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Staten Island

Borough and county in New York, US

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Originally home to Lenape Native Americans, the island was settled by Dutch colonists in the 17th century. When the British took over, Richmond County became one of the 12 original counties of New York. Staten Island became one of the five boroughs of New York City during consolidation in 1898. Always called Staten Island (anglicized from the original Dutch Staaten Eylandt), the borough was legally the Borough of Richmond until 1975, when its name was officially changed to Borough of Staten Island. Staten Island has sometimes been called "the forgotten borough" by inhabitants who feel neglected by the city government and the media. It has also been referred to as the "borough of parks" due to its 12,300 acres of protected parkland and over 170 parks.

The North Shore—especially the neighborhoods of St. George, Tompkinsville, Clifton, and Stapleton—is the island's most urban area. It includes the St. George Historic District and the St. Paul's Avenue-Stapleton Heights Historic District, both of which feature large Victorian houses. The East Shore is home to the 2+1⁄2-mile (4-kilometer) FDR 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 and is now very suburban. The West Shore has the island's fewest residents and the most industrial development.

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 one MTA rapid transit line, the Staten Island Railway, which runs from the ferry terminal at St. George to Tottenville. Staten Island is the only borough not connected to the New York City Subway system. The free Staten Island Ferry connects the borough to Manhattan across New York Harbor, providing views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Lower Manhattan.

History

Indigenous / Native American Inhabitants

As in much of North America, human habitation appeared on the island fairly rapidly after the Wisconsin glaciation. Archaeologists have recovered tool evidence of Clovis culture activity dating from about 14,000 years ago. This evidence was first discovered in 1917 in the Charleston section of the island. Various Clovis artifacts have been discovered since then, on property owned by Mobil Oil.

The island was probably abandoned later, possibly due to the extirpation of large mammals. Evidence of the first permanent Native American settlements and agriculture are thought to date from about 5,000 years ago, although early archaic habitation evidence has been found in multiple locations on the island.

Rossville points are distinct arrowheads that define a Native American cultural period from the Archaic period to the Early Woodland period, dating from about 1500 to 100 BC. They are named for the Rossville section of Staten Island, where they were first found near the old Rossville Post Office building.

At the time of European contact, the island was inhabited by the Raritan band of the Unami division of the Lenape. In Lenape, one of the Algonquian languages, Staten Island was called Aquehonga Manacknong, meaning "as far as the place of the bad woods", or Eghquhous, meaning "the bad woods". The name is spelled Eghquaons in the deed to Lubbertus van Dincklage for the purchase of Staten Island in 1657. 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 what the English named the Delaware River.

The island was laced with Native American foot trails, one of which followed the south side of the ridge near the course of present-day Richmond Road and Amboy Road. The Lenape did not live in fixed encampments but moved seasonally, using slash and burn agriculture. Shellfish was a staple of their diet, including the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), abundant in the waterways throughout the present-day New York City region. 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 (300 mm) are sometimes found.

Burial Ridge, a Lenape burial ground on a bluff overlooking Raritan Bay in Tottenville, is the largest pre-European burial ground in New York City. Bodies have been reported unearthed at Burial Ridge from 1858 onward. After conducting independent research, which included unearthing bodies interred at the site, ethnologist and archaeologist George H. Pepper was contracted in 1895 by the American Museum of Natural History to conduct paid archaeological research at Burial Ridge. The burial ground today is unmarked and lies within Conference House Park.

European settlement

The first recorded European contact on the island was in 1524 by Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, who sailed through The Narrows on the ship La Dauphine and anchored for one night.

The Dutch did not establish a permanent settlement on Staaten Eylandt for many decades. Its name is derived from the Staten Generaal, the parliament of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. From 1639 to 1655, Cornelis Melyn and David de Vries made three separate attempts to establish a settlement there, but each time the settlement was destroyed in conflicts between the Dutch and the local tribe. 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, just south of the Narrows near South Beach. Many French Huguenots had gone to the Netherlands as refugees from the religious wars in France, suffering persecution for their Protestant faith, and some joined the emigration to New Netherland.

At one point, nearly a third of the residents of the Island spoke French. The last vestige of Oude Dorp is the name of the present-day neighborhood of Old Town adjacent to Old Town Road. Staten Island was not spared the bloodshed which culminated in Kieft's War. In the summer of 1641 and in 1642, Native American tribes destroyed Old Town.

On July 10, 1657, the Native Americans signed a deed to Lubbertus van Dincklage, attorney of Henrick van der Capelle tho Ryssel, for the purchase of all indigenous lands on Staten Island. However, this deed was annulled when the Dutch purchasers failed to deliver the promised goods for the land a few months later.

Richmond County

At the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667, the Dutch ceded New Netherland to England in the Treaty of Breda. The Dutch Staaten Eylandt, anglicized as "Staten Island", became part of the new English colony of New York.

In 1670, the Native Americans ceded all claims to Staten Island to the English in a deed to Governor Francis Lovelace. In 1671, to encourage expansion of the Dutch settlements, the English resurveyed Oude Dorp (which became known as 'Old Town') and expanded the lots along the southern shore. These lots were settled primarily by Dutch families and became known as Nieuwe Dorp (meaning 'New Village'), which later became anglicized as New Dorp.

Captain Christopher Billopp, after years of service in the Royal Navy, came to America in 1674 along with the newly appointed royal governor of New York and the Jerseys, Sir Edmund Andros, in charge of a company of infantry. The following year, he settled on Staten Island, where he was granted a patent for 932 acres (3.8 km2) of land. According to an apocryphal story, Captain Billopp's seamanship secured Staten Island to New York, rather than to New Jersey: the island would belong to New York if the captain could circumnavigate it in one day, which he did. There is conflicting information about the time Christopher Billopp took to complete the race and whether he received a personal prize for doing so. Mayor Michael Bloomberg perpetuated the myth by referring to it at a news conference in Brooklyn on February 20, 2007. Reliable historical documentation of the event is extremely sparse, and, in 1948, Staten Island historian Roswell S. Coles concluded that there was "no real evidence to assume there is any truth in the circumnavigation story." A 2007 The New York Times article concluded that this event was "almost certainly apocryphal" and originated in local folklore, with no written records of the deed before 1873, and a 2019 YouTube video by CGP Grey wasn't able to trace the story back before that 1873 account, which credits the story to Gabriel Disosway, a local chronicler who lived in Staten Island from 1798 through 1868.

In 1683, the colony of New York was divided into ten counties. As part of this process, Staten Island, along with several minor neighboring islands, was designated as Richmond County. The name derives from the title of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, an illegitimate son of King Charles II. In 1687 and 1688, the English divided the island into four administrative divisions based on natural features: the 5,100-acre (21 km2) manorial estate of colonial governor Thomas Dongan in the northeastern hills known as the "Lordship or Manor of Cassiltown", along with the North, South, and West divisions. These divisions later evolved into the four towns of Castleton, Northfield, Southfield, and Westfield. In 1698, the population was 727.

The government granted land patents in rectangular blocks of 80 acres (320,000 m2), with the most desirable lands along the coastline and inland waterways. By 1708, the entire island had been divided up in this fashion, creating 166 small farms and two large manorial estates, the Dongan estate and a 1,600 acres (6.5 km2) parcel on the southwestern tip of the island belonging to Christopher Billopp. The first county seat was established in New Dorp in what was called Stony Brook at the time. In 1729, the county seat was moved to the village of Richmond Town, located at the headwaters of the Fresh Kills near the center of the island. By 1771, the island's population had grown to 2,847.

18th century and the American Revolution

Most Staten Islanders were solidly supportive of the Crown, and the island played a significant role in the American Revolutionary War. General George Washington once called Islanders "our most inveterate enemies". As support of independence spread throughout the colonies, residents of the island were so uninterested that no representatives were sent to the First Continental Congress, the only county in New York to not send anyone. This had economic repercussions through 1776, when New Jersey towns such as Elizabethport, Woodbridge, and Dover instituted boycotts of islanders.

On March 17, 1776, the British garrison in Boston under Sir William Howe evacuated the city and sailed for Halifax, Nova Scotia. From Halifax, Howe prepared to attack New York City, which then consisted entirely of the southern end of Manhattan Island. General George Washington led the entire Continental Army to New York City in anticipation of Howe's attack. Howe used the strategic location of Staten Island as a staging ground for the invasion. Over 140 British ships arrived over the summer of 1776 and anchored off the shores of Staten Island at the entrance to New York Harbor. Onboard them were approximately 30,000 British and Hessian troops. Howe established his headquarters in New Dorp at the Rose and Crown Tavern, near the junction of present New Dorp Lane and Richmond Road. There, the representatives of the British government reportedly received their first notification of the Declaration of Independence.

In August 1776, British forces crossed the Narrows to Brooklyn and outflanked the Continental Army at the Battle of Long Island, resulting in the British control of the harbor and the capture of New York City shortly afterwards. Three weeks later, on September 11, 1776, Sir William's brother, Lord Howe, received a delegation of Americans consisting of Benjamin Franklin, Edward Rutledge, and John Adams at the Conference House on the southwestern tip of the island on the former estate of Christopher Billopp. The Americans refused Howe's peace offer, which called for the withdrawal of the Declaration of Independence, and the conference ended without an agreement.

On August 22, 1777, the Battle of Staten Island occurred between British forces and several companies of the 2nd Canadian Regiment fighting alongside other American companies. The battle was inconclusive, though both sides lost over a hundred soldiers as prisoners of war; the Americans soon withdrew. In early 1780, while the Kill Van Kull was frozen over, William Alexander led an unsuccessful American raid from New Jersey on the western shore of Staten Island. It was repulsed in part by troops led by British Commander Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings. In June 1780, Wilhelm von Knyphausen, a Hessian commander, led many raids and a full assault into New Jersey from Staten Island to defeat Washington and the Continental Army. Although the raids were successful in the Newark and Elizabeth areas, the advance was halted at Connecticut Farms (Union) and the Battle of Springfield.

British forces remained on Staten Island for the remainder of the war and kept their headquarters in neighborhoods such as Bulls Head. The few Patriots on the island fled after the Battle of Long Island, and the sentiment of those who remained was predominantly Loyalist. Even so, the islanders found the demands of supporting the troops to be heavy. Several buildings, including churches, were demolished for military use, and trees were felled for firewood, leading to extensive deforestation by the end of the war. The island was used as a staging ground for the final British evacuation of New York City on December 5, 1783. After their departure, many Loyalist landowners, such as Christopher Billop, the family of Canadian historian Peter Fisher, John Dunn, who founded St. Andrews, New Brunswick, and Abraham Jones, fled to Canada, and their estates were subdivided and sold. Staten Island was occupied by the British longer than any other single part of the Thirteen Colonies.

19th century

On July 4, 1827, the end of slavery in New York state was celebrated at the Swan Hotel in the West Brighton neighborhood. Rooms at the hotel were reserved months in advance as local abolitionists, including prominent free blacks, prepared for the festivities. Speeches, pageants, picnics, and fireworks marked the celebration, which lasted for two days.

In the early 19th century, New Jersey and New York disputed the location of their maritime boundary, due to their original charters being ambiguously worded. New York argued that the eastern edge of New Jersey was located at the Hudson River's shoreline during high tide, which would give New York control of all the docks and wharves on the Hudson River. New Jersey argued that the maritime boundary should run down the middle of the Hudson River and then extend out to the Atlantic Ocean, which would give New Jersey control of the docks and wharves, as well as Staten Island. Vice President Martin Van Buren negotiated a compromise that established the maritime boundary in the middle of the Hudson River and gave Staten Island to New York. Ellis Island and Bedloe's Island, both uninhabited at the time, also came under New Jersey control.

From 1800 to 1858, Staten Island was home to the largest quarantine facility in the United States. Angry residents burned down the hospital compound in 1858 in a series of attacks known as the Staten Island Quarantine War. In 1860, parts of Castleton and Southfield were made into a new town, Middletown. The Village of New Brighton in the town of Castleton was incorporated in 1866. In 1872, the Village of New Brighton annexed the remainder of the Town of Castleton, becoming coterminous with the town. The economy of Staten Island of the 19th century was more of a farming economy. Staten Island still experienced economic growth developing a industrial and commercial center nonetheless. A caveat to this growth was that the period of the Civil War caused a period of economic trouble which did not end until after the war. The population was rather spread out during the 19th century, as only ten communities in Staten Island had a population greater than 1,000. The Island had a population of 51,963 people in the year 1890.

An 1887 movement to incorporate Staten Island as a city was unsuccessful.

Consolidation with New York City

The towns of Staten Island were dissolved in 1898 with the consolidation of the City of Greater New York, as Richmond County became one of the five boroughs of the expanded city. Although Staten Island was consolidated into the City of Greater New York in 1898, the county sheriff maintained control of the jail system, unlike the other boroughs, which had gradually transferred jail control to the Department of Correction. The jail system was not transferred until January 1, 1942. Staten Island is the only borough without a New York City Department of Correction major detention center.

The construction of the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge, along with the other three major Staten Island bridges, created a new way for commuters and tourists to travel from New Jersey to Brooklyn, Manhattan, and areas farther east on Long Island. The network of highways running between the bridges has effectively carved up many of Staten Island's old neighborhoods. The bridge opened many areas of the borough to residential and commercial development from the 1960s onward, especially in the central and southern parts, which had been largely undeveloped. Staten Island's population doubled from 221,991 in 1960 to 443,728 in 2000. Nevertheless, Staten Island remained less developed than the rest of the city. A 1972 New York Times article stated that, despite the borough having 333,000 residents, parts of the island still maintained a bucolic atmosphere with woods and marshes. The last commercial farm in New York City, on Richmond Hill Road, closed in 2000.

Throughout the 1980s, a movement to secede from the city steadily grew in popularity, notably championed by longtime New York state senator and former Republican Party mayoral nominee John J. Marchi. The campaign reached its peak during the mayoral term of David Dinkins (1990–1993), after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the New York City Board of Estimate, which had given equal representation to the five boroughs. Dinkins and the city government opposed a non-binding secession referendum, contending that the state should not permit the vote unless the city issued a home rule message supporting it, which the city would not. Governor Mario Cuomo disagreed, and the vote went forward in 1993. Ultimately, 65% of Staten island residents voted to secede through the approval of a new city charter making Staten Island an independent city, but implementation was blocked in the State Assembly.

In the 1980s, the United States Navy had a base on Staten Island called Naval Station New York. It had two sections: a Strategic Homeport in Stapleton and a larger section near Fort Wadsworth, where the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge enters the island. The base was closed in 1994 through the Base Realignment and Closure process because of its small size and the expense of basing personnel there.

Fresh Kills and its tributaries are part of the largest tidal wetland ecosystem in the region. Its creeks and wetlands have been designated a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Opened along Fresh Kills as a "temporary landfill" in 1947, the Fresh Kills Landfill served as a repository for the city of New York's trash. The landfill, once the world's largest manufactured structure, was closed in 2001, but it was briefly reopened for the debris from Ground Zero following the September 11 attacks in 2001. It is being converted into a park, almost three times the size of Central Park, and the largest park to be developed in New York City in over 100 years. Plans for the park include a bird-nesting island, public roads, boardwalks, soccer and baseball fields, bridle paths, and a 5,000-seat stadium. Today, freshwater and tidal wetlands, fields, birch thickets, and a coastal oak maritime forest, as well as areas dominated by non-native plant species, are all within the boundaries of Fresh Kills.

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