New York's Little Island Railway Has a Lot to Love
Classy Whale
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The Staten Island Railway is New York City's other, other subway. I've put off riding it for a while, but now the time has come. Today, @AverytheCubanAmerican and I are riding the whole thing, end to end, to learn more about the Forgotten Borough and its railway.
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Classy Whale - at-least-weekly misadventures with trains and transit!
20 Comments
@GobbiExists 1 year ago Pinned
I think that for every NYC Tri state area video from now on, WE NEED AVERY 😭😭😭 we need more collabs ❤❤
@justinwalker5274 1 year ago
You missed the authentic experience not riding the SIR at 2AM with drunk bros
@AverytheCubanAmerican 1 year ago (edited)
....I should've made a Magilla Gorilla joke at 11:15 lol. For those who may be wondering about my NJ Transit hat, I got it at NJ Transit's 40th anniversary rail festival in Hoboken back in 2023! I like to call the SIR, the American Island Line since it has a lot in common with its Isle of Wight counterpart! More SIR facts that weren't included:
The seats of the R211s are blue and gold, chosen to reference the state's color palette from the state flag. In addition to the other R211 features mentioned, they also have wider doors to improve passenger flow, reduce dwell time, and enhance accessibility. While the R44S has four cars, the R211S has five cars. In 2007, the signal system was enhanced with a FRA-compliant 100 Hz, track-circuit-based automatic train control signal system. And so, the R211S variant was designed to be electromagnetically compatible with such system, in contrast with the NYC Subway’s 25 Hz and 60 Hz powerphase track circuits along with CBTC. Also unlike the other R211 variants, the R211S have locomotive adapters for SIR compatibility, adjusted dynamic braking, active High-Speed Mode for improved performance (reaching speeds of up to 66 mph), and rear door cutout options, preventing the doors of the last car and the rear door panels on the fourth car from opening at Richmond Valley and Clifton stations. The R211S variant is also special in that it has a headlight dimming function. When active, the headlights illuminate the rail 75 feet ahead, a feature reminiscent of its commuter rail sisters in the M class. It also uses Brookville Equipment BL20G locomotives, used for maintaining tracks, propelling equipment that steam-clean rails and applying traction-enhancing gel, and can haul passenger cars in the event of a third-rail outage and to clear snow from tracks
The Staten Island Railway used to have grade crossings! On the North Shore Branch, Lake Avenue and Harbor Road both opened in the 1930s during a grade crossing elimination project. When the Port Richmond–Tower Hill viaduct was completed in February 1937, it was the largest grade crossing elimination project in the country at the time, spanning eight grade crossings with a viaduct over a mile long. It was the final part of a project that eliminated 34 grade crossings across the north and south shores. In 1971, when SIRT operation of the main line was turned over to the SIRTOA of the MTA, the line was purchased by NYC for one dollar, and the MTA paid 3.5 million for the line’s equipment. Grade crossings had to be removed to finalize the deal, they were supposed to be removed in the 1930s but didn’t completely happen due to the Great Depression and WWII.
The North Shore Branch started construction in 1884, and service on the line initially started in February 1886. In 1889, construction began on the Baltimore and New York Railway between Arthur Kill and the Jersey Central at Cranford, thus passenger trains used to go to New Jersey from Staten Island using the North Shore Branch.
Most stations on the former North Shore and South Beach Branches shut down in 1953 because the B&O viewed service as unprofitable, and wanted to reduce service, and eventually abandon the two branches. They purposely looked the other way when conductors skimmed money from the collected fares, allowing them to show a lower ridership to the Interstate Commerce Commission, and in return improve their chances for abandonment. The former NYC Board of Transportation (which dissolved in June 1953 and replaced by the NYCTA) gained almost complete control of Staten Island’s bus lines in 1948 and cut fares to match the other city lines. The railroad could not match the fare cut and lost 60 percent of its business almost immediately. They announced plans to terminate all passenger operations in 1953 but a threat from the city to relieve them of their still-profitable freight service along with a commitment for a sizable city subsidy preserved the Main Line to Tottenville
The South Beach Branch was abandoned and demolished except for three segments, a trestle spanning Robin Road in Arrochar, a concrete embankment on Saint John’s Avenue, and a filled-in bridge which McClean Avenue crosses over. The original ROW remained well into the 1990s, and it can still be traceable on maps! Today, houses stand on most of the former line, and some of it was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge toll plaza and access ramps.
Despite passenger service ending in 1953, in 1957, the North Shore Branch ran a SIRT special train, a train from Washington, DC carrying Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to the Staten Island Ferry from a state meeting with President Eisenhower. Freight service continued to run along part of the North Shore Branch until 1989. In 2005, freight service on the western portion of the line was reactivated, reactivating the historic Arlington Yard that originally opened in 1886. At one point, the yard had a capacity for 3,000 train cars. The use of the Howland Hook Container Terminal to transfer containerized municipal waste from barges to trains, servicing roughly half of NYC's barged trash volume, has added to the rail traffic handled by the yard. Since the Central Railroad of New Jersey became a NJT line, a new junction was built to the former Lehigh Valley Railroad. The original Arthur Kill Bridge, a swing bridge, was demolished in the 1950s and replaced with the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge, the longest lift span of any vertical-lift bridge in the world. So when the line was reactivated, so was the lift bridge.
While the North Shore Branch ROW still exists, the former station sites and infrastructure have been dilapidated. The MTA has chosen to reactivate part of the North Shore Branch ROW from St. George to Arlington (they once considered light-rail too) as part of a BRT route from St. George to West Shore Plaza. Children on Staten Island's North Shore are more than twice as likely to be living in poverty than those on the South Shore, as the economic disparity that has long plagued the borough continues to persist. The area is the most populous portion of the borough, housing about 38 percent of all residents. Reviving the North Shore ROW is a must.
The seats of the R211s are blue and gold, chosen to reference the state's color palette from the state flag. In addition to the other R211 features mentioned, they also have wider doors to improve passenger flow, reduce dwell time, and enhance accessibility. While the R44S has four cars, the R211S has five cars. In 2007, the signal system was enhanced with a FRA-compliant 100 Hz, track-circuit-based automatic train control signal system. And so, the R211S variant was designed to be electromagnetically compatible with such system, in contrast with the NYC Subway’s 25 Hz and 60 Hz powerphase track circuits along with CBTC. Also unlike the other R211 variants, the R211S have locomotive adapters for SIR compatibility, adjusted dynamic braking, active High-Speed Mode for improved performance (reaching speeds of up to 66 mph), and rear door cutout options, preventing the doors of the last car and the rear door panels on the fourth car from opening at Richmond Valley and Clifton stations. The R211S variant is also special in that it has a headlight dimming function. When active, the headlights illuminate the rail 75 feet ahead, a feature reminiscent of its commuter rail sisters in the M class. It also uses Brookville Equipment BL20G locomotives, used for maintaining tracks, propelling equipment that steam-clean rails and applying traction-enhancing gel, and can haul passenger cars in the event of a third-rail outage and to clear snow from tracks
The Staten Island Railway used to have grade crossings! On the North Shore Branch, Lake Avenue and Harbor Road both opened in the 1930s during a grade crossing elimination project. When the Port Richmond–Tower Hill viaduct was completed in February 1937, it was the largest grade crossing elimination project in the country at the time, spanning eight grade crossings with a viaduct over a mile long. It was the final part of a project that eliminated 34 grade crossings across the north and south shores. In 1971, when SIRT operation of the main line was turned over to the SIRTOA of the MTA, the line was purchased by NYC for one dollar, and the MTA paid 3.5 million for the line’s equipment. Grade crossings had to be removed to finalize the deal, they were supposed to be removed in the 1930s but didn’t completely happen due to the Great Depression and WWII.
The North Shore Branch started construction in 1884, and service on the line initially started in February 1886. In 1889, construction began on the Baltimore and New York Railway between Arthur Kill and the Jersey Central at Cranford, thus passenger trains used to go to New Jersey from Staten Island using the North Shore Branch.
Most stations on the former North Shore and South Beach Branches shut down in 1953 because the B&O viewed service as unprofitable, and wanted to reduce service, and eventually abandon the two branches. They purposely looked the other way when conductors skimmed money from the collected fares, allowing them to show a lower ridership to the Interstate Commerce Commission, and in return improve their chances for abandonment. The former NYC Board of Transportation (which dissolved in June 1953 and replaced by the NYCTA) gained almost complete control of Staten Island’s bus lines in 1948 and cut fares to match the other city lines. The railroad could not match the fare cut and lost 60 percent of its business almost immediately. They announced plans to terminate all passenger operations in 1953 but a threat from the city to relieve them of their still-profitable freight service along with a commitment for a sizable city subsidy preserved the Main Line to Tottenville
The South Beach Branch was abandoned and demolished except for three segments, a trestle spanning Robin Road in Arrochar, a concrete embankment on Saint John’s Avenue, and a filled-in bridge which McClean Avenue crosses over. The original ROW remained well into the 1990s, and it can still be traceable on maps! Today, houses stand on most of the former line, and some of it was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge toll plaza and access ramps.
Despite passenger service ending in 1953, in 1957, the North Shore Branch ran a SIRT special train, a train from Washington, DC carrying Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to the Staten Island Ferry from a state meeting with President Eisenhower. Freight service continued to run along part of the North Shore Branch until 1989. In 2005, freight service on the western portion of the line was reactivated, reactivating the historic Arlington Yard that originally opened in 1886. At one point, the yard had a capacity for 3,000 train cars. The use of the Howland Hook Container Terminal to transfer containerized municipal waste from barges to trains, servicing roughly half of NYC's barged trash volume, has added to the rail traffic handled by the yard. Since the Central Railroad of New Jersey became a NJT line, a new junction was built to the former Lehigh Valley Railroad. The original Arthur Kill Bridge, a swing bridge, was demolished in the 1950s and replaced with the Arthur Kill Vertical Lift Bridge, the longest lift span of any vertical-lift bridge in the world. So when the line was reactivated, so was the lift bridge.
While the North Shore Branch ROW still exists, the former station sites and infrastructure have been dilapidated. The MTA has chosen to reactivate part of the North Shore Branch ROW from St. George to Arlington (they once considered light-rail too) as part of a BRT route from St. George to West Shore Plaza. Children on Staten Island's North Shore are more than twice as likely to be living in poverty than those on the South Shore, as the economic disparity that has long plagued the borough continues to persist. The area is the most populous portion of the borough, housing about 38 percent of all residents. Reviving the North Shore ROW is a must.
@DPRKSupremeLeaderKimJong-un 1 year ago
Between Pleasant Plains and Richmond Valley, there was a spur called the Mount Loretto Spur that certain trains served. The spur was built in 1891 to serve the Mount Loretto Children's Home, and was used to transport excursionists and to provide freight. Mount Loretto was once the largest orphanage in NY. The line was originally built to bring construction materials for large buildings at Mount Loretto and its powerhouse in the 1890s. Every third Sunday, the SIRT operated a special train from St. George Terminal to Mount Loretto and back, for relatives and visitors. The Archdiocese of New York paid for the trips. This direct service ended in 1939 and chartered buses were used afterwards. The trains consisted of three steel cars and a steam locomotive, as the spur was never electrified. The spur received regular freight shipments until the late 1950s, and after freight on the spur stopped, it was abandoned in the early 1960s, with the tracks removed soon after. Some ties were still visible until the 1980s. While the spur's junction was removed, the pilings that carried the tracks still exist. Parts of the right-of-way are now a hiking trail. At Mount Loretto, all that remains is a coal dump trestle. Today, the area closer to the Main Line is now the North Mount Loretto State Forest, while the end of the spur is now the Mount Loretto Unique Area, an open space reserve and nature preserve. The land was purchased from the Archdiocese of New York by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in 1999. The property’s former various buildings were destroyed by several fires.
Arthur Kill opened in 2017 as a park-and-ride to replace Nassau and Atlantic stations, which were in poor conditions. Only the last door of the last car could serve them. Nassau and Atlantic were built to serve factories, opening in 1924 and the 1910s respectively. The Nassau Smelting & Refining Company, which as a subsidiary of the Bell System's Western Electric division, recycled obsolete phone equipment and manufactured copper solder. Later called AT&T Nassau Metals. While Nassau Smelting funded a platform extension for Nassau station in 1971, the extension deteriorated by the time the station closed. And the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company, one of the first successful glazed architectural terra cotta companies in the US. They had their operations in Perth Amboy and Staten Island thanks to rich clay deposits in the area. They created the US Supreme Court’s clay tile roof as well as also helping build the Flatiron Building, Woolworth Building, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They also contributed to the terra cotta architecture of Perth Amboy. These two stations were never modernized in the 1990s unlike other SIR stations because they were planned to be replaced by Arthur Kill for that long. Under the MTA’s Staten Island West Shore Alternatives Analysis, the MTA considered Tottenville-Bayonne BRT between Arthur Kill station and 8th Street HBLR via Korean War Veterans Parkway and Richmond Ave, serving the Eltingville Transit Center, Staten Island Mall, and the College of Staten Island along the way.
Tottenville has five tracks, three of them not for passenger service. While Clifton Yard is the sole SIR yard, there is additional storage for revenue trains at Tottenville. A ferry was operated by the SIR from 1867 until 1948 that ran across the Arthur Kill to the Perth Amboy Ferry Slip in NJ. The ferry service dated back to the 1700s and ended in October 1963. Besides the Conference House itself at the park, the park’s visitor center also features art and a Lenape gallery.
Great Kills was the site of the first middleweight boxing championship, when Nonpareil Jack Dempsey defeated George Fulljames in 1884 for the title. At the southeastern corner of the neighborhood is Great Kills Park, part of the National Park Service’s Gateway National Recreation Area. It covers an area of approximately 580 acres of salt marsh, beach and woodlands. The park now includes the Nichols Marina, a beach, trails, fishing and bird-watching areas, and sports fields. A pioneering rocket launch in 1933 led the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics to commemorate the location as a "Historic Aerospace Site".
The Stapleton neighborhood was the site of the farm where Cornelius Vanderbilt grew up, at the location of the since shuttered Paramount Theater building on Bay Street. Stapleton got its name from a prominent early settler and landowner in the area, named Colonel William J. Staples, who acquired land from the Vanderbilts and laid out the streets. Staples and Minthorne Tompkins (son of Daniel D. Tompkins) started a ferry service from the neighborhood waterfront to Manhattan and began advertising their new village in 1836. Between 1929 and 1932, Stapleton actually had its own NFL team, the Staten Island Stapletons, originally founded in 1915! They played under the shortened nickname the "Stapes" the final two seasons. By the station, Stapleton has been in the midst of massive redevelopment. Stapleton is undergoing redevelopment as part of the broader Staten Island North Shore Action Plan. This plan aims to create a vibrant, mixed-use community for Staten Island, the centerpiece being the long-promised, two-mile waterfront esplanade from Stapleton to Tompkinsville to St. George. The $400 million public waterfront investment creates twenty acres of continuous waterfront access. In Stapleton, they’ve been transforming a 35-acre former Navy base into a mixed-use community with housing, open space, and retail, while improving infrastructure and waterfront access. In total, the New Stapleton Waterfront will bring over 2,100 mixed-income residential units, ground-floor retail, a 600-seat public school, other community facilities, and 12 acres of interconnected public open space.
Tompkinsville was the site of where early European explorers replenished their fresh water supplies. It’s also where 450 British ships and 32,000 soldiers, arrived in Upper New York Bay and landed in advance of the American Revolution in the 1770s. In 1815, a settlement was established by then New York Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, hence the name. He was elected Vice President of the US under President James Monroe the following year. The northern part of Staten Island saw a great deal of development mostly towards the beginning of the 19th century due in large part to the efforts of Daniel D. Tompkins. His purchase of the farmland in St. George ended up having a significant influence on the street layout in years to come as more land developers followed in his footsteps. Tompkins also incorporated the Richmond Turnpike Company to build present-day Victory Boulevard in 1816
Arthur Kill opened in 2017 as a park-and-ride to replace Nassau and Atlantic stations, which were in poor conditions. Only the last door of the last car could serve them. Nassau and Atlantic were built to serve factories, opening in 1924 and the 1910s respectively. The Nassau Smelting & Refining Company, which as a subsidiary of the Bell System's Western Electric division, recycled obsolete phone equipment and manufactured copper solder. Later called AT&T Nassau Metals. While Nassau Smelting funded a platform extension for Nassau station in 1971, the extension deteriorated by the time the station closed. And the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company, one of the first successful glazed architectural terra cotta companies in the US. They had their operations in Perth Amboy and Staten Island thanks to rich clay deposits in the area. They created the US Supreme Court’s clay tile roof as well as also helping build the Flatiron Building, Woolworth Building, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They also contributed to the terra cotta architecture of Perth Amboy. These two stations were never modernized in the 1990s unlike other SIR stations because they were planned to be replaced by Arthur Kill for that long. Under the MTA’s Staten Island West Shore Alternatives Analysis, the MTA considered Tottenville-Bayonne BRT between Arthur Kill station and 8th Street HBLR via Korean War Veterans Parkway and Richmond Ave, serving the Eltingville Transit Center, Staten Island Mall, and the College of Staten Island along the way.
Tottenville has five tracks, three of them not for passenger service. While Clifton Yard is the sole SIR yard, there is additional storage for revenue trains at Tottenville. A ferry was operated by the SIR from 1867 until 1948 that ran across the Arthur Kill to the Perth Amboy Ferry Slip in NJ. The ferry service dated back to the 1700s and ended in October 1963. Besides the Conference House itself at the park, the park’s visitor center also features art and a Lenape gallery.
Great Kills was the site of the first middleweight boxing championship, when Nonpareil Jack Dempsey defeated George Fulljames in 1884 for the title. At the southeastern corner of the neighborhood is Great Kills Park, part of the National Park Service’s Gateway National Recreation Area. It covers an area of approximately 580 acres of salt marsh, beach and woodlands. The park now includes the Nichols Marina, a beach, trails, fishing and bird-watching areas, and sports fields. A pioneering rocket launch in 1933 led the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics to commemorate the location as a "Historic Aerospace Site".
The Stapleton neighborhood was the site of the farm where Cornelius Vanderbilt grew up, at the location of the since shuttered Paramount Theater building on Bay Street. Stapleton got its name from a prominent early settler and landowner in the area, named Colonel William J. Staples, who acquired land from the Vanderbilts and laid out the streets. Staples and Minthorne Tompkins (son of Daniel D. Tompkins) started a ferry service from the neighborhood waterfront to Manhattan and began advertising their new village in 1836. Between 1929 and 1932, Stapleton actually had its own NFL team, the Staten Island Stapletons, originally founded in 1915! They played under the shortened nickname the "Stapes" the final two seasons. By the station, Stapleton has been in the midst of massive redevelopment. Stapleton is undergoing redevelopment as part of the broader Staten Island North Shore Action Plan. This plan aims to create a vibrant, mixed-use community for Staten Island, the centerpiece being the long-promised, two-mile waterfront esplanade from Stapleton to Tompkinsville to St. George. The $400 million public waterfront investment creates twenty acres of continuous waterfront access. In Stapleton, they’ve been transforming a 35-acre former Navy base into a mixed-use community with housing, open space, and retail, while improving infrastructure and waterfront access. In total, the New Stapleton Waterfront will bring over 2,100 mixed-income residential units, ground-floor retail, a 600-seat public school, other community facilities, and 12 acres of interconnected public open space.
Tompkinsville was the site of where early European explorers replenished their fresh water supplies. It’s also where 450 British ships and 32,000 soldiers, arrived in Upper New York Bay and landed in advance of the American Revolution in the 1770s. In 1815, a settlement was established by then New York Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, hence the name. He was elected Vice President of the US under President James Monroe the following year. The northern part of Staten Island saw a great deal of development mostly towards the beginning of the 19th century due in large part to the efforts of Daniel D. Tompkins. His purchase of the farmland in St. George ended up having a significant influence on the street layout in years to come as more land developers followed in his footsteps. Tompkins also incorporated the Richmond Turnpike Company to build present-day Victory Boulevard in 1816
@AverytheCubanAmerican 1 year ago (edited)
The S78 bus is more than just a local bus, it is the LONGEST local bus in NYC, spanning 19.7 miles overall!
Interesting fact about New Dorp, Cornelius Vanderbilt and family are buried in a mausoleum on Todt Hill in New Dorp, the highest natural point on the Eastern Seaboard between Cape Cod and Florida, rising to 410 feet or 120 m. Todt Hill is also where the Corleone compound in the Godfather was filmed.
The Staten Island Tunnel to Brooklyn, officially called the Brooklyn-Richmond Freight and Passenger Tunnel, started construction in 1923 under Mayor John Hylan, and planned to extend 10,400 feet or 3,200 meters. Staten Island was so excited for the tunnel, that they named their longest thoroughfare Hylan Boulevard after him! So why wasn’t it completed?
Well, officially, the plan was delayed in 1925 due to lack of funding. Despite this, Hylan and the NYC Board of Transportation chairman wanted to secure freight service in the tunnel. However, this created tension and deadlock, and after an investigation issued by Governor Al Smith, planners eliminated the idea of making the tunnel mixed-use, as per the Nicoll-Hofstadter Act signed into law by the governor. This then led to lack of interest from contractors. After this happened, Mayor Hylan, a former BMT employee, cancelled the project as a way to cripple the two private subway rivals (BMT and IRT) so he could promote the city-operated Independent Subway System or IND (which opened in 1932). It was also reported that Governor Al Smith, who had a financial stake in the Pennsylvania Railroad, tried to stall the project in order to prevent the expansion of B&O operations further into the city. Although this happened, the 95th Street station in Bay Ridge which was built in anticipation for the tunnel still opened in October 1925. The station was built with a false wall at its south end, intended for future expansion. Today, the tunnel lies dormant under Owl's Head Park in Bay Ridge.
St George station is located in an open cut below street level. It has five active platforms and ten tracks. There is a sixth island platform with two additional tracks (11 and 12) to the west (geographic north) that are no longer in revenue service, which historically served the North Shore Branch. South of St George station, the Staten Island Railway runs in the system's only tunnel, known as the St. George Tunnel. When the tunnel was lengthened in 1905 as a new ferry terminal opened, it was built with two portals at its north end, one still in use by the SIR, but the other was intended for the tunnel to Brooklyn.
Yup, St George neighborhood and terminal was named to “canonize” George Law as a concession by Erastus Wiman to build the terminal on Law’s land. St. George terminal was first proposed in the 1870s by then Staten Island Railroad owners George Law, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Erastus Wiman to replace ferry sites on the island. Built as an extension of the railroad from Vanderbilt’s Landing, now Clifton. Cornelius Vanderbilt was originally from Stapleton on Staten Island, he bought the Richmond Turnpike Company steamboat in 1838, merged with its competitors in 1853, and sold it to the Staten Island Railroad in 1864. Sold to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1884, and the NYC government took control in 1905. Ferry service originated in 1817. Development wise, St. George is the most densely developed neighborhood on Staten Island, thanks to it historically being a major transport hub to Manhattan. It is the location of the administrative center for the borough and for the coterminous Richmond County. Like Staten Island, each borough of NYC is also its own county. Staten Island is known as Richmond County because it was named after Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, an illegitimate son of King Charles II in 1683! When it became a borough in 1898, it was called the Borough of Richmond, and the borough wouldn't be renamed to Staten Island until 1975!
As mentioned, next to St. George Terminal is the National Lighthouse Museum, which opened in 2015 on the site of the St. George Coast Guard Station, a complex of 22 historic buildings and was best known for the invention and manufacturing of lighthouse equipment. Elizabeth II’s visit to Staten Island in 1957 wasn’t the only time members of the House of Windsor visited the island, as her daughter Princess Anne visited the National Lighthouse Museum in 2022. She’s the honorary campaign chair for their Illuminating Future Generations fundraising campaign since she’s one of the great champions in the international lighthouse community. As part of this visit, just like her parents did in the 1950s, she also rode the Staten Island Ferry.
What's now the site of the National Lighthouse Museum was also the site of the former New York Marine Hospital, once the largest quarantine facility in the country, known for a series of attacks by Staten Island residents in September 1858 called the Staten Island Quarantine War. Staten Island didn’t join NYC yet, and the attacks were the result of residents opposing several quarantine facilities built by the city on the island's East Shore built to counter yellow fever, blaming the New York Marine Hospital aka the Quarantine on the effects of property values as well as local outbreaks.
Interesting fact about New Dorp, Cornelius Vanderbilt and family are buried in a mausoleum on Todt Hill in New Dorp, the highest natural point on the Eastern Seaboard between Cape Cod and Florida, rising to 410 feet or 120 m. Todt Hill is also where the Corleone compound in the Godfather was filmed.
The Staten Island Tunnel to Brooklyn, officially called the Brooklyn-Richmond Freight and Passenger Tunnel, started construction in 1923 under Mayor John Hylan, and planned to extend 10,400 feet or 3,200 meters. Staten Island was so excited for the tunnel, that they named their longest thoroughfare Hylan Boulevard after him! So why wasn’t it completed?
Well, officially, the plan was delayed in 1925 due to lack of funding. Despite this, Hylan and the NYC Board of Transportation chairman wanted to secure freight service in the tunnel. However, this created tension and deadlock, and after an investigation issued by Governor Al Smith, planners eliminated the idea of making the tunnel mixed-use, as per the Nicoll-Hofstadter Act signed into law by the governor. This then led to lack of interest from contractors. After this happened, Mayor Hylan, a former BMT employee, cancelled the project as a way to cripple the two private subway rivals (BMT and IRT) so he could promote the city-operated Independent Subway System or IND (which opened in 1932). It was also reported that Governor Al Smith, who had a financial stake in the Pennsylvania Railroad, tried to stall the project in order to prevent the expansion of B&O operations further into the city. Although this happened, the 95th Street station in Bay Ridge which was built in anticipation for the tunnel still opened in October 1925. The station was built with a false wall at its south end, intended for future expansion. Today, the tunnel lies dormant under Owl's Head Park in Bay Ridge.
St George station is located in an open cut below street level. It has five active platforms and ten tracks. There is a sixth island platform with two additional tracks (11 and 12) to the west (geographic north) that are no longer in revenue service, which historically served the North Shore Branch. South of St George station, the Staten Island Railway runs in the system's only tunnel, known as the St. George Tunnel. When the tunnel was lengthened in 1905 as a new ferry terminal opened, it was built with two portals at its north end, one still in use by the SIR, but the other was intended for the tunnel to Brooklyn.
Yup, St George neighborhood and terminal was named to “canonize” George Law as a concession by Erastus Wiman to build the terminal on Law’s land. St. George terminal was first proposed in the 1870s by then Staten Island Railroad owners George Law, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Erastus Wiman to replace ferry sites on the island. Built as an extension of the railroad from Vanderbilt’s Landing, now Clifton. Cornelius Vanderbilt was originally from Stapleton on Staten Island, he bought the Richmond Turnpike Company steamboat in 1838, merged with its competitors in 1853, and sold it to the Staten Island Railroad in 1864. Sold to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1884, and the NYC government took control in 1905. Ferry service originated in 1817. Development wise, St. George is the most densely developed neighborhood on Staten Island, thanks to it historically being a major transport hub to Manhattan. It is the location of the administrative center for the borough and for the coterminous Richmond County. Like Staten Island, each borough of NYC is also its own county. Staten Island is known as Richmond County because it was named after Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, an illegitimate son of King Charles II in 1683! When it became a borough in 1898, it was called the Borough of Richmond, and the borough wouldn't be renamed to Staten Island until 1975!
As mentioned, next to St. George Terminal is the National Lighthouse Museum, which opened in 2015 on the site of the St. George Coast Guard Station, a complex of 22 historic buildings and was best known for the invention and manufacturing of lighthouse equipment. Elizabeth II’s visit to Staten Island in 1957 wasn’t the only time members of the House of Windsor visited the island, as her daughter Princess Anne visited the National Lighthouse Museum in 2022. She’s the honorary campaign chair for their Illuminating Future Generations fundraising campaign since she’s one of the great champions in the international lighthouse community. As part of this visit, just like her parents did in the 1950s, she also rode the Staten Island Ferry.
What's now the site of the National Lighthouse Museum was also the site of the former New York Marine Hospital, once the largest quarantine facility in the country, known for a series of attacks by Staten Island residents in September 1858 called the Staten Island Quarantine War. Staten Island didn’t join NYC yet, and the attacks were the result of residents opposing several quarantine facilities built by the city on the island's East Shore built to counter yellow fever, blaming the New York Marine Hospital aka the Quarantine on the effects of property values as well as local outbreaks.
@jyw0000 1 year ago
WHERE IS THE AVERY PARAGRAPH??? AM I ACTUALLY SO EARLY THAT AVERY HAS NOT COMMENTED YET? 🤯
@westofhudsonstudios4726 1 year ago
I've ridden the SIRR a couple times - I can proudly say it's a lot more fun on an R44 in my opinion! It's just very bouncy and loud and clunky, makes for a funny experience knowing that they've recently been retired. The SIRR is a fun one! I plan to revisit pretty soon!
@CrimsonPeachOfficial 1 year ago
It's sad that I never got to ride the R44s, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to ride the SIR someday in the future. Staten Island is also underrated, and while I totally understand the MTA's reasoning for there not being any subway lines connecting it to the the four boroughs, Staten Island is the one borough that doesn't get enough attention and should be better connected by public transit.
@JohnLumagui 1 year ago
Avery really is a treasure trove of context! I've gotten used to reading his comments when I didn't fully understand something in a video. 10/10 no notes
@notanactualkittycat 1 year ago
“10 out of 10 units of insulin” Didn’t know you were diabetic. As a fellow diabetic (I got type 1)I approve of this video and the cheese cake cone. It looks so good 😊
@andrewmazzarini2742 1 year ago (edited)
"Nieuwdorp" is essentially Dutch for "Newton", got it!
Also, 11:34 PTSD flashbacks for CGP Grey, the man for whom dead people keep ruining his life
Also, 11:34 PTSD flashbacks for CGP Grey, the man for whom dead people keep ruining his life
@James817lol 10 months ago
"new york has no shortage of rail transit" tell that to the people living in east queens
@oldtv3810 1 year ago
NJT: nobody uses this part of the line so let's close it
SIR: nobody uses this part of the line so let's make it free
SIR: nobody uses this part of the line so let's make it free
@Ondatrain79 1 year ago
Visited family on Staten Island recently, used the SIR a few times to get to and from the ferry terminal. It’s really quick, very clean, and super reliable.
@stevenm1121 1 year ago
Avery's notepad for the barrage of fun facts on the field was such a treat to see! Funny how Staten Island's respective county name is Richmond, like how Manhattan is New York County and Brooklyn is Kings County.
@brianhubert8418 1 year ago (edited)
Another great video and cool collab with Avery. I never knew much about the SIRT. Thanks for sharing. Love the B&O CPLs I remember when they still had them on the Camden Line! I also loved the recommendations for places to visit for anyone who wants to give the SIRT a go. The Effective Transit Alliance has suggested the SIRT could someday be incorporated into a regional rail network through a new line running under New York Harbor and up through Manhattan to Grand Central Terminal's lower level or even connecting to Grand Central Madison!
New York's Little Island Railway Has a Lot to Love
Classy Whale
24,287 views
The Staten Island Railway is New York City's other, other subway. I've put off riding it for a while, but now the time has come. Today, @AverytheCubanAmerican and I are riding the whole thing, end to end, to learn more about the Forgotten Borough and its railway.
Avery's fact sheet: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?even...
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Classy Whale - at-least-weekly misadventures with trains and transit!