I Love St. George, Staten Island.

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The NYC skyline from St. George, Staten Island.

I Love St. George, Staten Island!

St.George is a waterfront town steeped in Staten Island’s history.  It plays a prominent role in New York Harbor’s maritime industry and was the site of a British fort during the Revolutionary War. It is the Island’s seat of government and its architectural and cultural hub.

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Borough Hall is Staten Islands seat of Government and is located across the street from the waterfront St. George Ferry Terminal.

Borough_Hall_Staten_Island_MuralsBorough Hall, a French Renaissance brick building directly across the street from the waterfront St. George Ferry Terminal, became the seat of Staten Island government in 1898.  Inside the marble lobby are a series of hand painted murals depicting Staten Island historical events.

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The New York State Supreme Courthouse is a gleaming glass and copper structure a few steps up the hill from Borough Hall, Staten Island.

Clustered in close proximity to Borough Hall is the gleaming glass and copper New York State Supreme Courthouse and the Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George. 

The Ballpark at St. George is home to the Staten Island Yankees.  The sails at its entrance are inspired by the Staten Island Ferry and the St. George Ferry Terminal, less than a 5 minute walk.

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The sails at the entrance of Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George are inspired by the Staten Island Ferry.

These attractions and many more are waiting to be seen, less than a five minute walk from the Staten Island Ferry in St. George, Staten Island.

Staten Island: Lemon Creek Park Photography

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Bridge to Crab Island at Lemon Creek Park, Staten Island.  Background: Church of Joachim and St. Anne, Mount Loretto Unique Area, Staten Island.

 

I go to Lemon Creek Park to lose the world on what looks like a private island passed onto by a wooden bridge. The point where the creek lets out into Prince’s Bay is known as Crab Island. This is a waterfront spot for solitude, where you can pass from trees to lakes to beach without seeing a soul.  A few people from the neighborhood come at night after work to walk through this peaceful almost-island. I find that it most beautiful at night, when the only lights are from the houses across the bay. In the background, you can see the steeple of the old Church of Joachim and St. Anne, part of the Mount Loretto Unique Area campus.  The baptism scene of The Godfather was filmed on the Church’s steps.

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Princess Bay Boatmen’s Association – the old boathouse at Lemon Creek Park, in Prince’s Bay Staten Island.

 

Lemon Creek includes fresh water and salt water marshland that ends at the Bay, wooded areas, and wildlife that includes rare bird species like the purple martin colony.  Its waterfront area provides a spawning ground for many species of fish and shellfish.

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Sunset photography at Lemon Creek Park, in Prince’s Bay, Staten Island. 

Primarily a fishing village at first, Prince’s Bay oysters were so famous in the nineteenth century that “Prince’s Bay Oysters” could often be found on menus at the finest seafood restaurants in London, Paris, and New York. Local legend has it that a British prince, the Duke of Nassau (later William III,  co-reigned as William and Mary),  anchored a vessel in the bay at the foot of today’s Seguine Avenue, because he believed that the oysters had aphrodisiacal properties.

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