Stapleton Waterfront Park, Staten Island

A former short-lived naval port was returned to the city in 1994 and nearly two decades a new waterfront park opened in the Stapleton neighborhood of Staten Island where a hidden waterway used to flow into the harbor. In contrast to its southern shore, the side of Staten Island that faces Brooklyn does not have a long string of parks. This Stapleton Waterfront Park is part of a larger effort citywide to open the waterfront to the public.

In this view, we see an inlet where stormwater from the streets flows out into the harbor. As with many coves and inlets on the city’s shoreline, the one at Stapleton Waterfront Park hints to a creek that originated nearly a mile inland from this park.

Conference House Park, Staten Island

The borough that offers the biggest collection of hidden waterways also has the southernmost point in the state of New York at Conference House Park. Known historically as Ward’s Point, the tip of land where Arthur Kill flows into Raritan Bay has an unnamed brook that shares its location’s superlative as the state’s southernmost stream.

The brook flows entirely within the  park, at its conclusion meeting the sea with views of South Amboy and the hills of Cheesequake State Park. Lovely name.

Cunningham Pond, Staten Island

The largest state-owned open space on the Staten Island is a former Catholic orphanage that contains a set of freshwater ponds but the air here is salty on account of nearby Raritan Bay.

On the grounds of the Mount Loretto Unique Area, Cunningham Road runs across the property from its thick forest to the seashore, atop an embankment that separates Cunningham Pond from Mount Loretto Pond.

Bodine Creek barriers, Staten Island

The longest stream flowing on the North Shore of Staten Island is Bodine Creek, which flows through an Olmstedian park, then descended beneath the streets, and briefly sees daylight again before meeting the water of the ocean.

Within Clove Lakes Park, the stream is also known as Clove Brook, descending down five manmade cascades, each of which has a unique design. The largest of these barriers is Martling Dam which has steps on it that were used for public bathing in the past.

Richmond Terrace Park, Staten Island

In contrast to the uninterrupted stretches of parkland on the South Shore of Staten Island, the more urbanized North Shore is still very much a working waterfront with little available space for parkland on the water’s edge. With the current city administration working to address inequality in the distribution of parks, the Nov. 26 ribbon cutting at Richmond Terrace Park opened up a new public green space on the Kill Van Kull.

The park offers views of the waterfront that were previously blocked off to local residents. From this park, one can look north towards Newark Bay, northwest at Shooters Island, and see the hulking remnants of ships rusting away at this historically industrial stretch of Kill Van Kull.

Tottenville Shore Park, Staten Island

The southernmost point in New York City and state is the neighborhood of Tottenville on Staten Island. At the tip is the 286-acre Conference House Park, which needs no introduction. A couple of blocks north of it is another park that lines the shore of Arthur Kill, a wild landscape of a seashell-covered beach, ravine, and thick tree cover.

At only nine acres, Tottenville Shore Park is a nature preserve that also serves as a miniature bluebelt that collects runoff from nearby streets and channels it into the ocean, reducing the burden on the sewer system.

Decline in Design on Fresh Kills Bridge

One of the major north-south routes on Staten Island is Richmond Avenue, which crosses Fresh Kills at the point where the stream leaves LaTourette Park and enters the former landfill that is Freshkills Park. The bridge here has a long history, going through four phases in design.

The stretch of Richmond Avenue at Fresh Kills resembles a highway and the bridge is easy to miss as one speeds through the salt marsh. The current bridge was built in the 1980s, a concrete and steel fixed crossing. Some maps have the stream here as Richmond Creek, the name used for Fresh Kills further upstream where it descends from the hills of the Staten Island Greenbelt.

Willowbrook Lake, Staten Island

Bordering on the campus of the College of Staten Island is a 215-acre woodland with a lake that is part of the larger set of connected parks, the Staten Island Greenbelt. Willowbrook Lake shares its name with the surrounding park and has a rustic log cabin-style boathouse that is used as the park’s office.

The lake appears natural but was carved out of the landscape after the city acquired Willowbrook Park. It is the most visible section of Willow Brook, a hidden waterway that flows across central Staten Island.

Bloessers Pond, Staten Island

In the Prince’s Bay section of Staten Island is a parcel preserved amid the tract houses that interrupts the local street grid. It is one of 15 designated natural areas on the island that are under the purview of the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

Not much to see here but the signage is clear: this is Bloessers Pond, a 14-acre Wildlife Management Area that is a remnant of Sandy Brook, which drains into nearby Lemon Creek.

Faber Park, Staten Island

Nearly a century before Heritage Park opened on the North Shore of Staten Island, the first public green space on Kill Van Kull was donated to the city by Jenny Faber in 1906. Faber Park stood out on a waterfront dominated by shipbuilders and warehouses. Today as the city plans to cover miles of its unused waterfronts with parks, Faber Park serves as an early example.

The park offers views of Bayonne Bridge, which recently had its deck raised 60 feet to allow for supersize cargo ships to pass below. The park offers a lawn, pool, recreation center, and a skateboarding park.