an enrollment of 2,000 undergraduates and 500 graduate students. It is also home to the Staten Island Symphony Orchestra, which plays a variety of different styles of music, including classical, jazz, hip hop and world music. The Staten Island Police Department is based in Staten Island. The NYPD is the largest police force in the city, with more than 4,000 officers on duty. The New York Police Department has one of the largest budgets in the U.S. (approximately $1.2 billion). The NYPD's Staten Island substation is located in the town's central business district, which has more than 3,000 employees. The city's largest public school system is Staten Island Public Schools, which runs from kindergarten through high school. The City University of New York offers associate's and bachelor's degrees, and also offers master's and doctoral-level study.