Tottenville, Staten Island

Tottenville is a neighborhood on the South Shore of Staten Island in New York City. It is the southernmost neighborhood in both New York City and New York State, as well as the westernmost neighborhood in the city. The area is bordered by water on three sides: the south side touches the New York Bight, while the west and north sides are next to the Arthur Kill.

Originally, the settlement was named Bentley Manor by one of its first settlers, Captain Christopher Billop, after his ship. In 1869, it was renamed Tottenville to honor John Totten and his family, some of whom were Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War.

Today, Tottenville is part of Staten Island Community District 3 and uses the ZIP Code 10307. The neighborhood is watched over by the 123rd Precinct of the New York City Police Department. It has been represented in the New York State Senate by Andrew Lanza since 2007 and in the New York State Assembly by Michael Reilly.

History

Early history

The Raritan band of the Unami Indians, a group of the Lenape or Delaware nation, were the first people to live in all of Staten Island, including Tottenville. The largest burial place from before Europeans arrived, called Burial Ridge, is in what is now Conference House Park.

The village was first called Bentley Manor by one of its first settlers, Captain Christopher Billop (1638–1726), after a small ship he owned named the Bentley. In 1869 the area was renamed Tottenville, apparently to honor John Totten and the well-known Totten family. Their names can be seen on gravestones in the cemetery of Bethel Methodist Church. Some Totten family members were Loyalists during the American Revolution and served with Captain Christopher Billop.

During the time when New York City and Philadelphia were important places, Tottenville was a key stop for travelers between them. Staten Island did not become part of New York City until 1898. The town had a ferry that crossed the Arthur Kill to the Ferry Slip in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The ferry became less important after the Outerbridge Crossing opened in 1928, but it kept running until 1963.

Two special places are at the north end of the neighborhood: the Bethel United Methodist Church, built in 1840 and rebuilt in 1886 after a fire. Also, an old factory built in 1900 by Nassau Smelting was later used by Lucent Technologies and closed in 2001.

Tottenville is bordered on the west and south by the Arthur Kill, and on the east by Raritan Bay.

The Conference House was built by Christopher Billop and was where talks happened in 1776 to try to end the American Revolutionary War, but they did not succeed. The old house has been kept as the main feature of the park with the same name. The Billop family, who developed the property in 1678, still owned it and the land around it during the 1776 meeting. Because they were Loyalists during the war, their land was taken away in 1784.

Tottenville has many Victorian architecture buildings, like neighborhoods on Staten Island's North Shore. This is special for this area on the South Shore. The other areas on the South Shore were built much later. Seven buildings in Tottenville have won awards from the Preservation League of Staten Island Award. The Old Church of St. Joachim and St. Anne was fixed after a fire and is now a home for children.

20th century

In the early days of factories, many small ones were along the west side of the neighborhood, but most are not there anymore. Building boats was once a big business along the shoreline, but it stopped in 1900 when ships started being made from steel instead of wood. During World War I, building ships started again here, but only for a short time. The last boat-building place in Tottenville closed in 1930.

Getting oysters from the water around was important for the economy in the late 1800s and early 1900s. But this stopped in 1916 when the New York City Health Department said it was not safe because of pollution. After working to clean the water for many years, the city allowed oyster harvesting to start again in 2005.

Until the late 1950s, Tottenville 8 was one of the two telephone numbers on the island that had people who helped you connect calls. The other was Honeywood 6. When people could dial numbers themselves, they were combined to become Yukon 4.

In the 1990s, the part of Tottenville southeast of Hylan Boulevard, which had very few people living there before, became a place where many new houses were built. The area still has one of the lowest numbers of people and crime in New York City. Until the 2000s, most shops were only on Main Street in the middle of the neighborhood. A second shopping area started to grow at the north end along Page Avenue and west of Amboy Road around that time. More growth happened at the north end in 2005 when the old Nassau Smelting plant was redeveloped. Cleaning the site began in October 2006 and was set to finish within a year. The site had harmful chemicals because it was mainly used to recycle copper and other metals from old wires. Mill Creek, which flows through the site, was also set to be cleaned as part of the project.

Tottenville Beach did not have much until the 1990s. It is only for homes, and is bordered on the south and west by Conference House Park. The beach that the area is named after is more popular for fishing than for swimming or sunbathing. In the first half of the 1900s, several hotels were along the shoreline, including the Shore House Hotel. The Coral Bay Cafe restaurant was there but was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.

21st century

Many big, beautiful homes built in Tottenville in the 1800s are still standing. But in the early 2000s, land developers started buying the land where some of these houses were, planning to tear them down and build townhouses instead. The future of 7484 Amboy Road, built around 1870 as the home for the pastor of Bethel Methodist Church and with a very large backyard, became a big argument in March 2005. The community did not like builder John Grossi's plans to tear down the house and build five townhouses there. On March 17 Grossi wrote messages on the house, including a threat to fill it with tenants under the federal Section 8 housing program.

The noise from people led New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to declare the home a landmark, stopping it from being torn down. Bloomberg shared this decision during a visit to Tottenville on March 22, and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission made it official on April 12. After many years of being empty and falling apart, the home was fixed up in 2017.

In March 2008, more than 20 blocks in the north part of the neighborhood were changed to one-way streets. This was to help manage traffic on the older, narrower streets.

In 2016, a group of Bridgewater Capital and the Brooklyn-based Riseman family bought 30 acres (12 ha) of the Nassau Smelting property from Lucent Technologies. Their plans to change the area from places to make things to places to live met with criticism and disagreement from the community, because the soil had harmful substances from the heavy metals that were recycled when Lucent Technologies was there. What will happen to this property is still not known.

Demographics

Tottenville is part of a larger area called Tottenville-Charleston, with 16,089 people living there according to the 2020 United States Census. This is a bit less than the 16,860 people counted in 2010.

Most people in Tottenville are of White (Non-Hispanic) background, with smaller numbers of Black (Non-Hispanic), Asian, and Hispanic or Latino residents. Many families live there, and about one-third of homes have children. The area is known for its German, Irish, and Italian communities.

The neighborhood has many older adults, with nearly 30% of people aged between 49 and 64. Most households include families, and many people own their homes. The area is considered a high-income part of New York City.

Culture

Tottenville has seen an increase in Coptic Orthodox Christians from Egypt. By 2012, the Virgin St. Mary and St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Tottenville was one of two Coptic parishes on Staten Island.

Politics

Tottenville is part of New York City and has its own representatives in local government. It is represented in the New York City Council by Frank Morano. In the New York State Senate, the area is represented by Andrew Lanza, and in the New York State Assembly by Michael Reilly. The neighborhood is located within Staten Island Community District 3.

Climate

Tottenville has a humid subtropical climate, which means its weather can be quite varied. Summers are typically warm and humid, while winters are cool to cold. The area experiences all four seasons clearly, with spring and fall bringing milder temperatures and changes in plant life. This climate pattern is common for many places along the East Coast of the United States.

Entertainment

The Stadium Theatre was a movie theater in Tottenville with 1,037 seats. It operated from 1927 to 1957. In 1969, it reopened as the New Stadium Theatre and became a place for rock music performances, with bands like The Brooklyn Bridge playing there. Later in the 1970s, it turned into a roller rink. Today, the theater is closed, and there are no current plans to reopen it.

Police and crime

Tottenville and the South Shore are watched over by the 123rd Precinct of the NYPD, based at 116 Main Street. In 2010, this area was one of the safest in New York City for its number of crimes. By 2018^[update], rates of serious acts like fights were lower than in the city overall. The number of people sent away for breaking rules was also lower than in the rest of the city.

Crime in the 123rd Precinct has dropped a lot since the 1990s, with all types of crimes falling by about 70.5% from 1990 to 2022. In 2022 alone, the precinct dealt with reports of two deaths, three harmful acts, 22 thefts, 53 serious fights, 42 break-ins, 271 big thefts, and 126 stolen cars.

Fire safety

Tottenville has its own fire station. It is taken care of by the New York City Fire Department, specifically Engine Co. 151 and Ladder Co. 76, which is located at 7219 Amboy Road.

Health

In 2018, Tottenville and the South Shore had fewer early births and fewer births to teenage mothers compared to the rest of New York City. The area also had a smaller number of people without health insurance.

The air in Tottenville and the South Shore had less of a harmful type of air pollution than the city average. However, more people in the area smoked than the city average. Health statistics for the area showed slightly fewer residents with obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure than the city averages. Most people in the area ate fruits and vegetables daily and felt their health was good, very good, or excellent. The nearest big hospital is Staten Island University Hospital South Campus in Prince's Bay.

Post office and ZIP Codes

Tottenville is in the ZIP Code 10307. The United States Postal Service has a post office there at 228 Main Street.

Education

Tottenville and the South Shore have about the same number of college-educated people as the rest of New York City. In 2018, 41% of people aged 25 and older had gone to college or beyond, while 8% had not finished high school, and 51% had a high school diploma or some college education.

Students in Tottenville and the South Shore do well in school. The number of students doing well in math went up from 48% in 2000 to 65% in 2011. Most high school students, about 89%, finish on time, which is more than the city’s average of 75%.

Schools

Tottenville High School used to be in the neighborhood but moved three miles north to Huguenot in 1971. The old school building is now Totten Intermediate School 34. One of the oldest buildings in the area is the old P.S.1 school, built in 1878 with a special sloped roof. It is still used today, along with a newer building from 1929. In 2000, a new elementary school, P.S.6, opened to help more students in the area.

Library

The New York Public Library has a branch in Tottenville at 7430 Amboy Road. This one-story building was designed by Carrère and Hastings and opened in 1904. It is a special New York City designated landmark.

Transportation

The Tottenville station is the southern end of the Staten Island Railway, a train line that reached the area on June 2, 1860. Today, Tottenville has the two southernmost train stops: Tottenville station, the southernmost in New York state, and Arthur Kill station. Before Arthur Kill opened on January 21, 2017, there were two other stations named Atlantic and Nassau, but they closed when Arthur Kill opened. The trip to the St. George Terminal takes 42 minutes.

Buses like the S59 and S78 serve Tottenville, and express buses such as the SIM2, SIM25, and SIM26 go to and from Manhattan. Although no major highways run through Tottenville, NY Route 440 and the Korean War Veterans Parkway are nearby.

Notable residents

Tottenville has been home to many interesting people. Patti Hansen, a model and actress married to Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, was born and grew up here. Another famous person from Tottenville is George H. Pepper, an archaeologist from the early 1900s who worked on digs from the local Burial Ridge to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. The playwright and author Paul Zindel was also born in Tottenville. In the mid-1970s, Andy Milligan, a playwright, screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker, ran a hotel and lived here. Additionally, Jason Marquis, a professional baseball player, played for Tottenville High School.