Walking Is Transportation

FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Vertical Life, or, Hill-Walking on Staten Island's North Shore, Part 3

This post appeared originally in WALKING IS TRANSPORTATION (WIT) in October, 2007, the third in a series.

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A LITTLE UNFINISHED BUSINESS

If you're looking for stairs, paths, walkways and myriad other weight-bearing toeholds that people have cobbled together to help them get up and down hills, this is the place. Stapleton, Staten Island.

We'll get there shortly. But first, there's a little unfinished business on Ward Hill to take care of. [For more on Ward Hill, see Part 2.]

URBAN ARCHAEOLOGY: THE HIDDEN PATHS OF NIXON AVENUE

Walking along Nixon, a U-shaped block with great views of the Narrows, there's no reason you'd notice this rusting iron stair-rail sticking out of a blanket of leaf-cover. It's the only clue that an old stairway leading to the Ward mansion, at the very top of Ward Hill, began here.

If you lift the leaves that cover it, you can see the foundation stones that support the stair-rail's bottom step.

The story goes that the father of a little girl who lived on Nixon Avenue at least a decade ago created a path for her to use on her way to and from Trinity Lutheran School. The path began here (see that concrete ledge on the right?) . . .

. . . and ended here, in what is now a lot-size forest at the bottom of the hill on St. Pauls Avenue near Cebra Avenue, Stapleton. Trinity Lutheran is right across the street. Only the barest trace of the path survives, and only where it began, up on Nixon.

UP ST. PAULS, INTO THE HILLS

Our walk up St. Pauls Avenue starts in Tompkinsville, where St. Pauls and Van Duzer street begin their parallel routes. They start from a single point--Van Duzer below, St. Pauls above--then fan out into a wider and wider V.

The long, slow rise of St. Pauls Avenue begins to pick up here, at Paxton Street.

Almost immediately on the right--and up!--are cliff houses rivaling those on Corson Avenue in Tompkinsville for dizzying height and complex stair arrangements.

A PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE

Staten Island's close-to-the-ferry neighborhoods were developed at a time when many, perhaps most, people walked. An old pedestrian infrastructure survives.

These stone steps up from the roadway at the corner of Beach Street and St. Pauls Avenue in Stapleton are an example.

There are steps up from the St. Pauls Avenue roadway at the entrance to each house as well.

There's even sidewalk seating.

WELCOME TO STONE STREET, UNLESS YOU'RE A CAR

Located opposite Trossach Road off St. Pauls Avenue in Stapleton, Stone Street is probably more accurately described as a hilly alley than a street. It's a slice of old Staten Island the home improvers haven't caught up with yet.

Stone Street is only one block long––from St. Pauls to Van Duzer. Too narrow for cars, the street has only one house on it, a modest cottage.

Walking up Stone Street from Van Duzer to St. Pauls. Handrails run almost the entire length of the street. There's not a car in sight. Bliss.

Glimpsed on a porch on St. Pauls Avenue near Cebra Avenue, Stapleton

This post appeared originally in WALKING IS TRANSPORTATION (WIT) in October, 2007, the third in a series.

____________________________________________

A LITTLE UNFINISHED BUSINESS

If you're looking for stairs, paths, walkways and myriad other weight-bearing toeholds that people have cobbled together to help them get up and down hills, this is the place. Stapleton, Staten Island.

We'll get there shortly. But first, there's a little unfinished business on Ward Hill to take care of. [For more on Ward Hill, see Part 2.]

URBAN ARCHAEOLOGY: THE HIDDEN PATHS OF NIXON AVENUE

Walking along Nixon, a U-shaped block with great views of the Narrows, there's no reason you'd notice this rusting iron stair-rail sticking out of a blanket of leaf-cover. It's the only clue that an old stairway leading to the Ward mansion, at the very top of Ward Hill, began here.

If you lift the leaves that cover it, you can see the foundation stones that support the stair-rail's bottom step.

The story goes that the father of a little girl who lived on Nixon Avenue at least a decade ago created a path for her to use on her way to and from Trinity Lutheran School. The path began here (see that concrete ledge on the right?) . . .

. . . and ended here, in what is now a lot-size forest at the bottom of the hill on St. Pauls Avenue near Cebra Avenue, Stapleton. Trinity Lutheran is right across the street. Only the barest trace of the path survives, and only where it began, up on Nixon.

UP ST. PAULS, INTO THE HILLS

Our walk up St. Pauls Avenue starts in Tompkinsville, where St. Pauls and Van Duzer street begin their parallel routes. They start from a single point--Van Duzer below, St. Pauls above--then fan out into a wider and wider V.

The long, slow rise of St. Pauls Avenue begins to pick up here, at Paxton Street.

Almost immediately on the right--and up!--are cliff houses rivaling those on Corson Avenue in Tompkinsville for dizzying height and complex stair arrangements.

A PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE

Staten Island's close-to-the-ferry neighborhoods were developed at a time when many, perhaps most, people walked. An old pedestrian infrastructure survives.

These stone steps up from the roadway at the corner of Beach Street and St. Pauls Avenue in Stapleton are an example.

There are steps up from the St. Pauls Avenue roadway at the entrance to each house as well.

There's even sidewalk seating.

WELCOME TO STONE STREET, UNLESS YOU'RE A CAR

Located opposite Trossach Road off St. Pauls Avenue in Stapleton, Stone Street is probably more accurately described as a hilly alley than a street. It's a slice of old Staten Island the home improvers haven't caught up with yet.

Stone Street is only one block long––from St. Pauls to Van Duzer. Too narrow for cars, the street has only one house on it, a modest cottage.

Walking up Stone Street from Van Duzer to St. Pauls. Handrails run almost the entire length of the street. There's not a car in sight. Bliss.

Glimpsed on a porch on St. Pauls Avenue near Cebra Avenue, Stapleton

This post appeared originally in WALKING IS TRANSPORTATION (WIT) in October, 2007, the third in a series.

This post appeared originally in WALKING IS TRANSPORTATION (WIT) in October, 2007, the third in a series.

____________________________________________

A LITTLE UNFINISHED BUSINESS

If you're looking for stairs, paths, walkways and myriad other weight-bearing toeholds that people have cobbled together to help them get up and down hills, this is the place. Stapleton, Staten Island.

We'll get there shortly. But first, there's a little unfinished business on Ward Hill to take care of. [For more on Ward Hill, see Part 2.]

URBAN ARCHAEOLOGY: THE HIDDEN PATHS OF NIXON AVENUE

Walking along Nixon, a U-shaped block with great views of the Narrows, there's no reason you'd notice this rusting iron stair-rail sticking out of a blanket of leaf-cover. It's the only clue that an old stairway leading to the Ward mansion, at the very top of Ward Hill, began here.

If you lift the leaves that cover it, you can see the foundation stones that support the stair-rail's bottom step.

The story goes that the father of a little girl who lived on Nixon Avenue at least a decade ago created a path for her to use on her way to and from Trinity Lutheran School. The path began here (see that concrete ledge on the right?) . . .

. . . and ended here, in what is now a lot-size forest at the bottom of the hill on St. Pauls Avenue near Cebra Avenue, Stapleton. Trinity Lutheran is right across the street. Only the barest trace of the path survives, and only where it began, up on Nixon.

UP ST. PAULS, INTO THE HILLS

Our walk up St. Pauls Avenue starts in Tompkinsville, where St. Pauls and Van Duzer street begin their parallel routes. They start from a single point--Van Duzer below, St. Pauls above--then fan out into a wider and wider V.

The long, slow rise of St. Pauls Avenue begins to pick up here, at Paxton Street.

Almost immediately on the right--and up!--are cliff houses rivaling those on Corson Avenue in Tompkinsville for dizzying height and complex stair arrangements.

A PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE

Staten Island's close-to-the-ferry neighborhoods were developed at a time when many, perhaps most, people walked. An old pedestrian infrastructure survives.

These stone steps up from the roadway at the corner of Beach Street and St. Pauls Avenue in Stapleton are an example.

There are steps up from the St. Pauls Avenue roadway at the entrance to each house as well.

There's even sidewalk seating.

WELCOME TO STONE STREET, UNLESS YOU'RE A CAR

Located opposite Trossach Road off St. Pauls Avenue in Stapleton, Stone Street is probably more accurately described as a hilly alley than a street. It's a slice of old Staten Island the home improvers haven't caught up with yet.

Stone Street is only one block long––from St. Pauls to Van Duzer. Too narrow for cars, the street has only one house on it, a modest cottage.

Walking up Stone Street from Van Duzer to St. Pauls. Handrails run almost the entire length of the street. There's not a car in sight. Bliss.

Glimpsed on a porch on St. Pauls Avenue near Cebra Avenue, Stapleton

This post appeared originally in WALKING IS TRANSPORTATION (WIT) in October, 2007, the third in a series.

IRREPLACEABLE INFRASTRUCTURE, Part 2

THE SMOKESTACKS OF NEW BRIGHTON: Left, at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, behind the Children's Museum building; right, at the former gypsum plant on Richmond Terrace northwest of York Avenue.

    

FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Vertical Life, or Hill-Walking on Staten Island's North Shore, Part 2

WHEN THIS SERIES FIRST APPEARED,
WIT READERS TOLD ME THEY FELT VINDICATED
IN THEIR LOVE OF OUR NORTH SHORE NEIGHBORHOODS

This post appeared originally in WALKING IS TRANSPORTATION (WIT) in October, 2007. It's the second in a series of photo-packed entries revealing the beauty and quirky charm that surround us here as in few other NYC neighborhoods that people of modest-to-moderate means can afford.

I understood the feelings of vindication several WIT readers expressed after the post appeared. When the place you live and (maybe) love is routinely ignored or sneered at most of the time in most of the press, it's a relief to see documented in photos the everyday reality you live. 

Cobblestone walk, Wall Street between St. Marks Place and Belmont Place, St. George

THEY DIDN'T FLATTEN STATEN ISLAND'S GRYMES, TODT AND EMERSON HILLS in order to lay down a street grid, as they flattened Murray Hill in Manhattan, according to a recent article in The New Yorker. On Staten Island, it seems they just made roadways around the hills, or built access roads where they could––that is, wherever the grade wasn't impossibly steep.

Staten Islanders found another way to make their ascents and descents less arduous and more convenient. They built a series of steps, stairways and walkways that people still use today to get up and down the hills.

Two of these stairways––both on the south side of Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville––are longer, wider and more substantial than any I've found in St. George or in Tompkinsville north of Victory Boulevard.

But first, a few urban-archaeological stair-remnants. Catch 'em while you can.

STAIRWAYS TO LOT-SIZE FORESTS AND STOCKADE FENCES

Close by on Victory, also on the north side, near Fiedler Avenue, are the remnants of two sets of stone retaining walls and slate steps. One will soon disappear under leaf-cover, then earth. Both led to what probably were residences. Today they lead to lot-size forests of maple and ailanthus.

Maples are growing undisturbed in and around another stone-wall-with-steps remnant, this one leading directly into a stockade fence. You'll find it north of Victory Boulevard, on the west side of Westervelt Avenue between Hendricks and Benziger avenues in Tompkinsville.

GETTING UP WARD HILL

Of course you could just walk up Fiedler Avenue––shown here on its rise from Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville––and use the sidewalk like a normal person, as my Aunt Harriet would have said. For the rest of us, there are other ways up Ward Hill. The east stairway, and the west. As you'll see, both have their charms.

THE EAST STAIRWAY. This is the closer of the two stairways to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. There's no sign or marker. It's just sort of there, in a little down-at-the-heels courtyard off the south side of Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville, roughly parallel to Monroe Avenue, across the street.

Not an auspicious beginning, but wait. It gets prettier, the commercial clatter from the street below starts to subside a bit, and then . . .

. . . before you know it, you're at the top--Tompkins Circle--where you stop a moment to look out at the bay, take a brief rest, and maybe do some stretches before heading down the hill to Victory Boulevard.

THE WEST STAIRWAY. This handsome Craftsman-style stone and timber archway leads to a wide and open stairway, obviously much used, that takes you to Willis Avenue and the adjacent Avon Place.

If you'd like to sample some of Ward Hill's panoramic views of the bay--with Brooklyn in the distance--walk left on Willis to Fiedler Avenue. Turn right on Fiedler and continue up the hill to Tompkins Circle. Stay on the bay side of the circle and you're practically guaranteed to see water. And Brooklyn.

WHEN THIS SERIES FIRST APPEARED,
WIT READERS TOLD ME THEY FELT VINDICATED
IN THEIR LOVE OF OUR NORTH SHORE NEIGHBORHOODS

This post appeared originally in WALKING IS TRANSPORTATION (WIT) in October, 2007. It's the second in a series of photo-packed entries revealing the beauty and quirky charm that surround us here as in few other NYC neighborhoods that people of modest-to-moderate means can afford.

I understood the feelings of vindication several WIT readers expressed after the post appeared. When the place you live and (maybe) love is routinely ignored or sneered at most of the time in most of the press, it's a relief to see documented in photos the everyday reality you live. 

Cobblestone walk, Wall Street between St. Marks Place and Belmont Place, St. George

THEY DIDN'T FLATTEN STATEN ISLAND'S GRYMES, TODT AND EMERSON HILLS in order to lay down a street grid, as they flattened Murray Hill in Manhattan, according to a recent article in The New Yorker. On Staten Island, it seems they just made roadways around the hills, or built access roads where they could––that is, wherever the grade wasn't impossibly steep.

Staten Islanders found another way to make their ascents and descents less arduous and more convenient. They built a series of steps, stairways and walkways that people still use today to get up and down the hills.

Two of these stairways––both on the south side of Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville––are longer, wider and more substantial than any I've found in St. George or in Tompkinsville north of Victory Boulevard.

But first, a few urban-archaeological stair-remnants. Catch 'em while you can.

STAIRWAYS TO LOT-SIZE FORESTS AND STOCKADE FENCES

Close by on Victory, also on the north side, near Fiedler Avenue, are the remnants of two sets of stone retaining walls and slate steps. One will soon disappear under leaf-cover, then earth. Both led to what probably were residences. Today they lead to lot-size forests of maple and ailanthus.

Maples are growing undisturbed in and around another stone-wall-with-steps remnant, this one leading directly into a stockade fence. You'll find it north of Victory Boulevard, on the west side of Westervelt Avenue between Hendricks and Benziger avenues in Tompkinsville.

GETTING UP WARD HILL

Of course you could just walk up Fiedler Avenue––shown here on its rise from Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville––and use the sidewalk like a normal person, as my Aunt Harriet would have said. For the rest of us, there are other ways up Ward Hill. The east stairway, and the west. As you'll see, both have their charms.

THE EAST STAIRWAY. This is the closer of the two stairways to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. There's no sign or marker. It's just sort of there, in a little down-at-the-heels courtyard off the south side of Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville, roughly parallel to Monroe Avenue, across the street.

Not an auspicious beginning, but wait. It gets prettier, the commercial clatter from the street below starts to subside a bit, and then . . .

. . . before you know it, you're at the top--Tompkins Circle--where you stop a moment to look out at the bay, take a brief rest, and maybe do some stretches before heading down the hill to Victory Boulevard.

THE WEST STAIRWAY. This handsome Craftsman-style stone and timber archway leads to a wide and open stairway, obviously much used, that takes you to Willis Avenue and the adjacent Avon Place.

If you'd like to sample some of Ward Hill's panoramic views of the bay--with Brooklyn in the distance--walk left on Willis to Fiedler Avenue. Turn right on Fiedler and continue up the hill to Tompkins Circle. Stay on the bay side of the circle and you're practically guaranteed to see water. And Brooklyn.

WHEN THIS SERIES FIRST APPEARED,
WIT READERS TOLD ME THEY FELT VINDICATED
IN THEIR LOVE OF OUR NORTH SHORE NEIGHBORHOODS

This post appeared originally in WALKING IS TRANSPORTATION (WIT) in October, 2007. It's the second in a series of photo-packed entries revealing the beauty and quirky charm that surround us here as in few other NYC neighborhoods that people of modest-to-moderate means can afford.

I understood the feelings of vindication several WIT readers expressed after the post appeared. When the place you live and (maybe) love is routinely ignored or sneered at most of the time in most of the press, it's a relief to see documented in photos the everyday reality you live. 

Cobblestone walk, Wall Street between St. Marks Place and Belmont Place, St. George

THEY DIDN'T FLATTEN STATEN ISLAND'S GRYMES, TODT AND EMERSON HILLS in order to lay down a street grid, as they flattened Murray Hill in Manhattan, according to a recent article in The New Yorker. On Staten Island, it seems they just made roadways around the hills, or built access roads where they could––that is, wherever the grade wasn't impossibly steep.

Staten Islanders found another way to make their ascents and descents less arduous and more convenient. They built a series of steps, stairways and walkways that people still use today to get up and down the hills.

Two of these stairways––both on the south side of Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville––are longer, wider and more substantial than any I've found in St. George or in Tompkinsville north of Victory Boulevard.

But first, a few urban-archaeological stair-remnants. Catch 'em while you can.

STAIRWAYS TO LOT-SIZE FORESTS AND STOCKADE FENCES

Close by on Victory, also on the north side, near Fiedler Avenue, are the remnants of two sets of stone retaining walls and slate steps. One will soon disappear under leaf-cover, then earth. Both led to what probably were residences. Today they lead to lot-size forests of maple and ailanthus.

Maples are growing undisturbed in and around another stone-wall-with-steps remnant, this one leading directly into a stockade fence. You'll find it north of Victory Boulevard, on the west side of Westervelt Avenue between Hendricks and Benziger avenues in Tompkinsville.

GETTING UP WARD HILL

Of course you could just walk up Fiedler Avenue––shown here on its rise from Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville––and use the sidewalk like a normal person, as my Aunt Harriet would have said. For the rest of us, there are other ways up Ward Hill. The east stairway, and the west. As you'll see, both have their charms.

THE EAST STAIRWAY. This is the closer of the two stairways to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. There's no sign or marker. It's just sort of there, in a little down-at-the-heels courtyard off the south side of Victory Boulevard in Tompkinsville, roughly parallel to Monroe Avenue, across the street.

Not an auspicious beginning, but wait. It gets prettier, the commercial clatter from the street below starts to subside a bit, and then . . .

. . . before you know it, you're at the top--Tompkins Circle--where you stop a moment to look out at the bay, take a brief rest, and maybe do some stretches before heading down the hill to Victory Boulevard.

THE WEST STAIRWAY. This handsome Craftsman-style stone and timber archway leads to a wide and open stairway, obviously much used, that takes you to Willis Avenue and the adjacent Avon Place.

If you'd like to sample some of Ward Hill's panoramic views of the bay--with Brooklyn in the distance--walk left on Willis to Fiedler Avenue. Turn right on Fiedler and continue up the hill to Tompkins Circle. Stay on the bay side of the circle and you're practically guaranteed to see water. And Brooklyn.

Discovered While Walking

This granite curbstone in Tompkinsville was put in place before Staten Island became part of the five-borough consolidated City of New York in 1898. I walked on it, over it and around it for 30 years before noticing it just the other day.

AS IF FOR THE FIRST TIME

After my friend Simon relocated to Santa Barbara from St. George several years ago, he came back for a visit and remarked how old and small everything about New York seemed after a year or two in the West.

Before I had a chance to be offended by the words 'old' and 'small,' he added, "I feel as though I never really saw the city when I lived here, maybe because I never really looked."

Simon's words came back to me the other day when I happened to see, as if for the first time, the curbstone I was stepping onto from the roadway, shown in the photo at the top of this entry. I saw it was made of granite, still serviceable, and beautiful, after more than a century of service.

MOSTLY STILL HERE

What makes me pretty sure that curbstone has been in place more than 100 years are the markings chiseled into its surface: "TK AR 2." Though I can only speculate as to what the numeral '2' refers to, I'm a lot more certain about the pair of paired letters that precedes it.

Here's why:

The caption of this undated, un-postmarked, hand-colored postcard reads, "Public Square, Arrietta Street, Tompkinsville, S.I." The 'TK' incised into the curbstone stands for Tompkinsville; the 'AR' for Arrietta Street . The buildings clustered on the right of the image are on the north side of today's Victory Boulevard, formerly Richmond Turnpike, between Central Avenue/Bay Street and today's St. Marks Place, formerly Arrietta Street.

This row of simple post-Civil War red brick commercial/residential structures, like the granite curbstone only steps away, owe their survival to disinvestment and decline that began after World War II and accelerated with the opening of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Will they survive the visions of the developers, who see St. George/Tompkinsville and Stapleton not as neighborhoods but as a concept called 'Downtown Staten Island'?

The granite curb shown at the top of this entry can be found at the northwest corner of St. Marks Place and Victory Boulevard, outside the Liggett-Rexall drug store.

Here's another postcard image of that corner, postmarked 1918.