Midland Beach, Staten Island

Midland Beach, Staten Island

Midland Beach (formerly known as Woodland Beach) is a Staten Island neighborhood. It lies along the east-central coast of the island, in the area known locally as the "Mid-Island, Staten Island," or, according to some, the "East Shore." To its immediate west is Grant City, south lies New Dorp Beach with Graham Beach and South Beach bordering it on the north. The Miller Field border & Prescott Ave is the West border (formerly, a lane called Maplewood Terrace paralleled New Dorp Lane), Poultney Street/Laconia Ave to the North, the Lower New York Bay, to the South, & Seaview Ave to the East. Father Capodanno Boulevard and Midland Avenue are Midland Beach's two main arteries.

Contents

History

Woodland Beach Boardwalk and casino

During the late 19th and early 20th century, Midland Beach was a popular beach resort. In 1896, Midland Beach began attracting residents and tourists who came by trolley or excursion boats from Manhattan and Newark, NJ. Resorts, complete with hotels and amusement attractions, drew thousands daily. Besides its hotels and amusement park, it offered concerts, a fishing pier, vaudeville entertainment and gambling.[1] However, all of this is no longer in existence except for the new Ocean Breeze Fishing Pier which opened in September 2003. The Ocean Breeze Pier is the largest steel and concrete recreational pier built in the last 100 years on the Atlantic Ocean in the New York region.[2]

Unlike much of Staten Island, Midland Beach is mostly Irish American, and also has a significant Hispanic population. The 1990s began witnessing a large influx of Russian immigrants.[3] Rainstorms on the island caused wind or water damage (such as flooded bungalows) in Midland Beach in the 1970s, due to its lack of infrastructure and storm sewers and proximity to the coast. But the City of New York installed a new, very large storm sewer system down Greeley Avenue in 1979, which has resolved the flooding issues for most of the newer housing stock in the neighborhood. Today, the bungalows built as summer homes are owned or rented by locals for permanent residence, and many have fallen into disrepair (according to data compiled by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, the parish of St. Margaret Mary, which serves Midland Beach, is the poorest parish on Staten Island based on per capita income).

The neighborhood once had its own post office branch, bearing the postal code "Staten Island 11, New York." The building that housed the post office, located at 553 Lincoln Avenue, was one of the smallest (in terms of square footage) post offices in the entire United States at the time. It was closed in 1949.

Bluebelt

The Midland Beach (New Creek) Bluebelt, part of the larger Staten Island Bluebelt,[4] is now being constructed by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation throughout the northern edge of the neighborhood, where most of these bungalows stand. This comprehensive watershed wetlands will alleviate much of the flooding that occurs in this low lying area. The land will be protected for passive residential use and absorb storm water runoff. Stone bridges, culverts, viaducts, walls and tree plantings will beautify the neighborhood and eventually eliminate the blight that has plagued the northern edge of Midland Beach since the 1960s.

Transportation

Midland Beach is served by the S51/S81 local buses and the X4, X5, X7, and X8 express buses along Midland Avenue. The S78/S79 travel along Hylan Blvd.

Notable residents

One of Woodland Beach's most famous residents was William Henry Vanderbilt, Cornelius Vanderbilt's oldest son. He maintained a profitable 186.7-acre (0.756 km2) farm in 1855 and built an Italianate style 24-room Mansion on the property, complete with horse stables, trotting field and judges stands, which was overseen by his son George Washington Vanderbilt II. It is now Miller Field, Gateway National Recreation Area.

William H. Vanderbilt's Mansion in Woodland Beach, Staten Island, 1915

References

  1. ^ Council on the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island July/Aug 2008 Vol. 19. No. 4
  2. ^ "Mayor Michel R. Bloomberg and Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro Open Ocean Breeze Pier" (Press release). New York City Mayor's Office. 2003-09-20. http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2003b/pr264-03.html. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  3. ^ Balsamini, Dean (2007-09-16). "From Russia -- to Staten Island -- with love". Staten Island Advance. http://blog.silive.com/advanceupdate/2007/09/from_russia_to_staten_island_w.html. Retrieved 2010-01-17. 
  4. ^ Seminar for US EPA Urban Watershed Management Branch Edison, NJ, Staten Island Bluebelt

Coordinates: 40°34′23″N 74°05′40″W / 40.57306°N 74.09444°W / 40.57306; -74.09444


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • South Beach, Staten Island — South Beach is the name of a neighborhood located on the East Shore of Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, USA. It is situated immediately to the south of the Staten Island side of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Directly east …   Wikipedia

  • Jefferson Avenue (Staten Island Railway station) — Infobox NYCS name = Jefferson Avenue SIR = yes font color = white bg color = black image caption = Northbound platform platforms = 2 side platforms tracks = 2 borough = Staten Island open date = Unknown north custom station = Dongan Hills south… …   Wikipedia

  • Staten Island Community Board 2 — is a local government unit of the city of New York, encompassing the Staten Island neighborhoods of Arrochar, Bloomfield, Bulls Heads, Chelsea, Dongan Hills, Egbertville, Emerson Hill, Grant City, Grasmere, Midland Beach, New Dorp, New… …   Wikipedia

  • Staten Island — Infobox Settlement name = Staten Island official name = Richmond County other name = native name = nickname = settlement type =Borough of New York City total type = motto = imagesize = image caption = Staten Island streets with views of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Staten Island — 40° 34′ 35″ N 74° 08′ 41″ W / 40.57628056, 74.14483889 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Staten Island — Verwaltung US Bundesstaat: New York Verwaltungssitz: Gründung: 1683 Demographie Einwohner: 443.728  (2000) Bevölkerung …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Old Town, Staten Island — Old Town is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Staten Island, located on its East Shore. Old Town was established in August 1661 as part of New Netherland, and was the first permanent European settlement on Staten Island.[1]… …   Wikipedia

  • North Shore, Staten Island — looking northwest up Victory Blvd, near Bay Street, on the North Shore …   Wikipedia

  • Ocean Breeze, Staten Island — Ocean Breeze is a name sometimes applied to the southern part of the neighborhood known as South Beach, in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, United States. History Once referred to as Graham Beach, the area was originally… …   Wikipedia

  • New Brighton, Staten Island — View of Brighton, Staten Island, New York, an 1857 engraving New Brighton, formerly an independent village, is today a neighborhood located on the North Shore of Staten Island in New York City, USA. The neighborhood comprises an older industrial… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”