NYC brehs...let's talk about Staten Island.

[newworldafro]

lol ... cotdamn .....

I swear, being an outsider looking in, I swear Staten Island gets more hate from it fellow residents than almost any other place I've ever seen.
Shiit is crazy............when the Fresh Kills landfill was there and operational...........I remember hearing other New Yorkers describe it as a "dump" and technically they were right, it was the main dump for the city.
Borough is like the Cinderella of the New York, step sister boroughs hating hard as fuuck.....I know OP wants to know if it s good place to be, I'm sure what folks have said is true....its suburban, quiet (boring), and difficult to get too...but I'm sure that's what a lot residents like and they enjoy their picturesque duplexes and single family homes, and access to beaches.......the main issue though is the fact that there is no subway connection (a 1 mile long subway MTA tunnel that parallels the Verazanno Bridge into Brooklyn)....and it appears most folks there want a connection to Brooklyn, or New Jersey's light rail into Bayonne.....Staten Island Tunnel | Facebook

A case of Staten Island tunnel vision; Advance survey says most borough residents are on board for subway to Brooklyn
Published: Monday, November 28, 2011, 8:14 AM Updated: Monday, November 28, 2011, 12:09 PM


STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Dig the subway tunnel to Brooklyn.
That's the strong sentiment expressed by more than 70 percent of Staten Islanders surveyed by the Advance.
It's hardly a new concept: Staten Island voted to join the city in 1898 in part because of a promise that we'd be connected to the subway system that would open six years later. By 1924, groundbreaking ceremonies for the Brooklyn-Richmond Freight and Passenger Tunnel Construction were held, but the project was abandoned soon after.
The multibillion-dollar cost appears to have scared any transportation officials away from committing funds to revisit the project. But there is still strong interest on the Island.
The Advance asked 104 Island residents if they thought it was a good idea to develop the subway plan. Half of the interviews in the unscientific survey were conducted among Staten Island Ferry commuters while the rest were conducted with Islanders equally distributed among the North Shore, Mid-Island and South Shore.
Seventy-three of the 104 surveyed -- approximately 70 percent -- said build it.

^^So they actually started on a subway tunnel, but have never finished for various reasons........So history shows Staten Island got a bum deal....lol.....

proposed Bayonne Bridge bridge light rail connection. It may have to be a tunnel now since they just recently decided to increase the height of the bridge cause of Panamax ships, which is basically the widening of the Panama Canal will allow larger and taller ships to pass through, and so port areas, if they want to remain competitive, have to dredge deeper or build taller bridges. Thus, the Port Authority didn't approve a light rail connection with their Bayonne Bridge overhaul in any plan, so that easy rail connection is off the table for awhile

I think a subway connection to Brooklyn that can connect to SI's own train system and the addition of a West Shore rail line, and/or a light rail connection to Bayonne would help on the transportation isolation tip. Finishing up the conversion of Fresh Kills to a massive city park would help on the recreational/natural beauty side. Then redevelopment near new MTA subway stops, if connected to Brooklyn, would help to get the population from 500 K to a million like its sisters. Plus, would help to overhaul the St. George area (where the ferry is located) in the north part of island with taller buildings and more interesting shiit.

http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19570

Updated On 11/06/08 at 02:32PM

New SI land use study team named

Parsons Brinckerhoff, commonly called PB Americas, will head a team of consultants in charge of evaluating and planning land use and transportation on Staten Island's North Shore, the New York City Economic Development Commission and the Department of City Planning announced today. The area being studied stretches six miles along the Staten Island shoreline, including the neighborhoods of Mariner's Harbor, Arlington, Port Richmond, Elm Park and West Brighton. The other consultants on the project are Basile Baumann Prost Cole & Associates, D.I.R.T. Studio, Green Shield Ecology, Zetlin Strategic Communications and Historical Perspectives. The team will also hold public meetings and workshops.

^^^St. George in the north and entire 6 miles of the North Shore, with its great waterviews of Jersey City, Manhattan, Brookyln ($$$$$) would according to this plan be the first/main place for redevelopment....and again a subway connection (tunnel) to Brooklyn would help with that.

St. George neighborhood http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=524408

Staten Island Development
It’s all part of a radical plan to turn Fresh Kills landfill into Fresh Kills Park, with mountain bikers and kayakers and ballplayers sharing 2,315 acres of open space with restored maritime forests, with chestnut trees dotting dry prairies, with new or revived sweet-gum swamps, maybe a fox scooting through persimmon copses or a deer through a new birch thicket.

Staten Island Development - Page 2
City eyes world's biggest Ferris wheel for Staten Island

Published: Monday, June 25, 2012, 9:14 PM Updated: Monday, June 25, 2012, 9:48 PM

By Jillian Jorgensen/Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- When asked what might lead tourists on the Staten Island Ferry to spend a little time here, the world’s largest Ferris wheel might not be the first thing that comes to mind.

But it just might do the trick.

The New York City Economic Development Corporation is in heavy negotiations with a company to build a giant observation wheel — bigger than famous tourist attraction the London Eye and the world’s largest wheel, the Singapore Flyer — on a parcel near the ferry terminal, the Advance has learned.

The wheel would top out at more than 600 feet, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations. And it’s just part of possible plans for 14 acres of city-owned waterfront property that could also include high-end outlet shopping.

NEW YORK [33] Staten Island - SkyscraperCity


I like the fact that is different than the rest of the boroughs in look, and I wouldn't want to see the single family/duplex housing neighborhood distinction that dominates changed, except near rail stops, near the water on the North Shore and St. George (where the ferry is located), and maybe around the mall.

I'm a Staten Island feign, not to mention the greatest assembly of MCs the world has ever seen comes from here....... .......rooting for the underdog.... ............ :sadstatenisland: dawg....

4 skyline views from SI ferry.....Jersey City (left), Manhattan (obviously middle), Queens (to the right of Manhattan waay in the background is Long Island City), Brooklyn (far right)

 

[Carolina Slim]

I went to staten island once to take my road test, apparently it's the easiest one in NY. Also they have the biggest Liberian population in the US

This is true... I took my first road test in Brooklyn, in Red Hook, and failed because the dumb tester took me down a two way street where there was no double yellow line and all the cars on both sides were facing the same direction. So she tells me to make a left hand turn, I get all the way over to the left, and she's like "why did you do that", and I'm like "you said make a left", "but this is a two way street" nikka was pissed, and failed.

Took the test like two weeks later in Staten Island, and it was cake. I was there long enough to take the test and dip, maybe 30 minutes max.

 

[No Homo]

staten island..give em to jersey

 

[eifmp]

The Staten Island Mall got some good looking women in there on Sat & Sun. All types of ethnicities too.

 

[beenz]

My sister lives in SI so i go through there a lot. Its aight. Sucks to get to the city though. 30 min boat ride on the ferry, which is free. And $13 to cross the Verrazano, 6.50 for residents of SI. and then another 6.50 for the battery tunnel. Unless you drive up the bqe to the brooklyn or manhattan bridges.

Man this is what I hate about NYC. Those bridge and tunnel tolls are highway robbery. @ $13 to cross the Verrazano bridge. Staten island is the only Burrough I have never been to out there as well.

 

[Commander in Chiefin]

I went to staten island once to take my road test, apparently it's the easiest one in NY. Also they have the biggest Liberian population in the US

I took my road test in Bayside Queens and I was literally done in 7 min. Made a left turn, parked, pulled out, made a k-turn, made a right and pulled back into the parking lot. My dad was standing their like "You're done already ?" haha

 

[newworldafro]

Cyclists push for Verrazano bike lane • The Brooklyn Paper

April 5, 2013 / Brooklyn news / Bay Ridge
Cyclists push for Verrazano bike laneBy Natalie Musumeci
The Brooklyn Paper


Getting to Staten Island won’t require as many wheels as it used to if a group of cycling advocates gets its way.

Pedal-pushers are pushing to add a bike and pedestrian path to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, a vital motorist-only connection between Brooklyn and Staten Island that currently boasts 12 lanes for cars and none for velocipedes.

“Support of the path would provide a much needed toll-free option that would benefit the health, emergency access, and economic viability of neighboring communities,” activists wrote on a Change.org petition put up by a steering committee for Harbor Ring, a proposed 50-mile route for walkers and bicyclists that would connect the waterfronts encircling New York Harbor.

More than 28 miles of the route is already in place due to existing paths and bikeways, but one critical missing link is the 49-year-old bridge, claim advocates who believe a Verrazano path is a much-needed connection between the two boroughs.

“We are well past the notion that cars are the only way to get around,” said Harbor Ring committee member and Cobble Hill resident Dave Paco Abraham. “It’s a matter of fairness to the people who either can’t afford a car or simply do not have a car.”

The bike boosters — backed by cycling advocacy group Transportation Alternatives and Regional Plan Association — are calling on Gov. Cuomo to hop onboard their proposal for a lane running across the 4,260-foot span.

They’re not the first people to call for a bike path across the bridge: the Department of City Planning commissioned a 1997 feasibility study by Verrazano engineers Ammann & Whitney, who determined that a route could be built without removing a single lane of automotive traffic.

But building a platform between the suspension cables — not unlike the Brooklyn Bridge’s bustling pedestrian and cycling area — wouldn’t be cheap. The study estimated a total build-out at $26.5 million.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — the agency that operates the Verrazano — said a cycling route was never part of the original plan for the bridge, despite rumors of the contrary, and noted that transit planners are considering conducting their own feasibility study, which would not begin until 2014 or later.

“MTA Bridges and Tunnels is considering this issue as part of a future Belt Parkway ramp reconstruction project,” said spokeswoman Judie Glave.

The bridge is only open to bikers and bipeds twice per year: once for the Five Boro Bike Tour and again during the New York City Marathon.

Abraham, who savors crossing the bridge on his two-wheeler during the bike tour, said that he can tell from the way photo-snapping cyclists react when they hit the bridge that a year-round pathway would be a big attraction.

“This could be a huge boost to New York City on a tourism level,” said the avid bike rider. “You can see sweeping views of all of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, of Brooklyn, of New Jersey — it’s really just breathtaking.”

Bike backers gathered 924 signatures as press time, but not everyone is gung-ho for a walking and biking route over the Narrows.

“It’s sheer unadulterated idiocy,” said Community Board 10 member and driving advocate Allen Bortnik, who fears car lanes would be affected. “There are certain places bike lanes do not belong — it is a major thoroughfare.”

This is my favorite borough, cause of its underdog status and its uniqueness from the rest of boroughs....I've stated before what would make it shine even more, would be a bike/walk access and a train connection to either Bayonne or Brooklyn.....well this idea is even better than my idea of a tunnel for bikes/pedestrians....... $26 million is incredibly cheap (stupid cheap) for something that will be a huge instant tourist draw.....the bridge itself will literally become a tourist attraction.....that you can access, enjoy and not just wait in traffic......and so many other good things would come from this idea........

 

[the next guy]

This is my favorite borough, cause of its underdog status and its uniqueness from the rest of boroughs....I've stated before what would make it shine even more, would be a bike/walk access and a train connection to either Bayonne or Brooklyn.....well this idea is even better than my idea of a tunnel for bikes/pedestrians....... $26 million is incredibly cheap (stupid cheap) for something that will be a huge instant tourist draw.....the bridge itself will literally become a tourist attraction.....that you can access, enjoy and not just wait in traffic......and so many other good things would come from this idea........

Very nice find. Plus the ride would be lots of fun as well!

 

[nineteeneightysix]

From what you have described, except for the ghetto part, then OP's family would blend in fairly well in SI, because the vast majority of Canada is just boring Suburbs...

And it takes just as much time to drive to Toronto from the GTA, as to take that SI ferry to the rest of NYC...

I don't believe SI is any worse than the GTA, if they don't go to the ghetto parts...

 

[beanz]

only cool thing to ever come out of staten island was wu-tang.

 

[newworldafro]

Very nice find. Plus the ride would be lots of fun as well!

those engineers that can figure out how to make this work well......

 

[Cave Savage]

I'm very curious about Staten Island, I've never even walked around there. All I really know is that the North shore is more urban and diverse than the South Shore, which seems like it could be a Jersey suburb.

I'm guessing the most interesting neighborhoods are on the North Shore? I wonder if there's any good nightlife up there now, a lot has changed in NYC since the last reply from five years ago.

 

[Psychosis]

SI is beyond wack. But alot of Bklyn heads are buying houses there bc it's the only affordable place left.
The affordable houses are cheap bc they are built on the flood zone The borough is built over an old dumping ground, that's why it stinks, literally

 

[youreWelcomeBk]

My sister lives in SI so i go through there a lot. Its aight. Sucks to get to the city though. 30 min boat ride on the ferry, which is free. And $13 to cross the Verrazano, 6.50 for residents of SI. and then another 6.50 for the battery tunnel. Unless you drive up the bqe to the brooklyn or manhattan bridges.

9 for everyone else in the other boroughs with an ez pass

 

[youreWelcomeBk]

I'm very curious about Staten Island, I've never even walked around there. All I really know is that the North shore is more urban and diverse than the South Shore, which seems like it could be a Jersey suburb.

I'm guessing the most interesting neighborhoods are on the North Shore? I wonder if there's any good nightlife up there now, a lot has changed in NYC since the last reply from five years ago.

Around the forest ave Exit they have some good restaurants and bars. During the summer they have a taste of Staten Island food festival where they shut the block down and these restaurants street vend.

Overall tho Staten Island is trump country and mad racist. They also have a huge opioid problem that shows you how connected to jersey they are. Would t live there but it’s cool to visit for the food and the mall. Good alternative to kings plaza while they fix the parking deck