FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Vertical Life, or Hill-Walking on Staten Island's North Shore

WIT READERS LOVED THIS SERIES WHEN IT FIRST APPEARED.
PERHAPS BECAUSE IT CELEBRATES THE SPECIALNESS OF LIVING HERE.

This post appeared originally in October, 2007. It's the first of a series of eight photo-packed entries on what it's like to live in a place as hilly as the West Bronx and as beautiful, in places, as San Francisco. All eight entries will be re-run, starting today.

Fiedler Avenue, Ward Hill, Staten Island, looking down at Victory Boulevard at the bottom of the street and across at Tompkinsville and the New Brighton hills. The ferry is a 15-minute walk away.

WHO KNEW?

We'd both grown up in Manhattan. She in a spacious, old-fashioned walk-up flat facing Morningside Park, near Columbia. I in a cramped two-room apartment in Chelsea before it became a gay mecca.

These experiences hadn't prepared us for a move to a place where the ferry is the boat, where Manhattan is the city, and where PTAs hold Chinese Auctions, which after 30 years of living here are still a total mystery to my wife Ellen and me.

I'm talking about Staten Island. Specifically, the north shore of that island, and more specifically the neighborhoods of St. George, New Brighton, Tompkinsville/Ward Hill, and Stapleton. All within walking distance of the ferry and the island's bus and rail lines, and all hilly. Sometimes very hilly.

GETTING UP THE HILL WITHOUT A CAR

What I've come to appreciate are the ways in which people have adapted to living on hills, the same way they've adapted to the ferry schedule.

One of the most interesting of these adaptations is a collection of still-functioning stairways, walkways and paths up and down the hills in the older close-to-the ferry neighborhoods. As well as the bizarre arrangement of retaining walls and stairways some residents have to negotiate, just to reach their front doors.

What follows is the first of a two-part entry about these adaptations in the neighborhoods of St. George and Tompkinsville, many still in active use, others well along in the process of reverting to nature. The second part of this entry will cover Tompkinsville/Ward Hill, New Brighton and Stapleton.

HILLSIDE STEPS AND STAIRS
St. George and Tompkinsville

Stone retaining wall and public stairway, St. Peter's R.C. Church, St. Marks Place, St. George, connecting St. Marks and Carroll places.

Stairway from Carroll Place to St. Marks Place. St. Peter's R.C. Church, left.

Stone wall and steps leading from Sherman Avenue, Tompkinsville, to Fort Hill Park, which is both the name of a street and a recently dedicated 'Forever Wild' park on the adjacent property.

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The three photos directly above show (1, 2) the steps leading down from Fort Hill Park to Sherman Avenue; and (3) the road up Fort Hill Park to the top, from the corner of Hendricks and Westervelt avenues.

STEPS AND STAIRS TO HILLSIDE HOUSES
St. George and Tompkinsville

Our first house on St. Marks Place near Westervelt Avenue, St. George. The negatives of living 18 steps above the street are obvious. Less obvious are the sense of privacy and relative solitude that, most of the time, were adequate compensation.

Garden gate and stone retaining wall and stairway, Carroll Place, St. George

Stone wall and slate step entry to the Schoverling mansion, a New York City landmark, Westervelt Avenue at Benziger Avenue, Tompkinsville.

This amazing group of cliff dwellings is on the north side of Corson Avenue between Jersey Street and Westervelt Avenue, Tompkinsville.

STEPS AS SIDEWALK
St. George and Tompkinsville

In this photo, walking west from Westervelt Avenue, the rise on the north side of Scribner Avenue, Tompkinsville, is gradual.

These photos show the stairways leading to the north and south sides of Corson Avenue, Tompkinsville, walking west from Westervelt Avenue. The north sidewalk also rises gradually as it continues west, becoming fully elevated, with entries and lower stairways leading to each house cut into the massive retaining wall that looms over the roadway.

An approach to the elevated sidewalk on the north side of the street, looking east.

[Up next, the second part of this entry, covering New Brighton, Tompkinsville/Ward Hill and Stapleton. Coming very soon.]

WIT READERS LOVED THIS SERIES WHEN IT FIRST APPEARED.
PERHAPS BECAUSE IT CELEBRATES THE SPECIALNESS OF LIVING HERE.

This post appeared originally in October, 2007. It's the first of a series of eight photo-packed entries on what it's like to live in a place as hilly as the West Bronx and as beautiful, in places, as San Francisco. All eight entries will be re-run, starting today.

Fiedler Avenue, Ward Hill, Staten Island, looking down at Victory Boulevard at the bottom of the street and across at Tompkinsville and the New Brighton hills. The ferry is a 15-minute walk away.

WHO KNEW?

We'd both grown up in Manhattan. She in a spacious, old-fashioned walk-up flat facing Morningside Park, near Columbia. I in a cramped two-room apartment in Chelsea before it became a gay mecca.

These experiences hadn't prepared us for a move to a place where the ferry is the boat, where Manhattan is the city, and where PTAs hold Chinese Auctions, which after 30 years of living here are still a total mystery to my wife Ellen and me.

I'm talking about Staten Island. Specifically, the north shore of that island, and more specifically the neighborhoods of St. George, New Brighton, Tompkinsville/Ward Hill, and Stapleton. All within walking distance of the ferry and the island's bus and rail lines, and all hilly. Sometimes very hilly.

GETTING UP THE HILL WITHOUT A CAR

What I've come to appreciate are the ways in which people have adapted to living on hills, the same way they've adapted to the ferry schedule.

One of the most interesting of these adaptations is a collection of still-functioning stairways, walkways and paths up and down the hills in the older close-to-the ferry neighborhoods. As well as the bizarre arrangement of retaining walls and stairways some residents have to negotiate, just to reach their front doors.

What follows is the first of a two-part entry about these adaptations in the neighborhoods of St. George and Tompkinsville, many still in active use, others well along in the process of reverting to nature. The second part of this entry will cover Tompkinsville/Ward Hill, New Brighton and Stapleton.

HILLSIDE STEPS AND STAIRS
St. George and Tompkinsville

Stone retaining wall and public stairway, St. Peter's R.C. Church, St. Marks Place, St. George, connecting St. Marks and Carroll places.

Stairway from Carroll Place to St. Marks Place. St. Peter's R.C. Church, left.

Stone wall and steps leading from Sherman Avenue, Tompkinsville, to Fort Hill Park, which is both the name of a street and a recently dedicated 'Forever Wild' park on the adjacent property.

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a>

The three photos directly above show (1, 2) the steps leading down from Fort Hill Park to Sherman Avenue; and (3) the road up Fort Hill Park to the top, from the corner of Hendricks and Westervelt avenues.

STEPS AND STAIRS TO HILLSIDE HOUSES
St. George and Tompkinsville

Our first house on St. Marks Place near Westervelt Avenue, St. George. The negatives of living 18 steps above the street are obvious. Less obvious are the sense of privacy and relative solitude that, most of the time, were adequate compensation.

Garden gate and stone retaining wall and stairway, Carroll Place, St. George

Stone wall and slate step entry to the Schoverling mansion, a New York City landmark, Westervelt Avenue at Benziger Avenue, Tompkinsville.

This amazing group of cliff dwellings is on the north side of Corson Avenue between Jersey Street and Westervelt Avenue, Tompkinsville.

STEPS AS SIDEWALK
St. George and Tompkinsville

In this photo, walking west from Westervelt Avenue, the rise on the north side of Scribner Avenue, Tompkinsville, is gradual.

These photos show the stairways leading to the north and south sides of Corson Avenue, Tompkinsville, walking west from Westervelt Avenue. The north sidewalk also rises gradually as it continues west, becoming fully elevated, with entries and lower stairways leading to each house cut into the massive retaining wall that looms over the roadway.

An approach to the elevated sidewalk on the north side of the street, looking east.

[Up next, the second part of this entry, covering New Brighton, Tompkinsville/Ward Hill and Stapleton. Coming very soon.]

Comments

[CvB]

This is a wonderful post. I write the prodigalborough.com blog. May I link from my blog to this article? I also live up on Fort Hill, the highest part of St. George. There are many steps up to our house (the highest house on Fort Hill Circle). Hmmm.....does that mean that my house is the highest point in St. George?

[Dan Icolari]

Hi, Cynthia; I'm a friend of Theo's and I know your house well. First, because a friend of ours care-took it for the owners before the owners from whom you bought it. (I think.) But also because it was one of several featured on the last St. George House Tour, an eternity ago.

Don't know if your house is the highest point in St. George (the Fort Hill Park contingent might have something to say on that subject), but your house certainly is one of the most charming--in a fairly crowded field.

I'd be delighted to have you link to "The Vertical Life." You may be pleased to learn that the next FROM THE ARCHIVES will be posted with a 4/26 pub date (hey, that's today!). The post profiles those bizarre staircases that ascend from Victory Boulevard to Ward Hill, among other things.

Hope you enjoy it, and I thank you for taking the time to comment.