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Flashback: Staten Island’s north, west waterfronts (1914-1992)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The North Shore waterfront is one of New York City’s busiest remaining working waterfronts. Companies such as Howland Hook Marine Terminal; Cadell Dry Dock; Atlantic Salt; Reynolds Launch; Flagg Container Terminal; Sandy Hook Pilots; Staten Island Ferry DOT Maintenance Facility; United States Coast Guard; Clean Harbors; May’s shipyard; Moran', McAllister, Reinauer and K-Sea Towing serve the Kill Van Kull shoreline and the New York Harbor.

In Stapleton, between 1921 and 1923, deep-water piers were constructed along the waterfront and during WWI and WWII, used by the United States Army. After the wars, the docks fell into disuse as the shipping industry moved to areas such as Howland Hook and New Jersey. In the 1970s, all the piers were demolished except for one which was eventually turned into the Navy Homeport Facility in 1994. Information sited from CUNY, 2012 Staten Island Waterfront class project .

Since then, the pier called the Homeport Pier (aka, Sullivan Pier) is the docking location for FDNY’s Marine 9 and occasional visiting naval vessels for Fleet Week events. Present-day Stapleton waterfront includes URBY, a new apartment complex with a waterfront promenade.

St. George is and has always been the transportation hub for all of Staten Island. In the early 1800s, shipbuilding and fishing grew because there was little opportunity for people to leave the island. St. George was a mix of a residential community and a commercial center.

The first chartered boat service between Staten Island and Manhattan was established in 1713. The first steam ferry ran on November 29, 1817, from Staten Island to Manhattan. In 1905 the City of New York took charge of the Staten Island ferry system. Today, it continues to be a central transportation hub with waterfront commerce such as the Richmond County Ball Park and the newly built Empire Outlets.

Port Richmond was once a model village, with homes and businesses and beautifully paved streets. This town also held a large shipbuilding, oystering, and manufacturing industry. Numerous ferries ran from Port Richmond, such as the Riverside and Fort Lee Ferry Co., which ran from Wilmington, Delaware, to Port Richmond, the Bergen Point Ferry Co. (ended in 1941), Evans' Sunrise Ferries (some of which ran to Florida) and White Oak, which was operated by the Staten Island Whaling Company. The Bergen Point Ferry itself brought commercial and commuter traffic through Port Richmond. The last ferry in this town ran from Port Richmond to Bayonne in 1961.Many shipyards and factories sprang up in the 19th century. The Burlee Dry Dock, Starin Shipyard, and Van Clief’s Dry Dock were among the dozens of shipyards on Staten Island after 1820.

Although the waterfront became a maritime graveyard in the 1940s, other businesses like the tugboat companies have come to take hold of the waterfront.

The Mariners Harbor Yacht Club remains and is a reminder of the days that were. Mariners Harbor was home to large shipping and dry dock companies in the first half of the 20th century, including Bethlehem Steel , which owned a considerable portion of land in the area with headquarters along the waterfront on Richmond Terrace across from Mersereau Avenue and Brewers Dry Dock. Bethlehem Steel built United States Navy Destroyers during World War II. Currently, two tugboat companies—K-Sea and McAllister—operate in the area as do a number of smaller dry docks , Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, and Mariners Harbor Cargo Terminal. Information sited from CUNY, 2012 Staten Island Waterfront class project .

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According to Beryl A. Thurman, executive director/president of the North Shore Waterfront Conservancy, an urgent matter along the waterfront today is that “the shoreline on the North Shore is in part privately owned and in part owned by the city, it has been allowed to erode to a dangerous point, if you are looking at it from the standpoint of Climate Changes' sea-level rise, storm surges, and flooding. High tides and storm surges are already impacting properties and homes across the street on Richmond Terrace and Bay Street in low lying areas.”

If you have any visuals to share, please send them to my email at [email protected] . Vintage photos and video clips are welcome! Please let me know if there are any places you’d like to see highlighted in an upcoming installment of “Flashback Staten Island.”

A playlist of past Staten Island flashbacks is available on YouTube.

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