South Beach, Staten Island
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South Beach is a neighborhood 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 of the beach are Hoffman Island and Swinburne Island. FDNY Engine Company 161/Ladder Company 81 serves South Beach.
History
Once referred to as Graham Beach, the area was originally a summer beach colony consisting of many bungalows and tents. Located nearby was Warren Manor, a residential development that was demolished in the 1950s to make way for a proposed new City University campus that was never built.
In the early 20th century, many summer homes dotted the neighborhood, including an organized development known as Bungalowtown. South Beach was the terminus of the South Beach Branch of the Staten Island Railway, on which service was halted in 1953; by the 1980s the tracks of this line had been uprooted, and tract homes now stand on the original right-of-way in most places. Today, Railroad Avenue and the Robin Road Trestle are the only evidence left behind.
Small amusement parks and arcades, such as the Happyland Amusement Park, once flourished there, but virtually all had disappeared by the 1970s; the last one closed in 2006. The City of New York built a public housing project in the neighborhood in 1949; it is one of only three such projects found on the island south of the Staten Island Expressway.[1]
The neighborhood's principal thoroughfare was originally named Seaside Boulevard, and, as its name suggested, it runs parallel to the shoreline, with the South Beach-Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk flanking it on the shoreward side. This roadway, which was the only portion of the "Shore Front Drive" proposed by Robert Moses to be actually built, was later renamed Father Capodanno Boulevard, after a Roman Catholic chaplain who was killed in action during the Vietnam War, and runs from near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to Midland Beach.
In the early 20th century, many Italian-Americans, including immigrants, settled in the neighborhood, and their descendants still form the majority of the community's population.
Two hospitals, one an acute-care facility (the North Campus of Staten Island University Hospital), the other a state-run hospital for the mentally ill (the South Beach Psychiatric Center), where reports of mysterious deaths of juvenile patients originated during the later 20th century, stand at the southern edge of the neighborhood (sometimes reckoned as the separate locality. The location of the two hospitals was marshland as recently as the 1960s. What is now the Staten Island University Hospital was later constructed on part of the former Warren Manor property; Staten Island Hospital was relocated to the site from New Brighton in 1979; in 1989 this hospital merged with Richmond Memorial Hospital in Prince's Bay to form Staten Island University Hospital. Immediately to the east of Staten Island University Hospital is the South Beach Psychiatric Center, a state institution for the mentally ill which opened shortly after the aforementioned hospital did. Wild turkeys appeared on and near the grounds of this facility in the 1990s, and have since multiplied and spread to other Staten Island neighborhoods, having been sighted as far away as West Brighton on the island's central North Shore.
South Beach was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. As a result, homeowners are negotiating whether to buy out their homes for demolition.[2] After several homes were damaged, many local homeowners later elected to buy out their homes to be demolished,[3] although a few residents plan on staying.[4]
Topography
The southernmost tip of South Beach is called Ocean Breeze. Situated in a low-lying coastal area, Ocean Breeze often experiences the worst flood-related damage in all of Staten Island after heavy rain has fallen, and many of the neighborhood's side streets become impassable. Because of the flooding that results from the low-lying terrain, the New Creek bluebelt, which collects rainwater after storms, runs through the area.[5]
Education
Public libraries
New York Public Library operates the South Beach Branch at 21-25 Robin Road at Ocean Avenue and Father Capodanno Boulevard.[6]
Public schools
Public School 39- Francis J. Murphy Junior
Public School 46- Albert V. Maniscalco
Transportation
South Beach is served by a number of local and express buses. The S78 and S79 SBS local buses and SIM1, SIM1C, SIM7 and SIM10 express buses stop along Hylan Boulevard. The S51, S81 and S52 local buses and SIM5, SIM6 and SIM9 express buses travel along Father Capodanno Boulevard.[7]
South Beach was served by the X20 on its South Side and by the X18 on its North Side, but both were discontinued in 2010 by the MTA due to budget cuts. Also the new super express buses SIM5X and SIM6X were discontinued due to low ridership on October 7th, 2018. South Beach was also served by the Staten Island Railway's South Beach station until March 31, 1953.
References
- ^ "South Beach & Midland Beach". Retrieved 2007-06-14.
- ^ "South Beach residents seeking Hurricane Sandy buyout to call for state help". SILive.com. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
- ^ "State To Buy Staten Island Homes Destroyed By Sandy". Huffington Post. November 19, 2013.
- ^ Kusisto, Laura; Pinto, Nick (November 18, 2013). "State Offers More Buyouts After Sandy". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
- ^ "ARROCHAR TO MIDLAND BEACH, Part 2". forgotten-ny.com. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
- ^ "South Beach Branch." New York Public Library. Retrieved on December 22, 2008.
- ^ "Staten Island Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. January 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
40°35′25″N 74°04′00″W / 40.59028°N 74.06667°W
