Similar Features 

• Union Square, Flatiron and Gramercy Park

• World Trade Center Site

• Queens

Staten Island, with its population of over 477,000 inhabitants, is the least populated of New York City's boroughs. It is also the most geographically separated of them. Moreover, Staten Island is not as popular as Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn. Hence, it is commonly referred to as the ''forgotten borough''.
Staten Island got its name from Henry Hudson, a famous English sea explorer, who called the island ''Staaten Eylandt '' with reference to the Dutch Parliament. However, when at the end of the 17th century, Staten Island fell into the hands of the English and acquired its present-day name.

What Staten Island is most famous for is its historic dirty-orange ferry which takes locals and tourists to/from downtown Manhattan to the Staten Island neighborhood of St George. The 25-minute ride, during which one can enjoy the breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyscrapers, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and New York Harbor, is really a memorable experience. What is more it is for free. Hence, it is a must to all New York City newcomers.


Apart from the ferry services, a major tourist attraction in the area, Staten Island boasts its large public parkland area, one of the largest in New York City. The 2800-acre Greenbelt is a perfect paradise for birdwatchers, hikers and cyclists.

Visitors to Staten Island will not be bored as there are a lot of cultural centres and historical sites. The major ones, which should not be missed, include:
- Historic Richmond Town, an open-air live museum, with the former county seat of Staten Island and the country's oldest schoolhouse and other historical edifices;
- the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, with a wide variety of year-round activities, promotes and presents the art and culture of Tibet and the Himalayan region;
- the Alice Austen House, a museum devoted to the Staten Island's most famous photographer;
- the Staten Island Children's Museum with a rich selection of exhibitions and creative workshops with hands-on experiences;
- the Staten Island Zoo, though tiny, with one of the country's largest collection of snakes and rattlesnakes;
- the Snug Harbor Cultural Center with the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, the Staten Island Botanical Garden and the Noble Maritime Collection.

Though Staten Island has an ill title to fame - the trash repository, serving all the boroughs of New York City, which though closed in 2001 was used for storing the World Trade Centre Ground Zero debris, one should not feel discouraged from coming here.

As the island has no land border with any other of the New York City's borough one can get to Staten Island via three bridges linking it to New Jersey and via the famous Verrazzano Narrows Bridge, with the erection of which in 1964 Staten Island got a direct road access to Brooklyn. If coming from Lower Manhattan, it is advisable to go by Staten Island Ferry, very popular with tourists. The island has a well-developed railway system connecting its southern and northern tips, hence, taking a train to sightsee Staten Island seems a reasonable solution.