Charleston is a neighborhood, or section, of New York City's borough of Staten Island. It is located on the island's South Shore, with Tottenville to the south, Pleasant Plains to the East, Rossville to the north, and the Arthur Kill to the west. The neighborhood is represented in the New York City Council by Joe Borelli [1] and in the New York State Senate by Andrew Lanza. [2]
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Charleston, once a small village settled by the Androvette farming family in 1699, bore their name as Androvetteville or Androvettetown through the 18th century. [3] In approximately 1850, eight of the twenty-nine structures in the village belonged to the Androvette family.
Some longtime locals remember Charleston as Kreischerville. With the arrival of Balthasar Kreischer (1813–1886), a Bavarian immigrant and founder of the Kreischer Brick Manufactory, the area became known as Kreischerville as his business success supported the surrounding area. Balthasar Kreischer had three mansions built on Kreischer Hill, one of which still stands and is designated a historical landmark. This surviving Kreischer House, at 4500 Arthur Kill Road at the intersection of Kreischer Street, was renovated by the Staten Island Land Development LLC. The mansion has a certificate of occupancy for a 70-seat restaurant that will operate at night. The factory, built in 1854, was destroyed by fire in 1877 and rebuilt. The factory finally shut its doors in 1927.
The name Charleston seems to have arisen during World War I, when anti-German sentiment flourished as the United States entered the war. "Charleston" appears to have been chosen so as to name the village after Charles Kreischer, one of Balthasar Kreischer's sons.
Charleston once had its own United States Post Office branch, and mail sent there bore the postal code "Staten Island 13, New York". The post office, located at 28 Androvette Street, was closed in 1949. While neighborhoods on Staten Island do not have universally agreed-upon boundaries, most observers today reckon Charleston as consisting of a triangle-shaped territory enclosed by Bloomingdale Road, the Richmond Parkway, and the Arthur Kill; this gives Charleston a slightly larger area than that which the former post office served. By the current wider definition, Charleston includes portions of Sandy Ground, settled in 1828 by African Americans who had achieved freedom from slavery, most of whom came to the area from Maryland. Remnants of the original settlement still exist.
Charleston is one of the most remote and sparsely populated areas within all of New York City. In addition to the Kreischer mansion and Sandy Ground, the neighborhood is also home to the Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve [4] and the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility, a closed state prison property. [5] Even today many Charleston residents still keep horses on their property.[ citation needed ]
Recent development in the area has spawned a new shopping corridor along Veterans Road West, including Staten Island's first Target and third Home Depot, among many other stores located in Bricktown Centre at Charleston, an open-air lifestyle center. [6] A second shopping center is located along Veterans Road West. Development in that part of Charleston has continued.
The Tides at Charleston, an adult community development of approximately 120 units, broke ground in Summer 2007, with units available for occupancy as of early 2008. [7] A Kresicherville Active Adult community is slated to cost $25 million and will preserve the Kreischer mansion as a central landmark for the development.
In June 2016, a Shoprite opened on Veterans Road. [8] It is the only supermarket located in Charleston as of 2020.
In September 2017, developers announced the construction of Riverside Galleria, a 600,000-square-foot (56,000 m2) shopping mall in the southern part of Charleston designed by Studio V Architecture. The mall would include amenities such as a waterfront park, elevated walkways, and green roofs, as well as a variety of shops that included restaurants, a "dine-in cinema", and a supermarket. [9] However, plans for the mall were canceled in January 2019 due to community opposition. [10]
On March 17, 2022, the New York Public Library opened its first net-zero energy library in New York City, located in the Bricktown Commons shopping center on the South Shore. Designed by Ikon 5 Architects, nearly 100 percent of the building's energy will be derived from solar panels. The Charleston Library features "dedicated spaces for adults, teens, and children and flexible multi-purpose rooms for programs and classes." [11]
MTA Regional Bus Operations' Charleston Depot, off Arthur Kill Road, opened in January 2011. Charleston is served by the S74 , S84 and S78 local buses along Arthur Kill Road, all of which terminate at Bricktown Mall. [12] Charleston is also served by the S55 local bus on Bloomingdale Road. [13] The SIM26, an express bus to Manhattan, also runs along Bloomingdale Road. [14] New York State Route 440 and Korean War Veterans Parkway pass through Charleston.
In 2002, Allen Alishahi, a broker at Sun Properties of New York Inc., estimated that one third of Charleston was residential, one third had commercial and industrial properties, and one third was parkland. The majority of houses were single-family homes, including ranch houses, Victorian houses, detached Colonial houses, and French mansard houses. A significant number of houses in Charleston date from the early 1900s. Newer homes tend to be semi-detached houses grouped in enclaves, or large custom detached houses. [15]
Charleston residents included many Germans in the 19th century, many Hungarian immigrants in the 20th century, and more recently many families of Irish and Italian origin. [15]
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Despite having a very low crime rate along with the rest of the South Shore, Charleston was nonetheless home to two notable crime-related figures, one a perpetrator and the other a victim. Serial killer Richard Biegenwald, who murdered at least six people during 1958–1983, was born and raised there. In 1990, the neighborhood attracted more media attention when an anti-gay hate crime was committed there: James Zappalorti, a 45-year-old disabled veteran of the Vietnam War, was stabbed to death by two assailants, one of whom also resided in Charleston at the time. The Zappalorti murder sparked New York State to adopt enhanced penalties for crimes motivated by bias.
The New York City Department of Education serves Charleston. As of 2002, the majority of Charleston elementary-school students attend P.S. 56; others attend P.S. 6 or P.S. 62. For grades six through eight, the majority attend Totten Intermediate School (I.S. 34) or Paulo Intermediate School (I.S. 75). Tottenville High School is the area high school. [15]
The sole school facility within Charleston itself is an annex to P.S./I.S. 25R South Richmond High School, [16] a special education school with its main campus in Pleasant Plains. The annex was previously P.S. 4, a stand-alone school. [15]
The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a railroad line in the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and operated by the New York City Transit Authority Department of Subways. SIR operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing local service between St. George and Tottenville, along the east side of the island. There is currently only one line on the island, and there is no direct rail link between the SIR and the New York City Subway system, but SIR riders do receive a free transfer to New York City Transit bus and subway lines, and the line is included on official New York City Subway maps. Commuters on the railway typically use the Staten Island Ferry to reach Manhattan. The line is accessible from within the Ferry Terminal, and most of its trains are timed to connect with the ferry. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 6,151,400, or about 16,600 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
Tottenville is a neighborhood on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York City. It is the southernmost neighborhood and settlement in both New York City and New York State, as well as the westernmost neighborhood in New York City. Tottenville is bounded on three sides by water: the south side abuts the New York Bight while the west and north sides are bordered by the Arthur Kill. Nassau Place, Bethel Avenue and Page Avenue form the neighborhood's eastern border.
The South Shore is a geographical term applied to the area in the New York City borough of Staten Island, south and east of the island's ridge of hills along the waterfront and adjacent areas from the Narrows to the mouth of the Arthur Kill. Many observers prefer to restrict its scope to the neighborhoods located between the shoreline of Raritan Bay on one side and Richmond Creek and Fresh Kills on the other, thus encompassing the neighborhoods of Great Kills to Tottenville only. Those who use this narrower definition of the "South Shore" prefer the term "East Shore" for the communities that lie along Lower New York Bay, and inland for approximately 2 to 2+1⁄2 miles, from Bay Terrace and Richmondtown to as far north as Grasmere and Concord. The South Shore is represented in the New York City Council by Joe Borelli.
Prince's Bay is a neighborhood located on the South Shore of New York City's borough of Staten Island. Prince's Bay is bordered to the north by Huguenot, to the south by the Raritan Bay, and to the west by Pleasant Plains. The neighborhood is represented in the New York State Senate by Andrew Lanza, in the New York State Assembly by Michael Reilly, and in the New York City Council by Joe Borelli.
Great Kills is a neighborhood within the borough of Staten Island in New York City. It is located on the island's South Shore, and according to many local geographers, it is the South Shore's northernmost community. It is bordered by Richmondtown to the north, Bay Terrace to the east, Eltingville to the west, and Great Kills Harbor to the south.
Pleasant Plains is a neighborhood located on Staten Island, New York City, New York. It is bordered by Woodrow to the north, the Lower New York Bay to the south, Richmond Valley to the west, and Prince's Bay to the east. The neighborhood is represented in the New York City Council by Joe Borelli.
Richmond Valley is a neighborhood located on the South Shore of Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, the largest city in the United States. Richmond Valley is bordered on the north by Pleasant Plains, to the south by Tottenville, to the west by the Arthur Kill, and to the east by the Lower New York Bay.
Arden Heights is a name increasingly applied to the western part of Annadale, a neighborhood located on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York City, USA. The name "Arden Heights" is found on most maps of New York City, including Hagstrom's.
Woodrow is a neighborhood located on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York, United States. The neighborhood is represented in the New York State Senate by Andrew Lanza, in the New York State Assembly by Michael Reilly, and in the New York City Council by Joe Borelli.
Rossville is a neighborhood of Staten Island, New York, on the island's South Shore. It is located to the north of Woodrow, to the west of Arden Heights, and to the south and east of the Arthur Kill. Rossville is located within Staten Island Community Board 3.
Eltingville Transit Center is a park and ride transit center that is located in Eltingville, Staten Island. It is located at the intersection of Arthur Kill Road and Richmond Avenue, at the end of the Korean War Veterans Parkway. The transit center was completed in 2004. Amenities include schedules, maps, free parking, and vending machines for soda, snacks, and MetroCards. The center is halfway between the Eltingville Staten Island Railway station and the Staten Island Mall, another transit center, including the adjacent Yukon Depot.
Staten Island light rail proposals refer to two projects in the New York City borough of Staten Island. These proposals are among the several light rail projects that have been floated in New York City in recent years. Neither proposal was funded in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 2015–2019 Capital Plan, but $4 million was allocated to a study for it.
The Tottenville station is a Staten Island Railway rapid transit station in the neighborhood of Tottenville, Staten Island, New York City. Located near Main Street and Arthur Kill Road, it is the southern terminus on the main line and the southernmost railway station in both New York City and New York State.
Atlantic was a Staten Island Railway station in the neighborhood of Tottenville, Staten Island, New York. With the condition of the station having deteriorated after the 1990s, this station, and the Nassau station to the north, were replaced by a new station at Arthur Kill Road. When that station opened in January 2017, Atlantic station closed and was subsequently demolished.
The Nassau station was a Staten Island Railway station located roughly between the neighborhoods of Tottenville and Charleston, in Staten Island, New York. The station was built sometime after 1924 in order to serve the Nassau Smelting & Refining Company, and had a siding so that freight could be transferred to and from the factory. The station platforms were extended in 1971 as part of the modernization of the rail line. However, the condition of the station deteriorated after the 1990s, and this station, along with the Atlantic station to the south, were replaced by a new station at Arthur Kill Road. When that station opened in January 2017, Nassau station closed. The station was subsequently demolished.
Hylan Boulevard is a major northeast-southwest boulevard in the New York City borough of Staten Island, and the longest street in a single borough in the city. It is approximately 14 miles (23 km) long, and runs from the North Shore neighborhood of Rosebank, then along the entire East Shore, to the South Shore neighborhood of Tottenville. It was renamed in 1923 for New York City mayor John F. Hylan, before which it was known as Southfield Boulevard and the northern segment as Pennsylvania Avenue.
The Arthur Kill station is a station on the Staten Island Railway (SIR). The station opened on January 21, 2017, replacing the Atlantic and Nassau stations, which were the two stations in the poorest condition along the line at the time. It is located on Arthur Kill Road near Lion Street and Barnard Avenue, in the Tottenville neighborhood of Staten Island, New York. It has two tracks and two side platforms, and is ADA-accessible via ramps.
Amboy Road is a major north-south artery along the South-East Shore of the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is approximately 9.1 miles (14.6 km) long.
Arthur Kill Road is a major northeast-southwest artery along the South-West Shore of the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is 8.54 miles (13.74 km) long, and runs through the neighborhoods of Tottenville, Richmond Valley, Charleston, Rossville, Woodrow, Huguenot, Arden Heights, Annadale, Eltingville, Greenridge, Great Kills, and Richmondtown.
The S59 and S89 constitute a public transit line in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey. The S59 runs wholly in New York City, between Port Richmond and either Eltingville or Tottenville in Staten Island, largely running on Richmond Avenue. The S89 makes limited stops along Richmond Avenue, running from Bayonne, New Jersey, to Eltingville, Staten Island, New York. They are both based out of the Yukon Depot.
40°32′13″N74°14′14″W / 40.53694°N 74.23722°W
