About the author:

Born and raised in Midland Beach, now residing in South Beach and living all over Staten Island like Port Richmond, Bulls Head, Rosebank and Grymes Hill has given me a love of Staten Island and a desire to learn about this Island where I was born and raised that led me to write this book. I have terrific memories of growing up here, particularly of my Mom bringing us to the beach as a child. What I wanted to do was find out the history of this Island before I was born and to find out if some of the wonderous tales I was told were fact or fiction. This all led to a website called "StatenIslandHistory.com" which I created almost five years ago. I was flooded with email of memories and stories of the visitors childhoods on Staten Island. Many energized me to do more research into the stories. And before I knew it , I had tons of stories and information about the Island.

Preface:

Being a native Staten Islander, I thought I knew all about this Island. In my later years I became very interested in the Islands history. I wondered about all the things I was told about Staten Island but never had the opportunity to personally see. This work is a collaboration of many people and many sources of information. Was the Staten Island Airport shut down each night to ensure no peril to the patrons of the drive-in theater nearby? Did rides and trolleys really exist on the South Beach – Midland Beach Boardwalk? Were there restaurants with a huge hot dog on its roof or one built like a chuck wagon, a jolly trolley a caboose or a windmill? Were farms prevalent on the Island and did wildlife roam our backyards? Were the beaches so clean that you actually paid to use them? Was fresh milk and bread actually delivery to our front doors? Can it be that in 1929, Staten Island had its own NFL team? Did Santa really ride the Christmas Train and stop at Jersey Street and Richmond Terrace and give out presents to the kids? Was there really a home for orphaned kids “Mount Loretto” (where once a month my mother promised to check me into)? Which of Staten Island's best known restaurateurs, bought a house across the street from his famous restaurant and built a 200-foot tunnel between the house and the restaurant so that he could safely carry the day's receipts from the restaurant to his home? Did such rock legends, like the Allman Brothers, Vanilla Fudge, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath and the Kinks really play the Island? Did President John Kennedy, sip coffee at the St. George ferry terminal while campaigning for the presidency? These were some of the many questions I had as my interest in Staten Islands past grew. In recent years I have come across so much information about our Island’s rich and diverse past that I wanted to share with all Native Islanders and people who have called the Island home. But I did not want this to be another history book on Staten Island, though; at times it may look that way. I will not go into details about the British occupation of Staten Island for seven years, or the draft riots during the civil war, or the burning down of the Quarantine Station. All this has been covered in much detail and in the “Books” chapter I will point you to some great history books on our beloved Staten Island. I will try my best to make this a lighthearted look at memories that we have of a place that was and is still close to our hearts. I will try my best to make you say, “Wow, I remember that”.

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 19 More History Books of
Staten Island on  CD
 

( Total Pages 5000 )