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Willowbrook is a neighborhood in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. It is located in the region of the island usually referred to as Mid-Island, immediately to the south of Port Richmond, to the west of Meiers Corners and Westerleigh, to the north of New Springville, and to the east of Bulls Head.
Named for a brook that flowed through the area's farmland, Willowbrook once lay at the heart of the island's agricultural zone, and first saw other significant development when a military hospital opened there during World War II. After the war ended the property became the site of Willowbrook State School, a state-run institution for intellectually disabled children that became the scene of a national scandal in the 1970s when it was revealed that the children housed there were the victims of widespread abuse and neglect. The facility was forced to close by 1987, and six years later a campus of the College of Staten Island opened at the site. Willowbrook Park, a large city park, borders the college on the west. It was also home to the Seaview Hospital tuberculosis sanatorium, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. [1]
The neighborhood was also drastically transformed with the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in November 1964. Soon after this, the farms were sold and broken up, and residential housing was built on the property. Many of the owners of the newly built homes were Jewish families, and as a result, Willowbrook became the center of the island's Orthodox Jewish community, which from the turn of the 20th century until the late 1960s and early 1970s was primarily centered in Staten Island's North Shore neighborhood of Tompkinsville along with most of Staten Island's then-small Jewish population.
The 2010s saw a great influx to the Jewish community in Willowbrook, because of the housing crisis in Brooklyn. [2]
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Young Israel of Staten Island — an Orthodox synagogue that is the island's largest Jewish house of worship — is located in Willowbrook, as are a number of smaller Orthodox congregations, including Hasidic and Sephardic congregations. Although Willowbrook is home to non-Orthodox Jews as well, there are no non-Orthodox synagogues in the community. There are also many Italian-Americans as well as East Asians, African Americans, and South Asians.
Willowbrook is the location of P.S. 54, an elementary school administered by the New York City Department of Education.
The New York Public Library (NYPL)'s Todt Hill-Westerleigh branch is located at 2550 Victory Boulevard on the border between Willowbrook and Westerleigh. The three-story branch opened in 1991. [3]
Willowbrook is served by the S57 , S61 , S62 , S91 , S92 and S93 local buses and the SIM3 , SIM4C , SIM31 , SIM32 , SIM33 and SIM34 express buses. [4]
New Dorp is a neighborhood on the East Shore of Staten Island, New York City, United States. New Dorp is bounded by Mill Road on the southeast, Tysens Lane on the southwest, Amboy and Richmond Roads on the northwest, and Bancroft Avenue on the northeast. It is adjacent to Oakwood to the southwest, Todt Hill to the northwest, Dongan Hills and Grant City, and Midland Beach and Miller Field to the southeast. New Dorp Beach, bordering to the east, is often listed on maps as a separate neighborhood from Mill Road to the shore of Lower New York Bay, but is generally considered to be a part of New Dorp.
Mariners Harbor is a neighborhood located in the northwestern part of New York City's borough of Staten Island. It is bordered by Lake Avenue to the east, Forest Avenue to the south, Richmond Terrace to the north, and Holland Avenue to the west. The northwestern section of Mariners Harbor is often known as Arlington.
Prince's Bay is the name of 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.
The term North Shore is frequently applied to a series of neighborhoods within the New York City borough of Staten Island.
Mid-Island is frequently applied to a series of neighborhoods within the New York City borough of Staten Island.
South Beach is a neighborhood on the East Shore of Staten Island, New York City, situated directly south of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. South Beach is bounded by New York Bay on the southeast, Seaview Avenue on the southwest, Laconia Avenue on the northwest, Reid and McClean Avenues on the north, and Lily Pond Avenue on the northeast. It is adjacent to Midland Beach to the southwest, Dongan Hills and Old Town/Concord to the northwest, and Fort Wadsworth and Rosebank to the northeast.
Oakwood is a neighborhood located in east central Staten Island, New York City, near the South Shore. It is bordered by Tysens Lane (north); the Atlantic Ocean (east); Great Kills Park (south); Kensico Street, and Clarke Avenue (west).
Dongan Hills is a neighborhood located within the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is on the Island's East Shore. Dongan Hills is bounded by Laconia Avenue on the southeast, Jefferson Avenue on the southwest, Richmond Road on the northwest, and Old Town Road to the north. It is adjacent to New Dorp and Grant City to the southwest, Todt Hill to the northwest, Old Town/Concord to the northeast, and South Beach and Midland Beach to the southeast.
Castleton Corners is an upscale neighborhood of Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. It is bounded by Westerleigh in the West, West Brighton in the East, Port Richmond by the North, and Todt Hill/Emerson Hill to the South/Southeast. Castleton Corners is in a region of the island often referred to as the North Shore, Staten Island.
Westerleigh is a residential neighborhood in the north-western part of Staten Island in New York City.
Bulls Head is a neighborhood in west-central Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. It is bordered by New Springville to the south, Bloomfield to the west, Willowbrook to the east, Graniteville to the north, and Westerleigh to the north.
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.
Graniteville is the name of a neighborhood in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City.
Lighthouse Hill is the name of a hill, and the neighborhood situated thereon, in the New York City borough of Staten Island. Lighthouse Hill is situated to the north of Richmondtown, south of Todt Hill, and west of Grant City.
Elm Park is the name of a small park in the Port Richmond section of Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, United States. The park is located across Innis Street from Port Richmond High School.
Manor Heights is a neighborhood located in Staten Island, New York City. Manor comes from the fact that the neighborhood is adjacent to Manor Road, a major thoroughfare in the North Shore of Staten Island, and Heights due to the area's sudden elevation within its boundaries. The neighborhood's loose boundaries include the areas south of the Staten Island Expressway, north of Brielle Avenue, which is the location of Susan E. Wagner High School, to the west of Manor Road, and to the east of Bradley Avenue.
Staten Island Community Board 1 is a local government unit of New York City, encompassing the Staten Island neighborhoods of Arlington, northern Castleton Corners, Clifton Concord, Elm Park, Fort Wadsworth, northern Graniteville, Grymes Hill, Livingston, Mariners' Harbor, northern Meiers Corners, New Brighton, Port Ivory, Port Richmond, Randall Manor, Rosebank, Staten Island, St. George, Shore Acres, Silver Lake, Stapleton, Sunnyside, Tompkinsville, West New Brighton, Westerleigh, and northern Willowbrook. Community Board 1 is essentially the entire area of Staten Island north of the Staten Island Expressway.
The Jewish Center of Brighton Beach, named as the Jewish Center of Coney Island prior to 1947, is a historic former Orthodox Jewish synagogue and community center, located in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, in the United States.
