“the most diabolical and savage procedure that has ever been perpetrated in any community professing to be governed by Christian influences… for pure senseless ruffianism it is without a parallel.”
I honestly think that today's journalists should study these old papers so that their work can become as engaging to readers now as it was to readers then.
The denizens of the Quarantine may have said "I can't breathe" as many times as Eric Garner each day of their confinement, but their deaths were long and agonizing, whereas his was quick, tragic and possibly preventable.
While I agree that they don’t write them like they used to, I’m afraid it’s who is in charge of the journalists rather than the journalists themselves who we need to worry about. Insightful parallel between the quarantine residents and Eric Garner.
"Thanks?" Anti immigrant and anti quarantine sentiment certainly has some modern parallels though at least back then they believed that disease was actually something to be concerned about. #measlesparty.
That view from the corner of Victory and Forest is one of the most stunning in the entire city, and probably what subconsciously inspired an Island girl like me to go to the city as frequently as possible as a kid and a teen, and then move there as quickly as possible at age 18.
Did you explore any of the stair streets up the hill? I believe two are public sidewalks. The ones in The Bronx get all the attention.
I love that the view inspired you to travel, it is pretty enticing! I passed several stairways that had crumbled past the point of no return, but there was one around Jersey St I photographed but was too lazy to go up. It's a hilly neighborhood!
Thanks for sharing those paintings. They're beautiful and I wouldn't have seen them otherwise.
It definitely seems like a neighborhood built on some iffy shifting. Just another example of violence begetting violence begetting violence. The longer I look into any local history, no matter the location, the more I realize it's a history of bloodshed and violence everywhere you go. Makes you wonder if there's any place free of it.
As a local (Livingston) resident, and a past VP/Director at the SI Museum I embrace all the fascinating stories of Staten Island - and the connection between past and present.
Thank you for this focused compilation on this one area, a true historical fulcrum.
I find my neighbors both the BEST (earthy, honest, caring, open to others) while in the news you can see others are most frustrating (spiteful, negligent, unaware, racist ). But perhaps the psychological reasoning can be seen throughout time… and a version of the US at large. Without representation that can get what other borough have, people veer to intolerance - and want succession. The flood of white-flight Brooklyn folks post VN Bridge -70’s brought with it the racism that permeates the minds for some families, and up-ended the quiet hometown and bucolic charm of the borough. Lack of city planning and greed transformed the rural to attached homes without sewers. Love of the natural areas are still in contrast with the real estate dirty deals, like the rest of the city I guess. Anyways, the grit and glory of the borough takes more work than a stroll. If you want to experience the endless surprises of SI, you may need a local to introduce its oddities and secrets.
Thanks, Diane. I’ve been wandering and photographing Staten Island for years, but I know this survey is just a glimpse of what each neighborhood has to offer. No single perspective can capture the full complexity of a place, and I hope this project reflects that. I appreciate your insights and your kind words!
Amazing that one can view an almost 200-year-old map of Staten Island and trace many of the modern roads used today (Richmond Terrace, Victory Blvd, and Richmond Road-Arthur Kill Road, to name a few). These roads have been widened a bit but otherwise follow the same winding routes they did in the early 1800s.
Tompkinsville has always been a somewhat bedraggled stepsister to nearby St. George and Stapleton. The town never really became a shopping or transit destination like those nearby neighborhoods. I've been through Tompkinsville thousands of times but never really spent time there except to transfer between buses at Victory Blvd and Bay St or hop the Staten Island Railway at the Tompkinsville station en route to other, more greener parts of the borough. As is typical of many NYC neighborhoods, the nearby Grymes Hill area overlooking Tompkinsville is one of the most expensive and nicest on Staten Island. Sometimes a few thousand feet can be the distance between expensive and run down.
I guess once you've figured out the shortest distance between two points the only way to improve it is with some new asphalt.
I wasn't entirely clear how much high Tompkinsville went, but there did seem to be some beautiful homes right on what I thought was the Silver Lake border.
“the most diabolical and savage procedure that has ever been perpetrated in any community professing to be governed by Christian influences… for pure senseless ruffianism it is without a parallel.”
I honestly think that today's journalists should study these old papers so that their work can become as engaging to readers now as it was to readers then.
The denizens of the Quarantine may have said "I can't breathe" as many times as Eric Garner each day of their confinement, but their deaths were long and agonizing, whereas his was quick, tragic and possibly preventable.
While I agree that they don’t write them like they used to, I’m afraid it’s who is in charge of the journalists rather than the journalists themselves who we need to worry about. Insightful parallel between the quarantine residents and Eric Garner.
What an obscure End sign at the end. You have to peer to catch it. What fun, like a Where’s Waldo game!
Yeah, the sign was kind of superfluous at that point!
Oh I liked it, something fun and different this time, not superfluous at all😊👍
I meant more in the terms of signage. I don’t think anyone needs to be told it’s a dead end!
Another “excellent” piece of writing and “research”. Not sure why the burning of The Quarantine made me think of the current political climate.
"Thanks?" Anti immigrant and anti quarantine sentiment certainly has some modern parallels though at least back then they believed that disease was actually something to be concerned about. #measlesparty.
That view from the corner of Victory and Forest is one of the most stunning in the entire city, and probably what subconsciously inspired an Island girl like me to go to the city as frequently as possible as a kid and a teen, and then move there as quickly as possible at age 18.
Did you explore any of the stair streets up the hill? I believe two are public sidewalks. The ones in The Bronx get all the attention.
I love that the view inspired you to travel, it is pretty enticing! I passed several stairways that had crumbled past the point of no return, but there was one around Jersey St I photographed but was too lazy to go up. It's a hilly neighborhood!
Thanks for sharing those paintings. They're beautiful and I wouldn't have seen them otherwise.
It definitely seems like a neighborhood built on some iffy shifting. Just another example of violence begetting violence begetting violence. The longer I look into any local history, no matter the location, the more I realize it's a history of bloodshed and violence everywhere you go. Makes you wonder if there's any place free of it.
Anyplace there are no humans, I guess?
As a local (Livingston) resident, and a past VP/Director at the SI Museum I embrace all the fascinating stories of Staten Island - and the connection between past and present.
Thank you for this focused compilation on this one area, a true historical fulcrum.
I find my neighbors both the BEST (earthy, honest, caring, open to others) while in the news you can see others are most frustrating (spiteful, negligent, unaware, racist ). But perhaps the psychological reasoning can be seen throughout time… and a version of the US at large. Without representation that can get what other borough have, people veer to intolerance - and want succession. The flood of white-flight Brooklyn folks post VN Bridge -70’s brought with it the racism that permeates the minds for some families, and up-ended the quiet hometown and bucolic charm of the borough. Lack of city planning and greed transformed the rural to attached homes without sewers. Love of the natural areas are still in contrast with the real estate dirty deals, like the rest of the city I guess. Anyways, the grit and glory of the borough takes more work than a stroll. If you want to experience the endless surprises of SI, you may need a local to introduce its oddities and secrets.
Thanks, Diane. I’ve been wandering and photographing Staten Island for years, but I know this survey is just a glimpse of what each neighborhood has to offer. No single perspective can capture the full complexity of a place, and I hope this project reflects that. I appreciate your insights and your kind words!
Yes! You do a great job. And thus my own reflections of how a place can have a personae. Or inhabit our psyches. Like a haunted house! So fascinating.
Does a place inhabit our psyches or do our psyches inhabit a place? I meant to ask you where Livingston is.
Just burn it down! Why didn’t I think of that?
The most effective way of dealing with any problem really.
The elusive $1 coffee! And why is “French fries” in ironic quotes? Perhaps they are not real fries?
Oh wait. Upon further scrolling I see you’ve already addressed this “issue”.
I like how your concern is that the "french fries" are in quotes rather than the "fresh."
Those hedges should get a room!
Botanical boudoir photos are my specialty.
Thompkinsville is so very, very weird and one of my fave hoods to walk around. I’m for sure going to make it my next profile.
Looking forward to it!
Amazing that one can view an almost 200-year-old map of Staten Island and trace many of the modern roads used today (Richmond Terrace, Victory Blvd, and Richmond Road-Arthur Kill Road, to name a few). These roads have been widened a bit but otherwise follow the same winding routes they did in the early 1800s.
Tompkinsville has always been a somewhat bedraggled stepsister to nearby St. George and Stapleton. The town never really became a shopping or transit destination like those nearby neighborhoods. I've been through Tompkinsville thousands of times but never really spent time there except to transfer between buses at Victory Blvd and Bay St or hop the Staten Island Railway at the Tompkinsville station en route to other, more greener parts of the borough. As is typical of many NYC neighborhoods, the nearby Grymes Hill area overlooking Tompkinsville is one of the most expensive and nicest on Staten Island. Sometimes a few thousand feet can be the distance between expensive and run down.
I guess once you've figured out the shortest distance between two points the only way to improve it is with some new asphalt.
I wasn't entirely clear how much high Tompkinsville went, but there did seem to be some beautiful homes right on what I thought was the Silver Lake border.
Another great post
Thanks Michael!
Fantastic post! Thank you!
Thanks!