Great Kills, Staten Island
Encyclopedia
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's borough of Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. It is located on the island's South Shore
South Shore, Staten Island
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, although many observers prefer to restrict its scope to...
, and according to many local geographers, it is the South Shore's northernmost community. Kill
Kill (body of water)
As a body of water, a kill is a creek. The word comes from the Middle Dutch kille, meaning "riverbed" or "water channel." The modern Dutch term is kil....
is an archaic Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
word with various popular translations, including "creek" and "channel;" indeed, many small streams dot the neighborhood, and the name can be interpreted as meaning that a great number of such streams can be found there. The ZIP Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
for Great Kills is 10308.
History
The eastern half of what is today known as Great Kills was originally named Cairedon, while the western half was referred to as Newtown. Later, both came to be known by the single name of Giffords, after Daniel Gifford, a local commissioner and road surveyor — this name surviving in Giffords Lane, the main north-south thoroughfare in what was formerly called Newtown; the Great Kills stationGreat Kills (Staten Island Railway station)
Great Kills is a Staten Island Railway station in the neighborhood of Great Kills, Staten Island, New York. It is located on an open cut southwest of Giffords Lane and Amboy Road on the main line. It has two side platforms and turquoise blue canopies and walls. This station is...
on the Staten Island Railway
Staten Island Railway
The Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority, publicly known as MTA Staten Island Railway or SIR, is the operator of the lone rapid transit line in the borough of Staten Island, New York City, USA...
is at the southern end of this street, in the heart of the community's business district. The present name of Great Kills was informally adopted in 1865. Another former place name associated with the area is Honeywood; its precise origin is uncertain, but it was the name of the telephone exchange
Telephone exchange
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
that served Great Kills and many other upper South Shore communities from the 1920s through the late 1950s.
Hotels and highly-acclaimed seafood restaurants once dominated the shoreline, but steadily increasing pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
of the nearby waters forced most of them out of business by the middle of the 20th Century; the last surviving noted shoreline restaurant of that era, the Shoals Restaurant, was destroyed in a 1968 arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
fire, which also claimed the life of an elderly caretaker who had been living on the premises. Currently, the Marina Cafe, and its counterpart, the Marina Grand, are situated along Mansion Avenue. The Marina Cafe is one of Staten Island's most well-known restaurants.
Like many other Staten Island neighborhoods, Great Kills experienced massive population growth in the latter third of the 20th Century, largely catalyzed by the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge that connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City at the Narrows, the reach connecting the relatively protected upper bay with the larger lower bay....
providing easy access from Brooklyn in November 1964. Many of the new arrivals have been Italian-Americans, and today they constitute the neighborhood's largest ethnic group. Other ethnicities include Egyptian Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
s in Great Kills, the vast majority of whom are members of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Hylan Boulevard
Hylan Boulevard
Hylan Boulevard is a major northeast-southwest boulevard in the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is approximately long , and runs from the North Shore neighborhood of Rosebank to the South Shore neighborhood of Tottenville....
, which runs Northeast and Southwest along Staten Island's East Coast, perpendicular to Nelson Avenue and Richmond Avenue, has become one of the island's busiest commercial strips; approximately one mile long, the northeastern half of this strip is considered part of Great Kills while the southwestern half is deemed to be in Eltingville
Eltingville, Staten Island
Eltingville is the name of a neighborhood on Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, USA. It is on the island's South Shore, immediately to the south of Great Kills and north of Annadale...
. Another border between Great Kills and Eltingville
Eltingville, Staten Island
Eltingville is the name of a neighborhood on Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, USA. It is on the island's South Shore, immediately to the south of Great Kills and north of Annadale...
is Armstrong Avenue, with Great Kills on the eastern side of this north-south road. And yet another border is Cortelyou Avenue, with Eltingville on the western side and Great Kills on the eastern side.
Features
This neighborhood is home to Great Kills Little League, one of the 8 little leagues on Staten Island. Actor Rick SchroderRick Schroder
Richard Bartlett "Rick" Schroder, Jr. is an American actor and film director.He debuted in the 1979 hit film The Champ, going on to become a child star on the sitcom Silver Spoons...
lived in the community as a child, as did actress Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Jayne Milano is an American actress and former singer, known for her childhood role as Samantha Micelli in the sitcom Who's the Boss? and an eight-year stint as Phoebe Halliwell on the series Charmed. She was also a series regular on the original Melrose Place portraying the role of...
, comic Bob Levy and new ESPN anchor Joe Engle.
At the southeastern corner of the neighborhood is Great Kills Park, a national park site that is part of Gateway National Recreation Area
Gateway National Recreation Area
Gateway National Recreation Area is a National Recreation Area in the Port of New York and New Jersey. Scattered over Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, New York and Monmouth County, New Jersey, it provides recreational opportunities that are rare for a dense urban environment, including ocean...
. The park includes a beach, marina, trails, fishing and bird-watching areas and sports fields.
Facilities
FDNY Engine Company 162/Ladder Company 82 and Battalion 23, serve Great Kills from quarters on Nelson Ave and Myra S. Barnes I.S.24 one of Staten Island's middle schools. Firefighter Scott Davidson, lost in the 9-11 attacks, attended I.S. 24.
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
operates the Great Kills Branch at 56 Giffords Lane at Margaret Street.