Forgotten Borough

BUY FORGOTTEN BOROUGH

2012-01-08T10:10:00.001-08:00

We have left, but not forgotten the forgotten borough. This site is currently available for sale. Please contact hannah @ cynthiavonbuhler dot com.

Eating Goat Eyeball Tacos in Staten Island

2010-11-02T11:18:00.001-07:00

Forgotten Borough went out to eat with Robert Sietsma, The Village Voice Food Critic. We at Forgotten Borough would rather pet and cuddle goats, but to each his own. The vegetarian options were delicious! Go! Taqueria Puebla (1285 Castleton Avenue, 718-720-1447). - CvB

The eyeball-popping parking lot mural was a harbinger of what was to follow.

By Robert Sietsma, The Village Voice.
It was a gothic conclusion to a very gothic day. It started out with a trip on the Staten Island Ferry to New Brighton, to a neighborhood overlooking New York's Upper Bay that was once the site of a Revolutionary War fort, which had honeycombed the ground underneath with secret passages.

A friend and I had gone there to see the art of Cynthia von Buhler, who plays feminist rifs on Renaissance paintings and retrofits carnie machines with contemporary messages. The art was ensconced in a four-story house on a very high promontory that had been built by a Spanish couple in the 1920s, and seemed very Addams family. Room after room was painted in a garish color, and a series of terraces climbed a hill out back, punctuated with wrought iron arches and wooden patio furniture.

One painting showed a female St. Sebastian pierced by arrows with a bottle of Ajax poised overhead, another showed a many-breasted woman lactating into the mouths of beasts. In the basement, a hollowed-out male figure had a literal rat-race in his stomach--a Plexiglas cage in which lab animals were deposited during an exhibition, and there were Mason jars in which were displayed menstrual blood, fingernails, and other body products.

Climbing up and down the stairs made us peckish, so we headed off late in the afternoon for a Mexican restaurant another friend had tipped me to in in Port Richmond. Taqueria Puebla (1285 Castleton Avenue, 718-720-1447) - referring to a southern Mexican state from which many new New Yorkers have emigrated - shared a strip mall with a bodega and a martial arts academy, whose parking lot logo was a fighter with eyeballs popping out...Continue HERE at The Village Voice website.

CONTINUE HERE.

The Most Beautiful View in all of New York City

2010-09-02T15:53:00.001-07:00

Is it Rome? Is it San Francisco? Nope, it's New York City!

SOLD Fort Hill Castle Is Up For Sale

2010-03-05T17:44:00.000-08:00

Open House this Sunday, September 12, 2010 from noon - 2PM. Email info@cvbspaces.com to R.S.V.P.I know, I know! Our slogan says that we took the ferry to Staten Island and decided to stay. We wish that we could, but life has taken us elsewhere. It's silly to own two large houses on either side of Manhattan, so we will keep The Lakeside Lodge and get a place in Manhattan.

My heart will always live in Staten Island and I'm still here all of the time. I'm helping to promote SHOW gallery, helping many of you get film and photo shoots at your gorgeous Staten Island houses (through my locations company, CvB Spaces), and I'm continuing to write this blog.
The house has been written about all over the place. Here are a few links:
The New York Times:
Looking for a House and a Turret, The New York Times
House call: Animal Kingdom, Time Out NY
Across the Harbor, a Historic Gem, The New York Times
The Prodigal Buzz, Brownstoner
St. George, Staten Island Wonderland, Forgotten NY
It also appeared in magazines like Seventeen and Vogue and on NBC News and NY1 News.

To see a slideshow of the house go HERE.

Here are the details below:

Fort Hill Castle
Exotic Beauty of Yesteryear

Price: $715,000
Location: St. George, Staten Island, NYC ( the house is a 7 minute walk to the Staten Island ferry terminal. See the step-by-step commute with pictures HERE and HERE.)

Fort Hill was a British fort during the revolutionary war. While some of the tunnels and munitions are still buried in the hill, the fort no longer stands. In the late twenties, another fort-like structure was built as a home, Fort Hill Castle. This unique urban Mediterranean villa was commissioned by the original owners to resemble a specific castle in Spain. The very private garden, in full bloom from April through October, features a small koi pond, 112 varieties of flowering plant and flower, fountains, and statuary. The upper deck has a gazebo and a fire pit. There are two backyard decks and a front deck. There are distant water views.

The interior has original plaster walls hand rubbed with layers of intense jewel-toned paint to bring out their texture. There is chestnut woodwork and hardwood floors on every floor in the home. The grand curved staircase is hardwood and wrought iron. Many of the doorways in the home are arched.

Square footage: 3,500 interior, 4 finished floors, 5,000 square feet of land

Rooms: Living room (with arched doorways and a working fireplace), formal dining room, sunroom, eat in kitchen (with a beautiful built in gothic dining nook and a Sub Zero refrigerator), master bedroom suite (with a private bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub, bidet, and separate shower), 4 full bathrooms, powder room, library, billiard room, tower room, laundry room, bar room (with a working fireplace), two car garage (connected to the house under ground).

To see a slideshow of the house go HERE.
If you want more details like taxes, etc. send us an email to info@cvbspaces.com

Second Saturday

2010-02-11T06:34:00.000-08:00

From The Staten Island Advance:

Time for 'Second Saturday'
By Tevah Platt
February 11, 2010, 7:30AM

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Because it’s smaller than others in New York City, the arts scene on Staten Island’s North Shore expresses itself in periodic flashes.

I try to be there when the pyrotechnics crackle. They illuminate my borough in a fleeting aura of cool and make me feel part of a community as everybody goes “oooh.”

Staten Island Second Saturdays, a monthly, one-night “art walk,” was inaugurated on Jan. 9 as six galleries and nine private households opened their doors to anyone interested in taking a gander.

The organizers of the event, Brendan Coyle and Amanda Curtis, of the living room-based Assembly Room gallery in Tompkinsville, billed it as a chance to expose local artists to the rest of New York City and an attempt to “boost cultural tourism and the economy of this quickly-growing artist community.”

Part cultural experience, part social event, the art walk brought together creative people from the belly of the North Shore, especially New Brighton, Tompkinsville, and St. George, for fun, wine and mutual support.

“It’s a no brainer. We have to be aware of each other and help each other out, and art doesn’t thrive without an audience,” said Coyle. “.¤.¤.Stringing together the common interests of disparate underground artists and movements seems to be the thing to open a vein for the lifeblood of the neighborhood to flow through.”

I came from Tompkinsville in a bit of a rush that evening. I left my reporter’s notebook at home and instead brought my dog, Fergus.

Popping into four apartments along Stuyvesant Place and Corson and Central avenues, we saw a woman enclosed in plastic and painted white, ceaselessly knitting. We saw a sagging, conceptual goldfish bag full of Pepsi. I wielded a chainsaw sculpted from pipecleaners while a matching headset played a vocal track by the artist, Don Porcella, vocally imitating the tool. Nyyyuuuuh, nyyyyuuuh. Fergus smelled welcoming people, fresh paint and the odd house cat.

The venues were uncrowded, but the flow was constant, one of the curators said.

People familiar with participating artists were likely to run into people they knew.

And yet the shows and private settings offered intimate glimpses into the lives and minds of strangers.

At one point, I realized that everyone I saw out on that cold night had map in hand, and was participating in this tour of strange worlds. Central Avenue temporarily became a blank museum hallway linking exhibits.

And linking neighbors with neighbors.

Itinerary
The second Second Saturday is Feb. 13.

Assembly Room
6 p.m. to midnight; 15 Corson Ave. 2nd Fl., Tompkinsville; Curators: Brendan Coyle and Amanda Curtis; Artists: Katie Torn, Tom Ronse

Blue Mohawk Lounge
(time TBA); 9 Corson Ave. 3rd Fl., Tompkinsville; Curators: Johann Rublein and Leilani Pickettl; Artists: Leilani Pickett, Shawn Bishop-Leo, Eliza Bazillian and music by Automatons Anonymous at 9:30; DJ Maciej Lenart

Valentine Cave (SelzeRez)
9 p.m. to midnight; 180 Corson Ave., New Brighton; Curator: Ann Marie Selzer and Industrial Television’s Ed Droogie; “Best in Underground” screening

ETG Cafe
208 Bay St., Tompkinsville; Curator: Steve Jones Daughs; Live Music: 8pm Brian XO opens; Pheobe Blue and Tommy Bones Blurple CD Release Party; Paintings: J. Montana

Nick Fevelo, performance and sound installation
7 to 8 p.m.;33 Central Ave. 6G, St. George; Curator: Nick Fevelo; Artists: Nick Fevelo and Alma Benussi

15 Cent
7 to 11 p.m.; 15 Central Ave. #2A, St. George; Curators: David and Jen Bianco and Sabrina Mazza; Exhibition: Installation and Live Entertainment

SHOW Gallery
6 to 9 p.m.; 156 Stuyvesant Pl., St. George; Curator: Theo Dorian; Exhibition: GLAM! by Mick Rock

Top Flight
6 to 10 p.m.; 100 Stuyvesant Pl. A5, St. George; Director: Don Porcella; Artists: Patrick Dintino, Don Porcella

Parish Grill
Dinner until 9 p.m.; (some galleries on the tour will offer a 10 percent discount coupon); Artist TBA.

Mandy Machine
6 to 9 p.m.; 100 Stuyvesant Pl. G-1; Installation Director: Mandy Morrison

Papouli’s Restaurant
8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 9 Hyatt St., St. George; Mural by David White

Tuttoriso
7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; 36 Richmond Terr., St. George; Valentine’s Day astrology love forecasts by Adrianna Goffredo and Tarot readings by Patti Earl

CPG Gallery (Creative Photographers’ Guild)
1 to 5 p.m.; 814 Richmond Terr., Livingston (entrance on Tysen Street); Exhibit: “Rear View” featuring Marilyn Kiss; In honor of Valentine’s Day, CPG invites you to bring your favorite love poem to read aloud in the gallery; the first 10 readers will receive a Lee Simms chocolate heart.

Richie’s Lot
Noon to 5; 18 Van Pelt (@ Richmond Terrace), Mariners Harbor; Exhibit: Richard Plunkett’s “Muskrat Husk” animal skinning, “not for the faint of heart.”; (The rodents in question were killed in the course of nature by the artist’s dog.); Keg of beer for early birds

Galerie
St. GeorgeNoon to 6; 11 Phelps Pl.; Director: Gary Brant; City LightsArtist: Joseph Greenberg

Art at Bay
6 to 9 p.m.; 70 Bay St.; Director: Tim Moran; “Art Recycling” with Day de Dada, and “Residual Effects” exhibit featuring Barbara Beyar, Ed Davin, Phyllis Forman, Joyce Malerba Goldstein, Timothy Moran, Denise Mumm, Lenora Paglia, Vincent Verdi

Staten Island Museum
Noon to 5;75 Stuyvesant Pl., St. George; Exhibit: “Growing a Collection: Recent Art Acquisitions”; Free admission

Cargo Cafe
120 Bay St., St. George; Music and art TBA; For updates, check www.assemblyroomgallery.com

The New York Times Visits Our Neighbors

2010-01-18T21:52:00.000-08:00

Connie Rosenblum discovered my locations website and wrote about a beautiful victorian I list. She asked me if I knew of any modern houses in the St. George area and I recommended my neighbor's house. Kevin and Tina call their house "The Modernish". Here's the article:

Architect-Friendly, Child-Tolerant

By CONSTANCE ROSENBLUM

Published: October 16, 2009

ON Fort Hill Circle in St. George, Staten Island, nestled amid an assortment of shingle style, Italian Renaissance, Dutch colonial and Tudor houses, there sits an unassuming red-brick split-level. This structure was designed by a local architect named Albert Melnicker and built in 1949 by the Lipsons, a dentist and his wife.

Tina Vultaggio, 39, an architect who grew up in the island community of Great Kills, and her husband, Kevin Rice, 40, an architect from Houston, met the Lipsons nearly a decade ago.

Mr. Rice and Ms. Vultaggio were newly married and had been stunned by the price tags they saw when they went house hunting in Brooklyn and Manhattan. But when they met the Lipsons, who at that point were in their 80s and already spending much of the year in Florida, things began looking up. The possibility of acquiring the older couple’s house on Fort Hill Circle, which was priced at $325,000 and had 1,900 square feet of space, was immensely appealing.

By Sept. 11, 2001, they were in contract, with the closing set for three weeks later. The morning of the terrorist attacks, the younger couple, who at the time both worked in Manhattan, emerged from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel minutes after the plane hit the first tower and watched, horrified, as scraps of paper from the offices flew through the air.

It seemed the worst possible moment to be buying a piece of the city.

“We asked ourselves, should we be buying in New York at all?” Ms. Vultaggio recalled.

Her husband added: “We wondered, should we walk away from the deposit? Should we move to Montana?”

Despite misgivings, they decided to proceed. And now, eight years later, they are well settled in the trim brick house. The household now includes a son, Jonathan, 3. And they have no regrets.

Throughout the house are items appropriate to a couple who both have careers in the world of design. Mr. Rice is the project leader for the redesign of Lincoln Center’s public spaces at Diller Scofidio & Renfro, a firm whose work includes the redesign of the High Line. Ms. Vultaggio works as an urban designer in the Staten Island office of New York’s Department of City Planning.

Unsurprisingly, both are what Mr. Rice describes as “unrepentant Modernists.”

“There’s something very appealing about this midcentury period,” he said of the house. “The open layout, the way everything flows. There’s lots of light.”

Being architects, they talk a lot about the elevation of the house, the face it presents to the world. They are taken with the fact that the windows are modular casement units all the same width, combined in a variety of arrangements.

Yet as much as the couple love the bones of the house, over the years they have made changes. The first thing they did after they arrived was rip out the living room’s white wall-to-wall carpet, which covered a pristine oak floor. Next up came the small windows in the dining area, then sheathed by white curtains and painted shut. The windows are now exposed and flood the space with light.

The living room is furnished largely in white — “We’ll re-cover the sofa when he’s 6,” Ms. Vultaggio said gesturing toward her son, who this day was banging away at Tinkertoys in a corner — and the furnishings are pleasantly eclectic. A Corbusier chaise longue — “Nearly every architect has one,” Mr. Rice said — sits opposite a turn-of-the-century oak breakfront from Texas.

On a wall in the entryway are spare 18th-century prints from a treatise on architectural education by Bernardo Vittone, an Italian architect from the Rococo period. Here and there are pieces of furniture that Ms. Vultaggio describes as “fancy Italian things that were bought at sample sales but that we couldn’t have afforded otherwise.”
When you walk into the kitchen, you feel as if you have entered a hall of mirrors, so gleaming are all the surfaces. The countertops are covered with gray-green Swiss gneiss, the shelves are a rich cherry wood, the glass tiles on the walls glow with a cool greenish tint, and all the appliances are stainless steel.

The design of what was originally a galley kitchen, which the couple redid largely by themselves, looks as if the space could have been reconfigured no other way. But even for a pair of architects, inspiration came slowly.

“We started drawing designs when we first moved in,” Mr. Rice said. “We were sketching it for three years.”

For better and sometimes worse, the house came equipped with many of the original furnishings. Some have been lovingly preserved, and others were retrofitted for a new century, as is especially evident in the family room. The table and chairs are Danish modern, and the sofas are the work of a Modernist designer named Harvey Probber, who enjoyed a brief flurry of late-in-life attention in trendy venues like Wallpaper magazine. (If you turn over the turquoise cushions, you can see the original nubby orange fabric.)

The macramé blinds are original, as is the pecan paneling, which Mr. Rice describes as “real wood veneer.”

“Very Brady Bunch,” his wife said dryly.

Period touches also abound upstairs, among them the original square tub in one of the bathrooms, a cast-iron fixture configured on the diagonal and executed in a color Ms. Vultaggio likes to call pistachio. The sailboat mobile in Jonathan’s bedroom is a decorative accent appropriate for a child whose mother’s résumé lists her main interest as “sailing on Raritan Bay.”

In the back of the house is a patio, which Mr. Rice built with his father-in-law one Saturday afternoon. It is equipped with not one but two grills — one gas, one charcoal — because, as Mr. Rice pointed out, “I’m from Texas, and I’m not letting go of my culture.”

The patio faces an expanse of lawn fringed with greenery, including what Mr. Rice describes as “the obligatory fig tree,” a cherry tree acquired through the city’s MillionTreesNYC program, and arugula grown from seed provided by Ms. Vultaggio’s father. In this tranquil space you can hear the bells from Brighton Heights Reformed Church and watch the antics of the resident squirrels, cardinals and blue jays.

Ms. Vultaggio’s mother, who comes by twice a week to baby-sit, still lives in the house her daughter knew as a child. But even though Ms. Vultaggio has returned to the island of her birth, she does not feel as if she were shuttling back in time.

“I felt this was different from the Staten Island I grew up in,” said Ms. Vultaggio, who is a first-generation American. (Her parents came from Italy.) “It’s more urban and diverse, and a lot of the people who live here came from someplace else. When I moved back, I didn’t feel as if I was coming home.”

Staten Island Blog Looks To The Hills

2010-01-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

Ben Braw House - 1935
Ape Shall Not KIll Ape takes a look at some of St. George, Staten Island's hills. I have included a few of the photos here, but take a look at the post for more information and antique maps.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Look to the Hills

Perhaps you've noticed that the North Shore of my beloved Staten Island is littered with hills? Well it is.

Once they were all refuges for wealthier seeking insulation from the rest of us. Elevation lifted them away and above us. In that time great mansions covered many of those hills (see the Ben Braw pictures). Later, meaner times lead to the demolition of those manorial estates and the subdivision of their property as is seen in the differences between the map of the C. A. Low Estate and the photo of the same place twenty-five years later.

Fort Hill - 1933 (Note: You can see the tower of Forgotten Borough's Fort Hill Castle on the hill, behind, and to the left of the tudor home).
Pavillion Hill - 1933

Gala*: A Unique Industrial-Chic Art & Dinner Party

2009-09-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

A massive New York Container Terminal turns into a contemporary museum for a dinner and art party highlighting the work of ten borough artists.

The Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island
Friday, October 2, 2009
7:00pm - 11:00pm

Location:
Warehouse 74/75, New York Container Terminal
241 Western Avenue
Staten Island, NY
Phone: 7184473329
Email: statenislandarts.org
The Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island (COAHSI) will turn Staten Island’s massive New York Container Terminal into a contemporary museum for a special arts weekend highlighting the work of ten borough artists.

The exhibit, entitled “Mapping Staten Island,” explores these artists’ perceptions of their resident borough, through physical installations, video, light, and musical recordings, and will feature works by Nick Fevelo, John Foxell, Steven Lapcevic, Brendan Coyle, Paul Moakley, Robin Locke Monda, Mandy Morrison, Kala Pierson, Don Porcella, Mike Shane and Cynthia von Buhler.

The exhibit space – created by the newly established firm Archicorp -- will be a work of art in itself, as actual shipping pallets will be used to build walls, tables and other structures to display the artwork. After the exhibit, the pallets will be recycled and used for their original purpose of transporting consumer goods.

In “Mapping Staten Island,” the selected borough artists will play with ideas of psycho-geography, and other non-traditional ways of interpreting the theme. COAHSI Grants Director Ginger Shulick elaborates on the concept of “Mapping Staten Island”:

“The artists selected to participate in “Mapping Staten Island” are not only creating work that physically or conceptually represents the unique geography, history, or mythology of Staten Island, but they are also truly putting Staten Island ‘on the map’ artistically.”

The selection of the New York Container Terminal as the venue for the exhibit also builds on Staten Island’s specific geography and history. Each exhibition room will be constructed from shipping pallets and designed like a fort, 20x10 feet long. The pallets will literally be “branded” by hot iron brands, bearing the logo or tag line of each sponsor. Deconstructed after the gala, these branded pallets will then rejoin the flow of global trade, sharing with the world a small part of Staten Island. Artists will be on site both during the Gala and the public exhibit to discuss their installations with the public.

Gala tickets are available online at the COAHSI website: statenislandarts.org, starting at $125. A shuttle will be available to pick up attendees at the Staten Island ferry and transport them to the New York Container Terminal at 241 Western Avenue. For information about table sponsorships, please contact Frank Williams at COAHSI, 718-447-3329. BUY TICKETS HERE.

Artist Bios

Cynthia von Buhler

Von Buhler will recreate the old-timey historical boardwalk of Staten Island’s South Beach, combining contemporary art criticism with a carnival motif to add a modern element to her installation – including a number of her animated sculptures. Von Buhler will be costumed in traditional carnival garb, wielding a microphone that samples pretentious artists statements mixed with the words “Step Right Up”.

Cynthia von Buhler is an internationally exhibiting visual artist, performer, and author. In March 2006, Art & Antiques named von Buhler as “one of the top contemporary surrealists”, and has been linked to the Fluxus and Lowbrow movements.

www.cynthiavonbuhler.com

Nick Fevelo

Fevelo will create a “Staten Island Water Museum” featuring a collection of water from around Staten Island, including purified rain water for drinking, found water bottles filled with urine from the Island’s shores, as well as images marking Staten Island’s nature and topography. Nick Fevelo is a multi-disciplinary photographer balancing journalism and conceptual artistic practice. He holds a BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, and recently received the Society of Silurians Breaking News Photography award and the National Headliner Awards 3rd Place Breaking News Photography award.

www.nicholasfevelo.com

John Foxell

John Foxell will recreate a room of his extraordinary house for the gala. Foxell is a poet whom resides in a historic house in Port Richmond, Staten Island. His home, built in the Saltbox style in 1848, houses many curiosities: skeletons, taxidermied animals, and numerous historical artifacts, including vintage radios from the 1940s and a letter from President Roosevelt to his wife Eleanor.

Steven Lapcevic and Brendan Coyle

Lapcevic and Coyle are collaborating to create a mixed-media installation, depicting the corner of Victory and Corson Avenues in St. George. Recorded sounds from the street will serve as the backdrop to Lapcevic’s animation – a digital window onto the world just outside 15 Corson Gallery/The Assembly Room.

Steven Lapcevic’s work addresses themes of volition, identity, and alienation within the framework of a darkly fictional world that strongly mirrors the more frightening characteristics of our own. It is through his work that he hopes to explore and shed light on the smaller, abstract and darkened corners of our collective experience.

Brendan Coyle works in various artistic media such as sculpture, comics, and performance art, practicing in variance and combination. Coyle also directs and curates The Assembly Room, a contemporary art gallery on the North Shore of Staten Island.

www.anomalyville.com

Paul Moakley

Moakley will show his film “Memory Loop”, filmed along the shoreline of Staten Island. During the editing process Moakley will incorporate ephemeral objects, family photos, archival film footage, and historical photography. This film will be displayed alongside large prints, and a reproduction of the bench outside the Alice Austen House Museum along the waterfront, wherein Moakley hopes to create a place for people to contemplate the shoreline and their own lives.

Paul Moakley is a photographer, curator, and editor who lives and works at the Alice Austen House Museum. Moakley was a senior photo editor at Newsweek (2002-2009) and previously served as the photo editor for PDN (Photo District News).

www.paulmoakley.com

Robin Locke Monda

Locke Monda will create “Wave Circle,” an installation made entirely from old boom boxes set in a circle with their speakers facing toward the center, creating a dialogue. Each boom box will play a CD of Staten Island sounds, including urban, suburban, natural environments as well as Staten Islander’s voices, all recorded by Locke Monda.

Robin Locke Monda is a graphic designer, photographer, and writer working in both old and new media. She is especially interested in cultivating active listening among Staten Islanders, and has created an initiative called “Sounds Like Staten Island” to engage locals in sharing and initiating sound projects.

www.soundslikestatenisland.com

Mandy Morrison

Morrison will create a mixed-media performance titled “Initial Public Offering of Staten Island: We are Co-Dependent and Connected” regarding Staten Island’s sometimes problematic relationship with power and resource-sharing with other boroughs and the greater New York City.

Mandy Morrison is a video and performance artist whose work is an inquiry as to how we structure our lives through thought and action. Her work is an investigation that focuses on the outward manifestations of the self, whether as an individual or as part of a collective.

www.mandymachine.com

Kala Pierson

Pierson will create a “Tibetan Sand Mandala in Audio,” where over the course of the night, the audio will dissolve, starting with thick layers and ending with one layer and eventually silence. Once this happens, the sound will exist only in the memories of the people who were present.

Kala Pierson is a composer and sound/media artist. Pierson has studied at the Eastman School of Music where she held a George Eastman Scholarship, Bard College at Simon’s Rock where she won the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts, and Tanglewood Institute/BUTI.

unfurl.org

Don Porcella

Porcella is creating a cave with figures that narrates his understanding of ancient artists as it relates to art history and early Staten Island people. “The Cave Painters” by Don Porcella intends to show the passion artists have for their craft, how artists have always lived on Staten Island, and how it is connected to our understanding of contemporary artistic practice.

Don Porcella, in his unique approach to encaustic painting, hopes to “reinforce the significance of life’s blunders by presenting a mysterious world: shamelessly awkward and unabashedly comical” (NY Times). The bulk of Porcella’s recent work has involved creating whimsical and subversive sculpture from pipe cleaners. Porcella transforms this “craft material” into a form of high art, as the content and structure of his sculptures play with our conceptions of consumerism, reality, and our own weird mortality.

www.donporcella.blogspot.com

Mike Shane

Shane will create a temporary mixed-media installation integrating at least 150 square feet of black and white photography and a monochromatic mix of brush paint, ink, and spray paint. The images will portray the emerging artist scene in Stapleton, where Shane resides.

Mike Shane is a photographer and a life-long Staten Islander. He holds a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration from Kingsborough Community College, and has independently studied photography for over a decade. Shane considers himself an artist, who chooses photography as his weapon of choice.

www.mikeshanephotography.com

Vincent Appel

Vincent Appel is an architect, urbanist, industrial designer and artist. His professional experience includes work at Archi-tectonics in Manhattan, Koetter Kim Architects in Boston, Estudio Borelles in Barcelona and his own practice, Of Other Places. His work has received recognition, fellowship and awards from Judith Seinfeld, The Center for Architecture, and Syracuse University.

Paul Miller

Paul Miller holds the Bachelor of Architecture cum laude from Syracuse University’s School of Architecture. In May 2009, his thesis on the political underground of Washington DC won the James Britton Memorial Prize. Prior to co-founding Archicorp, Paul worked with PARA-Project in Syracuse and New York City and Chaintreuil Jensen Stark Architects in Rochester, New York.

Rob Daurio

Rob Daurio is an architect/urbanist and graphic designer. Previous to Archicorp, Rob Daurio worked with OMA/Rem Koolhaas in the Netherlands on a number of projects including: master plans in Italy, Belgium, and France, catwalks for the Milan Prada fashion shows, and a print for a Prada 2009 Spring/Summer dress. Rob Daurio is a graduate of Syracuse University.

About Archicorp:
Archicorp is a design research collaborative based in New York City. Archicorp operates in a methodology that is affirmatively social, and maintains an optimistic position about the role of design as a device for solving complex problems. The studio engages in a spectrum of work ranging from urban planning and building design to large scale public art, cultural analysis, industrial and fashion design.

About COAHSI:
The Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island (COAHSI) works to foster, develop, and support the arts and humanities on Staten Island. We do this through professional development, technical assistance, and regrants to artists and arts organizations. COAHSI works hard to bring together artists, organizations, and the greater Staten Island community. For more information on the Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island (COAHSI) visit www.statenislandarts.org.

Running On Staten Island

2009-09-27T23:29:00.000-07:00

Brian Fidelman, The Roving Runner, tries Staten Island out for running in this New York Times article.

A Time Out NY Staffer Explains Why She Loves St. George, Staten Island

2009-09-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite things about St. George is The Staten Island Museum.
Meredith Bodgas loves St. George, Staten Island and she picks her favorite haunts below. We also love the places she mentions, but there is so much more. Browse our site to find out about our lovely, quirky island. Click HERE to see a slideshow and read the article on TONY's website.

From Time Out NY:

“I grew up on the South Shore,” admits freelance writer Meredith Bodgas, “but St. George, on the North Shore, is what the cool ’hoods in Brooklyn were like before you couldn’t afford to live there. It’s a wonder that more Manhattanites don’t hang out here—especially in a recession. The very pleasant ferry ride (you can buy beer on the boat!) is free, and once you’re on the S.I. side, fun it’s cheap, too.”

Her favorite bars and restaurants

Enoteca Maria (27 Hyatt St between Central Ave and St. Marks Pl; 718-447-2777, enotecamaria.com) “What makes this Italian restaurant stand apart from the countless other ones on the island? The rotating grandma-chefs are actually from Italy—not Bay Ridge. As a result, the restaurant is more European with a menu that changes nightly based on what’s fresh. Rest assured, you can always order pasta.”

Beso (11 Schuyler St between Richmond Terr and Stuyvesant Pl; 718-816-8162, besonyc.com) “Meat and seafood lovers will like the choices at this cozy Spanish restaurant. Order mojitos or sangria, and split tapas, like fried goat cheese and coconut-crusted shrimp, with your friends. Dim lighting and brick walls make it a good date spot.”

Jimmy Steiny’s at Baker Square (2 Hyatt St between Central Ave and Stuyvesant Pl, 718-442-9526) “Though it’s not much to look at from the outside, the inside of this bar is sparkling—it has Blue Moon, Magic Hat and nine other beers on tap. Go after work when pints and well drinks are $3 or less and the jukebox is pumping.”

Her favorite places to visit

Richmond County Bank Ballpark (75 Richmond Terr at Wall St; 718-720-9265, siyanks.com) “Staten Island Yankees games are fun (Scooter the Holy Cow has been known to shoot T-shirts into the stands) and cheaper than the real Yankees. When the Major Leaguers get sent down for a few weeks, they often play here. I saw El Duque pitch a game from a $15 seat behind home plate!”

15 Corson Gallery: The Assembly Room (15 Corson Ave between Daniel Low Terr and Victory Blvd, second floor; 917-586-2325, myspace.com/assemblyroom) “This hipster-friendly gallery is a paradise for anyone who likes his art off the beaten path. Plus, you can catch lively music and comedy performances from local talent here.”

St. George Theatre (35 Hyatt St between Central Ave and St. Marks Pl; 718-442-2900, stgeorgetheatre.com) “You know the battle of the bands concert in School of Rock? That was shot here. Checking out a big-name act at this 1920s theater would be very cool, but I’d highly recommend a kitschy show with local acts, such as Staten Island’s Got Talent.”

Postcards (141 Richmond Terr between Hamilton Ave and Stuyvesant Pl, statenislandusa.com) “I got chills the first time I went to this September 11th memorial, and not just because my husband’s uncle is one of the victims whose profile is accurately depicted on the wall: The wings of the sculpture frame where the Twin Towers used to stand across the bay.”

Her favorite shops

Every Thing Goes Thrift & Vintage (140 Bay St between Central Ave and Victory Blvd; 718-273-7139, etgstores.com/clothing) “Staten Island is not really known for its shopping—the main retail draw is the mall, after all—but there are three floors of vintage threads at this store. It’s as great for everyday duds as it is for Halloween costumes.”

Every Thing Goes Book Cafe and Neighborhood Stage (208 Bay St between Minthorne St and Victory Blvd; 718-447-8256, etgstores.com/bookcafe) “Cater to your ADD with this used-book-and-record store/tea shop/art gallery/performance space/Internet café. The events are usually free, and you can even make a couple of bucks by selling your dusty paperbacks and vinyls.

One of our favorite things about St. George is the gorgeous, old houses.

Staten Island Advance Plugs Forgotten Borough (and its blogger)

2009-09-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

Staten Island home owners: Cynthia von Buhler and Tevah Platt in front of Cynthia's house. Photo from an article about Staten Island's North Shore in Japion, a New York Japanese newspaper.
ON THE WEB
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Staten Island Advance
by Tevah Platt

Cynthia von Buhler, an artist with profoundly gothic sensibilities, was bound to fall under the spell of Staten Island's old, desolate and abandoned places.

House-hunting in 2005, she discovered the borough and snatched up an Iberian castle at the pinnacle of St. George.

Her "quest for a turret" made the New York Times' real estate section.

And ever since, Ms. von Buhler has been singing a siren song, luring New Yorkers willing to sail to the North Shore.

She's chatted with reporters with the Japanese weekly Japion, brought in adventurers from Forgotten NY, and, for the local and foreign crowd, maintains an elegant blog featuring Staten Island's cultural offerings: Forgottenborough.com.

In what was formerly titled the "Prodigal Borough" blog, Ms. von Buhler maintains the voice of an insider who is also an outsider, as in the tag line: "We took the ferry to Staten Island and decided to stay."

But notably, Staten Island has decided to stay with Ms. von Buhler.

Since buying a second home in pastoral Connecticut, she spends more time in New England than she does in New Amsterdam, yet she continues to blog and to tout Staten Island's North Shore.

Ms. von Buhler, who helped found St. George's SHOW Gallery, recently completed the children's book, "But Who Will Bell the Cats?" (Houghton Mifflin). She is among the artists to be featured at the upcoming Council on the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island (COAHSI) "Mapping Staten Island" Gala at the New York Container Terminal on Oct. 2, with a public exhibit Oct. 3.

Visit the blog at: forgottenborough.com and her new book's Web site: www.butwhowillbellthecats.com

Link to the article HERE.

Mick Rock at SHOW Gallery

2009-08-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

Find out more about this exhibit HERE.

Across the Harbor, a Historic Gem by Cara Buckley

2009-08-09T15:48:00.000-07:00

Photograph by Forgotten Borough.
It looks like Cara Buckley came back to Staten island for another visit recently. We gave her a tour of the area last time and I'm pleased to see that this time around she visited Enoteca Maria and Beso. They are Forgotten Borough's two favorite St. George restaurants.

Many visits to Staten Island go like this: Ride the ferry from Lower Manhattan. Catch a free glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. Disembark. Take the next ferry back.

But the tiny, historic neighborhood of St. George, where the ferry docks, is worth exploring, even if the bleak landscape just outside the terminal suggests otherwise. Get a map at the terminal’s passenger office, and after your amble in St. George, consider a four-minute ride on the S40 bus from the terminal to the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, at right, 1000 Richmond Terrace, (718) 448-2500. It is 83 acres of Greek Revival buildings and paradisiacal gardens that will make you feel like you stepped into an E. M. Forster novel.

•

10:30 A.M.Ride the 1, N, R or W train to South Ferry, and get on board. The ferry is free and leaves Manhattan and Staten Island every half-hour (with variations after 1 a.m., on weekends and during the weekday rush). If it’s a nice day, ride on the upper deck for the fresh air and panoramic views of New York Harbor, Lower Manhattan, Governors Island and the Brooklyn and Verrazano-Narrows Bridges.

•

11 A.M. As you disembark from the ferry, Staten Island’s stately Borough Hall, will be in front of you, a French Renaissance-style structure built between 1904 and 1906 and designed by Carrère and Hastings, the architectural firm behind the New York Public Library. Go left on Bay Street and walk five minutes to the Everything Goes Book Cafe & Neighborhood Stage, 208 Bay Street, (718) 447-8256, a cozy, welcoming used-book store and community gathering spot run by Ganas, a local commune (it’s closed on Mondays). Tasty, affordable coffee and organic baked goods are for sale, accompanied by live music weekend nights. Ganas also runs a nearby vintage shop, Everything Goes Clothing, 140 Bay Street, (718) 273-7139, closed Sunday and Monday, where one recent offering was a thick Pucci-like shift that felt like a bath towel and cost $14.

•

NOON Head to the Cargo Cafe, 120 Bay Street, (718) 876-0539, for cool ambience — exposed wood beams, peeling red walls, shabby chic chandeliers — and cheap lunch: $4.75 for a burger, fries and a soda; the weekend brunch starts at $7 and includes muffins and a cocktail or coffee (open Tuesday to Sunday at 11 a.m.; Monday at 5 p.m.).

•

1:30 P.M. Walk along Central Avenue to Hyatt Street, and visit the St. George Theater, 35 Hyatt Street, (718) 442-2900, an 80-year-old former vaudeville house that was recently restored to its over-the-top baroque glory. Cyndi Lauper and Rosie O’Donnell appeared there last week; Toni Orlando is scheduled for Sept. 10. Be sure to see the auditorium’s glorious, spotlighted dome ceiling.

•

2 P.M. Time to view some fancy local houses — from the outside; people live there. Map in hand, head up Hyatt Street, take a right on St. Mark’s Place, a quick left on Fort Place and then a right (stay with me) on Daniel Low Terrace to gaze at some very pretty Tudor-style mansions and well-kept flower gardens. Just off Daniel Low Terrace is Fort Hill Circle; check out No. 22, a castlelike house built in 1930.

•

2:30 P.M. Walk downhill to the Staten Island Museum, 75 Stuyvesant Place, (718) 727-1135, a tiny repository of local history, assorted animals preserved in jars, cool glow-in-the-dark rocks and a portrait of St. George’s namesake, George Law, who, as it turns out, wasn’t a saint at all. Admission: $2.

•

3 P.M. If you’re peckish again, or thirsty, try Beso, 11 Schuyler Street, (718) 816-8162, a tucked-away tapas bar that also serves Cuban pressed sandwiches for $7.95; glasses of wine start at $7. Or head to Enoteca Maria, 27 Hyatt Street, (718) 447-2777, a modern, authentic Italian restaurant, open Wednesday to Sunday, that has food critics and local folks swooning with its rotating cast of female chefs from assorted regions of Italy.

•

4 P.M. Take the ferry back to Manhattan. If you skipped the wine, the tapas and the Italian fare, the ferry snack bar sells pretzels and $3.50 domestic beer.

- New York Times

Make sure to take a look at the St. George slideshow.

New York Daily News: Borough Bloggers Reveal Secret Gems of NYC Neighborhoods

2009-07-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

BY WENDY MITCHELL
Thursday, June 11th 2009, 4:00 AM

Read the whole article HERE.

Think you know everything cool to see in your city? These boro bloggers comb the streets of their nabes every day for new finds to chat about. And not surprisingly, they've got plenty of secret gems that, well, aren't a secret anymore!

STATEN ISLAND
Blogger: Cynthia von Buhler
Blog: www.prodigalborough.com
What she's blogging about: Prodigal Borough covers a variety of Staten Island interests including art, parks, the ferry, beaches, parks, real estate and preservation, and food.
Her gem: Staten Island is one big wonder full of eccentric oddities, and my favorite is the easiest to find. Take the scenic ferry ride, and then follow the neon sign to Theo Dorian's gallery SHOW. The current show at the gallery is “Lost & Found,” an exploration of earnestness in art, and in mid-June, the gallery will feature sculptures of hard, mundane forms like axes and logs cast in fine white porcelain by Victoria Munro. The gallery also offers workshops (like guitar lessons during an upcoming exhibit of photographs of glam rock icons by Mick Rock). While on the island, get directions to nearby wonders like the shrine built of found objects, the Chinese koi pond and gardens, and gorgeous Victorian houses. Address: SHOW, 156 Stuyvesant Place, Staten Island, www.showhownyc.com, 718-524-0855.

Art Recycle Opportunity with Day de Dada: Reduce – Reuse - Recreate

2009-07-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Art Recycle Opportunity with Day de Dada: Reduce – Reuse - Recreate

Do you have extra art that you're not using? Maybe you have some leftover concepts in the closet or cluttering up the basement of your mind.

Here's your chance to reduce, reuse, and recycle your extraneous art. Bring your leftover canvases, sculpture bits and unused creative ideas to "Van Duzer Days" on Saturday August 1st and work together with Artists from Day de Dada to create a masterpiece of repurposed art.

It will be live, it will be creative, it will be videotaped, it will be Dada!

Meet at "Van Duzer Days" on Saturday August 1st from 1:00 to 4:00 on Van Duzer Street between Wright and Beach Streets, Staten Island .

Van Duzer Days is part of Summer Streets NYC and is sponsored by Sicolab.

While at Van Duzer Days also check out "We-Cycle" - A community upcycling bike advocacy installation.

More info at www.daydedada.com

Prodigal Borough's Name Has Changed

2009-07-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

In homage to Forgotten NY, which first helped us find Staten Island, we are changing our name to Forgotten Borough. Forgotten NY features overlooked, ancient sites in New York City. Staten Island is the most overlooked borough in the city, and it has a plethora of ancient sites. We are here to make you more familiar with the most mysterious borough of New York City: Staten Island. Using the term "forgotten borough" to describe Staten Island isn't new; it was first coined in 1928 by The New York Times.

15 July 1928, New York Times, pg. RE1:
Urging Staten Island operators to be cautious about pricing their realty, W. Burke Harmon, President of the Harmon National Real Estate Corporation, yesterday declared that sudden price increases on properties at this time might well result in halting the normal development of what he calls "this forgotten borough that has suddenly stepped into the limelight."

19 October 1950, New York Times, pg. 35:
Speaking at a borough-wide rally last night in the Boulevard Hotel, Grant CIty, S. I., Mr. Corsi described Staten Island as the "forgotten borough" by the present Tammany administration at City Hall.
(Edward Corsi, Republican candidate for Mayor - ed.)

23 November 1958, New York Times, pg. R1:
Staten Island rates high as the possible scene of New York's next boom in industrial construction, according to city and Chamber of Commerce officials. The fact that the commerce group's members come largely from Richmond is not expected to lengthen the odds against "the forgotten borough," as some of them have named it.

I'm attaching a few of my pictures of Fort Wadsworth. Forgotten. Ancient. You see what I mean.

This site is undergoing a redesign. Check back in soon to see our stylish new look.

New York Times: "A contender for most beautiful building in NYC"

2009-06-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

In this New York Times Habitats column Constance Rosenblum visits the old Bechtel mansion on St. Pauls Avenue. I was quoted, but I wasn't given a credit. My film and photo location company which lists this property (The Arabesque Victorian) is CVB Spaces. Check that out if you want to see dozens of my pictures of it (you can see a few of my photographs here). Staten Island is filled with this type of wondrous home. -Cynthia von Buhler

For a Family, Elaborate Elbow Room
By CONSTANCE ROSENBLUM
Published: June 26, 2009

IN 1888, a German-born beer baron named George Bechtel, who was said to be the richest man on Staten Island, gave his 21-year-old daughter Annie an extraordinary wedding present.

A Time Capsule
Annie was betrothed to a German-American named Leonard Weiderer, and the gift was a three-story, 24-room Victorian mansion in the Queen Anne style. The 4,500-square-foot showpiece, on the street known as Mud Lane (later rechristened St. Paul’s Avenue), was outfitted with eight bedrooms, two kitchens and six fireplaces, each of a different design.

Annie’s bridal home included virtually every detail of Victorian domestic architecture — hipped roofs, gables, fish-scale shingles, chimneys, bay windows, dormer windows, even a turret. Garlanding the exterior were a series of porches and balconies. Two dozen imported stained-glass windows, courtesy of the glass factory Mr. Weiderer owned, exploded with stars, sunbursts, crescent moons and floral designs pricked in luminous primary colors. Chestnut and oak paneling covered nearly every available inch of wall space.

But the couple’s time in the house was brief. Three years into the marriage, tuberculosis claimed Mr. Weiderer’s life. His young widow moved to Germany and married a second time, but just five years later, in 1899, she died also. She was 31.

Annie’s sister Agnes lived in the house until 1928, followed by the Teitelbaums (1928-48), the Fraziers (1948-88) and, from 1988 to 1999, a chef who painted the exterior what one paint consultant described, not intending to pay a compliment, as a “Lucille Ball shade” of pink.

Through all these incarnations, the house proved a hardy survivor, the undisputed but neglected star among nearly a hundred handsome Victorian dwellings in the Stapleton area. What it lacked was someone who valued its lustrous past.

That person turned out to be a soft-spoken Montana-born doctor named Ted Brown. Dr. Brown, 63, who is the director of the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Institute for Basic Research, and whose specialty is autism research, works out of offices on Staten Island.

At the time he began house-hunting on the island, he and his family were ensconced in a 200-year-old farmhouse in Port Washington, on Long Island, and he was developing a taste for living close to the past. When he was shown what a real estate agent modestly described as an “older house of character,” he was blown away.

“Maybe I was crazy, but I just thought it would be fun to live there,” Dr. Brown said in his understated way as he and his wife, Donna, sat side by side in what they call their formal parlor, an octagonal space framed by a sweeping archway.

Ms. Brown, a speech therapist who works with autistic schoolchildren (the couple met in 1985 at a genetics conference in Australia), viewed the situation differently.

“When I first saw the house,” she said, “I thought Ted had lost it.”

And remind us why she went along with the idea?

“Because I love him,” Ms. Brown said with an adoring smile.

When the couple bought the house in 1999 for $525,000, they set aside $250,000 for renovations, a figure that ballooned to $400,000. Before moving in, they worked for six months on the interior; once in residence, they tackled the exterior. Painting the facade — using sun-drenched colors like squash, copper, antique gold and seven others — took five months.

“The first couple of years, the house was really in sad shape,” Ms. Brown said. “We were really overwhelmed. Then we began to love it.”

But they know the work will never be finished, in part because the family, which includes the couple’s son, Hunter, 17; their daughter, Montana, 19; and two dogs, use all 24 rooms, amazing as that seems.

The room where the Browns were sitting on this day had the look of a perfectly appointed stage set for some forgotten Victorian-era drama. Furnishings include Persian carpets from Dr. Brown’s childhood home, an inlaid chessboard atop an inlaid table and a piano with Debussy on the music stand. (Dr. Brown, who in 1964 was a Montana state chess champion, plays both the game and the instrument.)

The mantel is almost hidden by an assortment of crystal — bells, goblets, paperweights, teardrop candlesticks. A velvet shawl with ivory fringe is draped over one chair, and needlepoint pillows nestle in the corners of the sofa.

The couple are justly proud of the grand staircase, which looks like a puzzle composed of intricately braided chestnut spindles and a matching woven screen, each tiny curl milled separately. At the base of the stairs, a pair of linked circlets have been carved into the wood. It is an emblem, Ms. Brown thinks, of the union of the young couple whose time in the house was so brief and so tragic.

The second floor is devoted to bedrooms, and the third, the onetime servants’ quarters, with its tiny rooms and low ceilings, is a teenage boy’s paradise; Hunter has his own bedroom, kitchen and video area.

The third floor is also the entrance to the little two-story room at the top of the turret. On a Web site that lists the Brown house as a location for filming and fashion shoots, the passageway to the turret is described as a “creepy, coffin-shaped tunnel.”

Creepy is the word.

“When we first moved in, the kids used to play there,” Dr. Brown said, “and someone was always being dragged in and locked away and had to be rescued.”

After he moved to Stapleton, Dr. Brown joined the Mud Lane Society, the preservation group that helped get 92 Victorians designated as city landmarks. The group’s president since 2007, he knows more than most people about what life in this part of the city was like a century ago. Along the staircase hang photographs giving a vivid picture of the brewers who were island royalty before Prohibition brought them low, and through eBay Dr. Brown has amassed a collection of old bottles from the Bechtel brewery.

He has discovered that living in such an over-the-top house was just as he thought it would be — fun. Total strangers stop and take pictures, in part thanks to www.forgotten-ny.com, a Web site that proclaims 387 St. Paul’s Avenue as “possibly the most gorgeous private dwelling on Staten Island and a contender for most beautiful building in NYC.” And at least for the Browns, who see themselves as caretakers of a piece of Staten Island history, the poignant history of the house only enhances its appeal.

“This was a wedding gift for a bride,” Ms. Brown pointed out. “Don’t you wish you could give your child such a gift?”

The New York Time's Hunt Column Asks "So Where Are They Now"

2009-06-07T07:35:00.000-07:00

A few years ago Joyce Cohen, from The New York Times, interviewed us (Cynthia von Buhler and Russell Farhang) about our house hunt and move to Staten Island. That article launched Prodigal Borough as she listed the blog url in the paper. We have been writing about Staten Island ever since. Cohen's Hunt column is celebrating its 5th year anniversary, so they called to ask us "where are you now?" We are living in both CT and Staten Island now, both places are lovely in their own way.

The original article can be found HERE.
There is also a multimedia slideshow.

Excerpt: And then, one day, they noticed Staten Island. "It was like we opened up a present we had forgotten about," Mr. Farhang said. So off they went.

They saw a few houses with Tina Sirico, an agent at Sari Kingsley Real Estate in New Dorp. The houses in Staten Island seemed beautiful and well-kept, and much cheaper than houses elsewhere. They were surprised and thrilled, especially when they visited a four-story, 2,500-square-foot Mediterranean-style villa, with a curved staircase inside and a lush garden outside. It looked like a castle. The house, in the St. George section, was listed at $659,000.

Trying to contain their excitement, they waited until that evening to place their bid. They bought the house for $655,000.

According to the sellers, Laura Drew Kelly and Michael Kelly, who moved to Dover, Del., the house was built around 1929 by a Spanish teacher from Spain, who wanted a home reminiscent of his country.

The new article can be found HERE
and a slideshow is HERE.

Excerpt: Three years ago, Russell Farhang and Cynthia von Buhler were married in the lush backyard of Fort Hill Castle, their turreted Staten Island home.

“I thought we would live there forever,” Mr. Farhang said, never imagining that he would come to think of the castle as a starter house.

Ms. von Buhler became active in the local arts scene. Mr. Farhang enjoyed the ferry commute with coffee, newspaper and friends...

Ms. von Buhler, who has an art studio in the house, has just finished her most recent children’s book, “But Who Will Bell the Cats?” (Houghton Mifflin). Not coincidentally, the setting for the book is a castle. Back in Staten Island, Fort Hill Castle is currently occupied by Ms. von Buhler’s sister.

Joyce Cohen is also a blogger. Visit her blog at: http://huntgrunt.blogspot.com

Art By The Ferry 2009

2009-05-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

The 2009 ART BY THE FERRY Festival highlights the wide variety of excellent visual arts, crafts, spoken word and performing arts on Staten Island in spaces provided by local real estate developers, restaurants, galleries and the Staten Island Museum. And it’s free!

Support two fundraising events for Art by the Ferry 2009;
Thursday May 28, 6pm-9pm at Killmeyer’s
and
Saturday May 30, 7pm - 10pm at Everything Goes Book Cafe & Neighborhood Stage

LOCATION:
St. George, Staten Island, NYC

DATES:
June 6,7 & 13,14, 2009
11am to 6pm

SPONSOR:
Staten Island Creative Community (SICC)*

FESTIVAL MOTTO:
“The artists are coming! The artists are coming!”
*More information about Staten Island Creative Community is on the News page - livepage.apple.com
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE:

Art ON the Ferry, sponsored by SIcoLab -- on the Staten Island ferries, Saturday June 6, from 11am to 2pm.

Performance Art Parade -- Saturday June 6, 2pm

Workshops for Arts Professionals, presented by COAHSI -- Saturday, June 6, 2009; 1pm, Sunday, June 7, 2009; 1pm, Staten Island Museum

Music, Performance -- all day, all four days, multiple venues

Children’s Workshops

Art Exhibits -- all day, all four days, multiple venues

Crafts -- all day, all four days, multiple venues

Spoken Word -- all four days at the Fish’s Eddy site

Stairway To Heaven

2009-04-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

Fort Hill is the highest hill in St. George. Fort Hill Castle, on Fort Hill, is the highest house on the hill. Does that make these the highest steps in St. George?
Staten Islander Dan Icolari has launched his own blog called "Walking Is Transportation." St. George (in the North Shore) is extremely hilly and "Walking Is Transportation" explores that in his post: "The Vertical Life, or Hill-Walking on Staten Island's North Shore." Check it out by clicking HERE.

A Google Earth map of New York City
The "stairway" article got me thinking about elevation in St. George. I knew that Todt Hill on Staten Island is the highest point in all five boroughs of New York (and the highest point on the eastern seaboard of the United States south of Maine). I also knew that Fort Hill, where my house is located, is the highest point in St. George, Staten Island. My house is the tallest house on Fort Hill - might it be the highest point in St. George? And, if we are talking about Staten Island having the highest elevations in all of New York City, my house is closer to heaven than most places in New York City. I checked out the elevations on Google Earth. You can see my calculations below. The height of the houses are approximate. I will look into that and report back with actual figures.

My house (Fort Hill Castle) elevation. Ground elevation: 166 feet, Tower elevation: 35 feet approximate, Total elevation: 215 approximate

Fort Hill Park (the highest point of Fort Hill): 207 feet, House elevation: 20 feet approximate, Total elevation: 227 approximate

Todt Hill Elevation: 410 feet

227 feet - 215 feet = 12 feet

My approximate calculations show that there is one other house at a slightly higher elevation on Fort Hill, however, our house is the tallest, therefore they even out a bit. I'm guessing house heights here, but it looks like my house is only about 12 feet from being the highest in St. George, and only about 215 feet lower than the highest point in all of New York City. We have been thinking about raising the height of our tower by about 24 feet so we can get a 360 degree view of the island; currently part of our house blocks some amazing views. Our house tower always seemed kind of squat compared to the rest of the house, so a couple of years ago, I spoke with an architect who said that we would be allowed to do this given the cities rules and regulations on building height. We are already higher than our neighbors so we wouldn't be blocking any other house views. If we do this, our house will easily clear the 12 feet or so difference and would be the highest house in St. George.Before
After (stretched image)

Van Duzers Visit Van Duzer Street

2009-04-25T22:19:00.000-07:00

This is a cute video created by two brothers, Ethan and Ryan, whose last name is Van Duzer. I have always loved to say this street name: VAN DUZER. I only wish that they had walker further down the block as the street gets cooler once you hit Martini Red, The Muddy Cup, and the antique stores. The street is a bit homely and dull closer to the ferry where they were walking. The funny thing about Staten Island is that when you are walking around you discover wonderful little pockets of coolness and beauty.

Japion Newspaper Staten Island Cover Feature

2009-04-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

New York's top Japanese newspaper did a cover feature about St. George, Staten Island. The photos here are from their website.
-To read Tomoko Inoue's article and interviews (in Japanese) with the Staten Islanders below go HERE.

Staten Islanders: John Leo and Shawn Bishop-Leo with Tomoko Inoue.

Staten Islanders: Cynthia von Buhler (her dog Miss Jenny Poodles) and Tevah Platt in front of Cynthia's house.

SHOW gallery presents: Lost & Found, An Exploration of Earnestness in Art

2009-03-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

Art above by unknown artists

Under-appreciated works by recently discovered masters of sincerity
Curated by Theo Dorian

OPENING FRIDAY MARCH 20, 2008, 6 to 9 pm

Exhibition and Silent Auction
March 20 to May 23, 2009

Including works on loan from the collections of Roxanne Storms, Victoria Munro, Matt Jacobs, Kathy Osborn, Ed Atkeson, Cynthia von Buhler and Philip Rosen.

SHOW
Gallery, Studio & Performance Space

156 Stuyvesant Place
St. George, Staten Island
right across the street and up the steps from the Staten Island Ferry!
718-524-0855
Open Wednesday to Sunday, Noon to Seven

In April:
Lost&Found Films
at The Movie SHOW
Saturday Nights at 7:30pm

Staten Island Barbershop Against Da' Grain Has Teamed Up With Rappers Method Man and Redman To Give Free Haircuts To Kids

2009-03-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

Against Da' Grain is a wildly popular St. George barbershop. The atmosphere there is more like a neighborhood party than a barbershop.

From The Hip Hop Cosign (click the headline to visit their web page):

AGAINST DA’ GRAIN AND GRAMMY AWARD WINNING RAPPERS METHOD MAN & REDMAN PROVIDE LOCAL KIDS FREE HAIR CUTS
The stylish team of ADG barbers at the 821 Castleton Avenue location in the West Brighten section of Staten Island will be on hand on a first come, first served basis to provide free hair cuts to children under 12 years of age, on Saturday April 11, 2009 between the hours of 10:00am to 6:00pm. Special guest appearances by Megatron, celebrated DJ and host of 106 & Park’s “What’s Good On The Streets” segment and other talented Staten Island artists will be will be on hand speaking to kids and learning how they prepare to look their Sunday best!

“We have wonderfully loyal customers and felt this was just another way of rewarding them during these unusually hard economic times. A single mother of three boys spends a weekly average of $33.00 on their hair cuts making it difficult to keep her kids hair freshly trimmed, explained Tariq, barber at Against Da’ Grain. With Easter Sunday the following day, we felt it was the perfect time to team up with our celebrity friends and create a unique solution based on old traditional values while helping our community.”

Against Da’ Grain encourages kids to get a good night’s sleep so they can wake up early and be one of the first to get their free shape up. Parents, stop by! Bring your boys, nephews and grandsons down for a seat on the big leather chair for their fresh Easter Sunday haircut.

For more information regarding Against Da’ Grain please log into www.adgsinyc.com or call 718.981.3597.

Billy Joel Explains His Lyric "Between you and me and the Staten Island Ferry"

2009-03-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

Maureen Seaberg, a Staten Island based writer, is working on a book about famous synesthetes. According to Seaberg, "Synesthetes are people who blend senses - such as seeing color when listening to or playing music. Billy Joel is one; so are Pharrell Williams, John Mayer, Tori Amos and even Aristotle and physicist Richard Feymann. It is tentatively titled, "Kaleidoscope Minds." Ms. Seaberg is herself a synesthete."

While interviewing Billy Joel, Seaberg asked him about his 1981 lyric from the song "Everybody Loves You Now," which says...."between you and me and the Staten Island Ferry......"

His answer was as follows:

"The lyric, 'between you and me and The Staten Island Ferry' - that was actually a colloquialism...when somebody would pull someone aside and say, 'Hey, listen, between you and me and the Staten Island Ferry.' Like between you, me and the lamp post. When I was a little kid, my grandfather took me to Staten Island on the ferry and I had heard the expression the Staten Island Ferry and I remember being on the ferry going, 'So this is the Staten Island Ferry that everybody talks about. As if it was some great secret, 'Hey, between you and me and the Staten Island Ferry.' That's where that lyric came from; it's just a colloquialism."

"I'm from an island and you know sometimes when we go to Manhattan island, people tend to look down their noses at people from other islands, which I think is hysterical because New York is actually an archipelago. There are thousands of islands in the New York Bight. It's an exploded archipelago. You've got Fire Island, Staten Island, Long Island, Manhattan island, Randall's Island, Ellis Island, Bedloe Island, Liberty Island, Block Island... There are thousands of islands. When I'm in New York sometimes if I'm at a snooty party and someone says, 'Oh, you're from Long Island," I'll say, "Well, yeh, you're from an island too, except mine's bigger!"

Forgotten NY St. George Tour

2009-02-08T21:56:00.000-08:00

Our favorite NYC website Forgotten NY takes us on a house tour...with a little help from Prodigal Borough blogger Cynthia von Buhler. Click HERE to go to Forgotten NY to read the article.

Postcard From The Rails: Artist Mary Bullock Travels The Staten Island Railroad

2009-01-27T15:45:00.000-08:00

Excerpt from The Staten Island Advance by Virginia Sherry, December 18, 2008:

Who would ever think to explore all 22 stops along the Staten Island Railway, and transform the experience into a creative project?

Tompkinsville artist Mary Bullock did.

For weeks earlier this year, she rode the railway line, disembarked at every station, and took thousands of photographs of anything within walking distance that struck her discerning eye.

"It was an overwhelming thing - I had to keep reminding myself that I was in New York City," she said.

The culmination of her work is "Postcards from the Rails: Journey Along a Path Apart," which premiered last Sunday at the SHOW Gallery at 156 Stuyvesant Pl. in St. George. The subtitle is recognition that the railway does not connect to any other line, and traveling it "reveals strong local identities along its length."

Ms. Bullock designed 23 postcards - one for each neighborhood along the railway's stops on the North, East and South shores, from St. George to Tottenville, and a wry card that introduces the project. The 22 neighborhood cards feature color photos on one side, and text on the reverse, filled with facts and personal impressions gathered during the eyes-wide-open journeys.

"It was very revealing - I was amazed that no two stops were alike," she told the Advance. She was also surprised that from the platforms of each station there was "not a chain store in sight," with only one exception.

This project is made possible (in part) by a Premier Grant from the Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island, with public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Click on the headline to visit postcardsfromtherails.com

Here is a sampling of what she found along her journey:

GRASMERE

This bucolic lakeside scene is just a few minutes’ walk from the Railway Station. Staten Island has a large number of surprisingly “rural” spots. The owners of the houses around this lake, and another one nearby, are members of a long-standing private community.

Also near the Station are various storefronts and a small shopping center.

OLD TOWN

Southeast of the Railway Station, just one block off busy, commercial, Hylan Boulevard is a low beige brick building. It’s Sunday. Under an American flag, multicolored triangles flutter over a courtyard. In the enclosed patio a sign asks, “Please take off shoes.”

Through the doorway is another world, a Sikh Temple. You are greeted by men in turbans and women in brightly colored saris and veils. They invite you to stay for the ceremony, hear musicians play beautiful ragas, and share a meal.

DONGAN HILLS

The area surrounding the Dongan Hills Station boasts two other barber shops/salons in addition to Frank’s, pictured here. The saying goes: You find the good in church, the bad in prison, and the real in the barber shop.

There is also a corner business with two huge plate glass windows but no external signage. If you peer in you see “Lee’s Tavern” in gold letters over the bar mirror. Some say their thin-crust pizza is the best in the Borough.

ELTINGVILLE

DeRosa & Sons Pastosa Ravoli is a Staten Island institution. The store signs on Richmond Avenue may list every version of pasta known to man. Pasta is made fresh on the premises and they offer a gluten-free product line.

Next door is Joyce’s Tavern, an Irish Pub. Though 64 languages are spoken by Staten Island’s burgeoning ethnic population, Italian-Americans and Irish-Americans remain major groups.

Excerpt from The Staten Island Advance by Virginia Sherry, December 18, 2008:

TRIBUTES

Some of the postcards are tributes to the individualistic small businesses that are clustered around the stations: Sudsy's Bagels in Pleasant Plains; DeRosa & Sons Pastosa Ravioli in Eltingville; Sports Heroes and Legends in Great Kills; the Net Cost Russian Market in Oakwood Heights; the Grant City Tavern, and Frank's Barber Shop in Dongan Hills.

Exploring near the New Dorp station, the artist saw New Dorp Lane as an "upscale shopping street with plenty of glitz and glamour: "Staten Island's Rodeo Drive."

Her postcard for Tompkinsville is a montage of storefront signs along Victory Boulevard, the major commercial artery, with its rich mix of Sri Lankan, African, Polish, Caribbean, and Central American businesses. She found the street "arguably Staten Island's most ethnically diverse shopping area."

Ms. Bullock hopes that her project "will encourage pride and preservation," particularly because "the economic downturn has given us a reprieve from development, a chance perhaps to once more rethink our destiny.

"There is a way of life here on Staten Island that is worth preserving - New York City as it used to be, a city of small neighborhoods, before the obscene real estate boom transformed so many thriving communities into high-priced ghettos and the big chains eviscerated local small businesses," she observed.

INSPIRATION

As a North Shore resident, Ms. Bullock rarely traveled on the railway. Her project fell into place last year, when she went by rail to Dongan Hills for a routine test at Staten Island University Hospital.

For her return trip, she decided to walk to the next station in Old Town and get on the train there. As she approached the station, she smelled "a wonderful spicy aroma," and saw a woman in a colorful sari stirring a large pot on the grounds of a one-story beige brick building. The artist asked if she could buy lunch. A man wearing a turban replied: "You can't buy it, but we'll give you lunch."

The artist removed her shoes, entered "another world" and found herself enjoying the hospitality of a Sikh temple. She discovered that the building was formerly an American Legion hall, with the elaborate logo still prominently intact on the spotlessly clean terrazzo floor.

Stumbling across something as interesting as the temple, in such close proximity to the railway station, got Ms. Bullock thinking about "what I would find near other stops."

DETAILS

Mary Bullock was born in Detroit, Michigan, first lived on Staten Island in 1980-81, and returned permanently seven years ago.

"I'm still an outsider," she told the Advance, affording her an advantage in exploring the 22 stations with "fresh eyes." She was attentive to details that others, more familiar with the territory, might easily overlook.

Richmond Valley station, the 19th stop from St. George, "has a house so close to the tracks the resident could lean out a put cream in a rider's morning coffee," she wrote on the back of this postcard. "There is no accommodation for pedestrians on either side, just 'country' roads with stands of native plants growing aside small streams."

Atlantic station, the 21st stop, has a platform so short that "only the last car in both directions will open," she noted.

The Pleasant Plains postcard includes an observation that the railway "is embedded in neighborhood life all along its length. Young people often meet in the last car of a particular train and get off at an agreed-to station."

Other postcards highlight architecture in Tottenville and Prince's Bay; natural vistas in Bay Terrace and Grasmere, and waterfront views in St. George, Stapleton, and Clifton.

WEB SITE TOO

As part of the project, Ms. Bullock also developed a Web site that includes a gallery of additional photos and succinct, informative commentary. For current and former Islanders, it is well worth a visit to enjoy what the artist calls her "outsider's view" of the 22 communities along the railway. The address is: www.postcardsfromtherails.com.

"When people look at the postcards and the Web site, I hope they realize what we have here," she said. "It's a small town feeling, and it's very precious. I hope that we don't lose it."

Ms. Bullock's project was funded in part by a Premier Grant from the Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island, with public funding from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

Ms. Bullock views the postcards and accompanying Web site as a "work in progress." The project "got me addicted, and I've just started to scratch the surface," she said.

Just in time for last-minute holiday gifts, boxed sets of the 23 postcards are $10 each, available at SHOW Gallery 718-524-0855. They can also be ordered over the Internet: log on to www.paypal.com; click on Send Money; and send payment to info@showhownyc.com.

Virginia Sherry is a freelance reporter. She can be reached through the Advance at shores@siadvance.com.

Eat New York: A Book by Amy Zavatto

2009-01-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

St. George, Staten Island author Amy Zavatto has a new book out. Here is a review by Josh Ozersky from The Feedbag, A Gastronmic Gazette. Click on the title above to go to The Feedbag website.

I always liked the idea of The Hedonist’s Guides, which tend to me more discerning than most guidebooks, and in addition have the added benefit of fitting into your pocket. But I have all new respect for the series now that I’ve been perusing the Eat New York edition, which just came out. Amy Zavatto did this edition, and it’s frisky and well-informed. But the best part is that it draws heavily on an advisory team of chefs, food writers, and various high-profile feinshmeckers, including Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Anthony Bourdain, Jay McInerney, Daniel Boulud, Wylie Dufresne, and yours truly. If you’re a hardcore New York eater (and as a reader of The Feedbag we take for granted that you are) few of the places profiled here will come as a surprise to you. But it’s a nice stocking stuffer for trans-Hudsons friends and relatives, and useful for the pockets and glove compartments of those of us who like books better than Blackberries. Besides, there is a pleasure in perusing these pages, planning future meals and recollecting past ones.

Gorgeous Kreischer Mansion Is Up For Grabs

2008-12-03T03:45:00.000-08:00

Here is some exciting news. Issac Yomtovian, owner of our favorite Staten Island Mansion, plans to donate it to a charitable organization. I do hope that The Staten Island Museum takes it. They need more space for their archives.
From The Staten Island advance:

The owner of the Kreischer Mansion has delayed plans to build an active-adult community on the site in Staten Island’s Charleston neighborhood until the market stabilizes, but is accepting proposals to donate the 19th century brick magnate’s home to a charitable organization.

Turning over the landmark hilltop mansion to charity has been part of Ohio-based developer Isaac Yomtovian’s master plan since he purchased the five-acre estate in 1999 for $1.4 million.

He just expected to do it after breaking ground on Kreischerville, an upscale, maintenance-free condominium development for adults 55 and over.

“I am not waiting until the market is 100 percent recovered to begin construction, but I have to see some stabilizing factor,” Yomtovian said. “Either way, I don’t want to delay the donation process any longer.”

The criteria for interested organizations is two-fold: They must be in good standing with the financial wherewithal to maintain the 10-room home, and their mission must be compatible with the Kreischerville project — such as a museum, art gallery, religious organization or a college.

Proposals will be vetted by Jack Stern, Yomtovian’s attorney, and Ronald Victorio, the architect who oversaw the renovation of the mansion. The proposals will then be brought before elected officials and Community Board 3.

The selected organization will have full use of the property until construction on the housing begins. The mansion will also serve as a clubhouse for Kreischerville residents.

The Kreischer Mansion was built in 1885 on Arthur Kill Road by wealthy brick manufacturer Balthasar Kreischer for his son, Charles. It was one of two identical homes overlooking a neighborhood that was then called Kreisherville. The second house, built for his son, Edward, was demolished.

The existing property was landmarked in 1968.

In 1997, the home became the site of a failed Victorian restaurant.

It fell into disrepair until Yomtovian purchased the property with the vision of creating the “Kreischer Senior Corridor” — several private pay senior communities modeled on baby boomer developments built in other states.

Yomtovian won several difficult approvals from the Landmarks Preservation Commission and City Planning to construct his housing project, a four-story, L-shaped building with between 124 and 130 units, an underground heating garage, pool, fitness center and some commercial office space.

More recently, the mansion made headlines as the scene of a grisly murder of a Bonanno crime family associate. The Bonanno hitman found guilty of murder last month was a caretaker hired by Yomtovian.

Despite the difficulties he faced since purchasing the property, Yomtovian is looking forward.

Since word has gotten out that he has decided to go ahead with donating the mansion, he has received several phone inquiries from interested organizations. He said he also contacted the Staten Island Institute for Arts and Sciences — one of the condominium project’s earliest boosters — which has diaries, business records, photographs and family portraits of the Kreischer family.

But Yomtovian wants to make it an open process.

“I feel it’s not fair if we don’t give a chance to every charitable organization who meets the qualifications,” he said.

Brief proposals outlining an organization’s mission, how they intend to use the property, how they will maintain it and how they are compatible with the Kreischerville project can be sent to Jack Stern at 1189 Forest Ave., Staten Island, N.Y., 10310; or Ronald Victorio, 694 Forest Ave., Staten Island, N.Y., 10310.

Howard Avenue Mansion To Become Italian Cultural Center

2008-11-24T09:02:00.000-08:00

Photo by Robin George, The Staten Island Advance
Staten Island needs more people like Gina Biancardi-Rammairone. Ms. Biancardi-Rammairone and her husband, Luciano, purchased the glorious Great Gatsby-like mansion and surrounding land on Howard Avenue and plan to make it into an Italian Cultural Center. In a Staten Island Advance article (click on the headline above to read the full story) Ms. Biancardi-Rammairone states that she frequently drove by the mansion and always admired it. We here at Prodigal Borough can relate to that. Our three Staten Island favorite mansions are Kreischer Mansion, The Pavilion, and this Howard Avenue home. (The Pavilion is still available for sale and would also make a great cultural center or museum).

"We're not going to live here," explained Mrs. Rammairone, who grew up in The Bronx and holds a master's degree in business administration from New York University. "I want to turn it into a not-for-profit. I want it to be a place about Italian history and culture, art and fashion, with classes in cooking and wine tasting. Make it a tourist destination. My life-long passion has been to educate young people about the positive aspects of being Italian. Sometimes there seems to be a disconnect, with people identifying being Italian with 'The Sopranos.' That's a negative stereotype. My dream is a big dream, a grand vision, but I feel the Staten Island community will embrace it."

WE do embrace it. Bring it on.

CITYTropics: Paintings by Mary Bullock

2008-11-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

November 14 - December 19, 2008

Opening Friday, November 14, 6-10pm
Gallery Talk Sunday, November 16, 3-5pm

This exhibition is made possible (in part) by a Premier Grant from the Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island, with public funding from the New York State Council on the Arts.

SHOW Gallery Studio and Theater
156 Stuyvesant Place
Staten Island, NY 10301
across from Borough Hall and up the Borough Hall stairs from the Staten Island Ferry

Hours of Operation:
Tues–Sat 11 am–7 pm

718-524-0855

Also on exhibit (see the post below for more information):

HYPERBOLIC CROCHET CORAL REEF

BEYOND: PHOTOS BY MICHAEL BENSON

SEA EARTH SKY at SHOW

2008-11-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef: Sept. 27-Dec. 20, 2008
Coral reefs the world over are dying out at a rate faster than rainforests. In addition to global warming and pollutants, marine life is threatened by a tsunami of plastic that is flooding into our oceans. The handmade reefs on display here are a wooly testimony to the disappearing wonder of actual reefs that now engages women around the globe. The project also celebrates the strange hyperbolic geometry of the ocean realm, which is reflected in the crochet techniques.

This unique work consists of a collossal reef created by hundreds of artists from New York and another by artists from Chicago. The assembled work is continually growing and evolving since it moved to SHOW from the World Financial Center in Manhattan. Each of the hundreds of pieces is a work of beauty in itself created by a different artist. Their placement in this particular reef formation creates a spectacular riot of form and color that can be appreciated in awe from a distance, or approached to reveal more and different forms from a more microscopic view.

SHOW'S windows contain the Chicago Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, all by Chicago area artists, and the mind-boggling seascape of yarn and plastic inside is the New York Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, among whose 100+ creators are over 30 Staten Islanders. Unlike the dwindling coral reefs under the seas, the source of our food chain, the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef is constantly growing. In displaying it we hope, as the artists did in creating it, to bring attention to the fact that as with all that strikes us in nature, its physical beauty is a call to its protection.

2008 is the International Year of the Reef.

Created by Margaret Wertheim and Christine Wertheim, with hundreds of contributing artists.
Presented in association with the New York Institute for the Humanities and the Steinhardt School at NYU.

BEYOND: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes by Michael Benson: Sept. 27 – Dec. 20, 2008
Possibly the most expensive pictures ever created, and the most mind-expanding. Michael Benson has taken photographs of planets, their moons and other parts of our solar system shot by robots on spacecraft over an area of 3 billion miles, and created clear and spectacular images of vistas never seen by human eyes. Through complex digital manipulation, and in some cases, creation of mosaics from many smaller images, he shows us the fascinating corners of "space" that people have dreamed of seeing since they could look up. They turn out to be more spectacular than we could have imagined.

Sur Terre: Photos by Herve d'Eglise: Sept. 27 – Nov. 14, 2008
Swiss-born photographer Hervé d’Eglise, who lives in Belgium, has taken photographs of earth formations in Normandie that, in closeup, could be on other planets. "I’ve always loved traveling and finding myself in places that I imagine being the first to discover. Whether it’s a natural cave or an abandoned factory, no one has seen them before me! I shoot my photographs in this spirit." Though the photos are taken in well-travelled area of Europe, the unusual corners found and portrayed by d’Eglise are not discernible as France, or even Earth. Patterns of nature, in all their fascinating complexity and simplicity, are visible here on the land to anyone who will visit Normandie, or explore their backyard, and the resulting photographs look as exotic as if d'Eglise were, as he imagines, the first person ever to see them. The natural patterns under the seas of Earth's surviving coral reefs, are seen by those with the luxury of scuba diving in faraway seas, and are imagined in the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, and, as seen in Michael Benson’s images made with the help of a robot's eye, in many ways as “exotic” as scapes of other planets and in space.

SHOW Gallery Studio and Theater

156 Stuyvesant Place
Staten Island, NY 10301
across from Borough Hall and up the Borough Hall stairs from the Staten Island Ferry

Hours of Operation:
Tues–Sat 11 am–7 pm

718-524-0855

Prodigal House Pick: The Parsonage, $825,000

2008-10-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

This large, stately Arts and Craft style home is located in the heart of the Stapleton Heights Preservation District. The picturesque home was built in 1922 as a church parsonage. This property features thirteen rooms, a third of an acre yard, a separate garage, and a water view. The beautiful, gothic style Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church is across the street from the home.

In 1907, the German Evangelical Lutheran Church called as its pastor the Rev. Dr. Frederic Sutter (1876-1971). Under his leadership, the church's membership grew rapidly and the need for a new building became apparent. In 1909, the church used a recent bequest from Charles Zentgraf, one of the founders of the DeJonge paper works, to purchase additional lots on St. Paul's Avenue. By 1913, work was begun on a new neo-Gothic church and parish house that were designed by the architectural firm of Upjohn & Conable...

The parsonage, designed by architect Henry G. Otto and built in 1922, is located across the street at 332 St. Paul's Avenue. The church was renamed Trinity Lutheran Church in 1928 to distinguish it from other German Lutheran churches on Staten Island and perhaps to acknowledge that an English-speaking generation was making up an increasing part of its membership. At the time it had the largest Protestant congregation on Staten Island. The church's interior was renovated in 1941-42 by the architectural form Cherry & Matz. The church continued to hold German language services until 1975. Reverend Frederic Sutter, who served as the church's pastor from 1907 to 1964, played an instrumental role in bringing Wagner College to Staten Island from Rochester, New York. His son, the Rev. Dr. Carl J. Sutter, succeeded him as pastor in 1964 and was responsible for building the school next door...

Henry G. Otto's finest house of the period, the parsonage of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church at 332 St. Paul's Avenue, was built in 1922. Designed in the Arts & Crafts style, this two-and-one-half-story building is constructed of terra-cotta blocks faced with stucco with brick accents and is capped by a complex slate-covered hipped-and-gabled roof with wide
overhanging bracketed eaves. The asymmetrically composed facades feature a variety of arched and trabeated window openings. Half-timbered gables, wrought-iron balconies on brackets, paneled and louvered wood shutters, copper gutters, leaders, and flashing contribute to the picturesque effect.

Click on the headline to go to the real estate listing. MLS #: 1042836. Contact: Sari Kingsley Real Estate, Ltd. Phone: (718) 667-1800

Hip Staten Island Spots For The Under Seven Set

2008-08-09T22:08:00.000-07:00

By Winsome Beatrice Jacobs, Jack Gallo and Jonathan Rice. Illustrations by Uma, Matt, Caitlin, and Jill.

“My Name is Winsome. I am seven years old. I live in the Livingston neighborhood of Staten Island now, which is great because I like gardens and going to Walker Park where they have sliding boards. I am learning to ride my bike around the park, which is a big square. For Halloween we have a big spooky parade and everyone dresses up and goes to the Haunted House. I scream and scream but eat treats at the end. I like living here because it is quiet and pretty. I am an artist like my mom, and we do nature walks to get ideas. I like to sit on my front steps and watch nature. Last year there was a bird nest in the tree and I peeked at it every day. What I want to do is camp out in a tent. My mom might say o.k. I think camp time is the best because I go to Goodhue Center and have fun. I visit the museums and the zoo too. My brother and I also walk to play baseball at Snug Harbor. I may want to be a pop star, so I like to go the St. George Theatre and The Unitarian Church where there are shows and music.” - Winsome Beatrice Jacobs (Dictated to her mom, Diane Matyas)

Walker Park and The Halloween Costume Parade: Delafield Place and Davis Avenue.
Nature Walks: The Staten Island Museum, offers Weekend Ecology Walks at Staten Island Parks. www.statenislandmuseum.org
Goodhue Center: 304 Prospect Avenue, (718) 447-2630, www.childrensaidsociety.org/goodhue
The Staten Island Museum: 75 Stuyvesant Place, (718) 727-1135, www.statenislandmuseum.org
The Staten Island Zoo: 614 Broadway, (718) 442-3100, www.statenislandzoo.org
Snug Harbor Cultural Center: 1000 Richmond Terrace, (718) 448-2500, www.snug-harbor.org
St. George Theater: 35 Hyatt Street, (718) 442-2900, www.stgeorgetheatre.com
The Unitarian Church: 312 Fillmore Street, (718) 447-2204, www.unitarianchurchofstatenisland.org

“My name is Jack Gallo and I am five years old. I live in St. George, Staten Island. Staten Island is fun and I love to go to places in Staten Island. One of my favorite things to do is ride my bike at the bike path at Silver Lake Park on the weekends. My mom rides her bike with me, and we just got a new bike for daddy so he can ride too. I love to go to playgrounds - and my favorite playground is Skyline, except for the monkey bars because they hurt my hands. But soon I'll be tall enough to jump up to them myself. We like to go swimming at Faber Pool because they serve free lunch, and the water is warm. It's right on the harbor too, so you can watch the enormous steamships going back and forth. Snug Harbor is cool to go to because there are tunnels under the trees and you can run around in circles and catch each other in the flower gardens. There is a secret maze and castle that is really fun to get lost in and you can sit on benches and have lunch when you are hot and tired from running.” – Jack Gallo (Dictated to his mom, Martha Gallo)

Silver Lake Park: Forest Avenue and Victory Boulevard
Skyline Playground: Arnold Street & Prospect Ave (Between Harvard Avenue & Clyde Place)
Faber Swimming Pool: 2175 Richmond Terrace, (718) 816-5259
Snug Harbor Cultural Center: 1000 Richmond Terrace, (718) 448-2500, www.snug-harbor.org

“Hi, my name is Jonathan and I live in St. George, Staten Island. I love my neighborhood because I can walk with my mommy to Lt. Lia Playground and play with lots of other toddlers. We can also walk to see the colorful fish tanks in the ferry terminal. In the summer we go to the baseball games at our minor league stadium next door to the ferry. On Saturdays we go to the Children's Museum in Snug Harbor. There I can wear a fireman's hat and sit in the full size fire-truck. The open play area is fun and educational and so are the toddler classes. My mom loves the gardens of Snug Harbor where I can run around the tree peonies and the butterfly garden. We recently started going to the boardwalk along Midland Beach where my mom pushes me in the jogging stroller and I can watch the people fish off of the fishing pier. There are so many parks to visit. In the summer, we are planning to go to Heron Park in Tottenville to learn about nature. In May we are go to the season opening of the Carousel at Willoughbrook Park within The Staten Island Greenbelt. I can't wait to ride one of the 52 hand crafted horses and animals on the carousel. Summer is fun in Staten Island. Hope to see you there!” – Jonathan Rice (Dictated to his mom, Tina Rice)

Lt. Lia Playground: Wall Street, St. Marks Place and Belmont Place
The Staten Island Ferry: 1 Bay Street, (718) 876-8441, www.siferry.com
The Staten Island Yankees Baseball Stadium: 75 Richmond Terrace, (718) 273-0187, www.siyanks.com
The Staten Island Children’s Museum (at Snug Harbor): 1000 Richmond Terrace, (718) 273-2060, statenislandkids.org
The Staten Island Botanical Garden (at Snug Harbor): 1000 Richmond Terrace, (718) 273-8200
South Beach and Midland Beach, Boardwalk and Fishing Pier: Father Capadanno Boulevard and Sand Lane, (718) 816-6804, www.statenislandusa.com/pages/south_midland.html
Blue Heron Park Nature Center: 222 Poillon Avenue, (718) 967-3542, www.preserve2.org
The Carousel at Willoughbrook Park: Eton Place off Richmond Avenue (718) 667-2165, www.sigreenbelt.org/About/Carousel/Aboutcarousel.htm
The Greenbelt Nature Center: 700 Rockland Avenue (at the intersection with Brielle Avenue), (718) 351-3450

Picture credits:
A Bird’s Home by Uma
Creepy House by Matt
Bird Nest House by Caitlin
Yellow House by Jill

NY1 News Reporter Shawna Ryan's NYC Loves...Staten Island Web Vlog Posts

2008-07-14T21:47:00.000-07:00

Shawna Ryan, a NY1 News reporter has a personal web vlog called NYC Loves... and this week she chose Staten Island. She informally reports on the new SHOW gallery and Art By The Ferry in an utterly charming style that would never be allowed on NY1.
Check it out here:

And here is another informal web vlog about Art By The Ferry:

ART BY THE FERRY

2008-05-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

Tsunami by Lazarus Nazario
The new SHOW gallery sign will be officially illuminated on Friday night, June 13th before Art By The Ferry begins.
Saturday, June 14th, Sunday June15th, and Saturday, June 21st, from 11AM and 6PM

Enjoy art, music and performances against the backdrop of the NYC skyline in 15,000 sq. ft. of indoor exhibition and performance space and outdoors at The Lighthouse Museum Esplanade adjacent to the Ferry and venues from Fishs Eddy to the Staten Island Museum garden.

Over 125 visual artists will show at Fishs Eddy, 120 Stuyvesant Place and SHOW Gallery; three artists in restaurants ("Enoteca," "Cargo Café" and "Besso"); and five artists at the "Everything Goes Café." Over 100 musicians will be playing throughout the Festival in front of various restaurants, on Bay St. and in venues near the Greenmarket and the Staten Island Museum. Spoken word performances will be at the St. George Theater and the St. George library. The Festival will also include: Native American Dance, Drum and Storytelling; break dancers; a puppet workshop; a glass studio tour; African dancers; Ballroom dancers; Day De Dada street performers; hand made crafts and book sale; Greenmarket both Saturdays and nine restaurants. Cultural guides will hand out information on both sides of the Ferry as Bagpipers entice travelers off the Ferry.

SHOW will feature artwork by Lazarus Nazario and Cynthia von Buhler.

Workshops for the arts community will be run by COAHSI at 120 Stuyvesant. Times will be posted on the web site.

Sponsors: Staten Island Cultural Community, Staten Island Council on the Arts and Humanities, Art Lab, St. George Civic Association, Casandra Realty, Gateway Realty, SHOW Gallery.

Click on the headline to visit the Art By The Ferry website.

New Vision For The St. George Waterfront

2008-04-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

From The Staten Island Advance:

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
By PHIL HELSEL
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A sweeping new vision for the St. George waterfront that includes four 18-story apartment towers and townhouses where a parking lot now sits was unveiled at a high-powered economic development meeting in Sea View last night.

It will be years before the concept for the residential plan, dubbed the St. George Waterfront project, and a retail counterpart eyed for another nearby, approaches reality -- if ever.

Still, there was plenty of enthusiasm at the Staten Island Economic Development Corp.'s "pre-conference" held last night at the Joan and Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center in Sea View.

"It's like driving toward a mountain; it doesn't seem to get any closer but if you keep driving toward it you'll get there," said R. Randy Lee, SIEDC chairman.

Last night was the first public showing of a development plan for the parking lots straddling the Richmond County Bank Ballpark, which a consultant called typical of the massive investment needed to jump-start the whole area.

On the parking lot to the west of the ballpark, urban planner Tom Jost envisions four 18-story apartment towers lining Richmond Terrace, followed by 12-, 8- and 6-story towers and townhouses, and ending with a redeveloped waterfront park, all above an underground parking garage.

Where the parking lot between the ballpark and the Ferry now lies, the concept calls for a pedestrian-centered shopping and retail area, anchored by an IMAX theater, an urban grocery store like a Whole Foods Market, and restaurants with a waterfront promenade.

"At this point we're still in development; you need to have a plan to show to the city and to get developers interested," said Jost, director of urban planning for the consulting group ARUP. "These two sites are the best economic development sites on Staten Island."

Yesterday was what organizers called "a teaser," and more details on the St. George concept and other development projects are expected to be unveiled at the development corporation's 10th annual SI Conference 2008, slated for the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield, on Tuesday.

The SIEDC also threw its full support behind other business and retail projects already under way all over the Island.

They include:

The Waterfront Commons, a 1.3 million-square-foot, open-air retail and entertainment center to be built on the Tottenville waterfront directly south of the Outerbridge Crossing. Permits are still pending but the developer hopes to have it finished by 2010.

Prodigal House Pick: $1,700,000

2008-04-23T17:45:00.000-07:00

Our favorite St. George, Staten Island waterfront mansion is for sale. It would make a glorious art gallery, museum, restaurant, catering hall, bed and breakfast, charter school, or a really incredible home. The views are to die for and you are practically across the street from the ferry terminal. We had heard that this place was being offered for much less so we suppose they will look at all reasonable offers. This building is landmarked so thankfully it is protected from the wrecking ball and greedy investors who wish to build a high-rise in its place. It has a large parking lot which would be great for any of the businesses listed above.
CONTACT: Robert Defalco Realty (click on the headline above to go to their website), MLS #: 1044007, Giacomo Montuori, 718-987-7900 X121, or cell 347-247-5785.

Downtown Drive-In Movies

2008-04-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

For the past four years, the Downtown Staten Island Council (DSIC) has hosted its annual community event The Downtown Drive-In Movies. Beginning May 2, 2008, and running for four consecutive weekends, the "Downtown Drive-In Movies" will be held in the parking lot of the Richmond County Bank Ballpark, and will feature a selection of nine of the most popular movies in American cinematic history.

The intent of the Downtown Staten Island Drive-In Movies is to create an event the whole family can enjoy, while simultaneously exposing islanders and off-islanders to the downtown Staten Island area. Ticket prices are kept at a modest amount of $25 per car to encourage families and couples to spend a night out without worrying about the affordability. In 2007, The Downtown Drive-In Movies was a huge success, drawing over 7,500 attendees.

National Grid, (formerly known as KeySpan Energy Services) and NYS Senator Diane Savino are the event's title sponsors. Councilman Domenic Recchia, Assemblyman Matt Titone, Bay Harbor Motors and Muss Development are also major participating sponsors for the event.

"While our event is primarily seen as entertainment, The Downtown Drive-In Movies seeks to change the perceptions of our district and highlight our community's uniqueness" explains DSIC's executive director, Kamillah Hanks. "It gives our local businesses an opportunity to benefit from the high volume of people that come down to the area to attend our event. The younger generation are used to the multiplex, digital sound and stadium seating, but you still get the folks who love drive-in experience!" Hanks said.

For more information, visit the Downtown Staten Island Council website by clicking on the headline above.

2008 DRIVE-IN MOVIE PROGRAM
May 2: E.T. The Extra Terrestrial 8:30 pm
May 3: Transformers 8:30 pm
May 9: Shrek the Third 8:30 pm
May 10: Titanic 8:30 pm
May 16: Grease 8:30 pm
May 17:* Young Frankenstein 8:30 pm/Rocky Horror Picture Show - 12:00 am
May 23: Wizard of Oz 8:30 pm
May 24: Dreamgirls 8:30 pm
*Double Feature

Fee: $25 per car

Downtown Staten Island Urban Design Plan Released

2008-04-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

I was able to take a sneak peek at this exciting plan before it was released. It is great to see all my friends and neighbors working to make the North Shore a better place to live and work. Tevah Platts's article from The Staten Island Advance explains the details of the plan below. She writes "creative suggestions such as a kayaking boathouse (next to Joseph Lyons Park, Tompkinsville), a bike-sharing program and an outdoor ice-skating rink (near the St. George ballpark) are scattered throughout the proposal like hidden candy." Let's find the candy!

A new beginning for the North Shore
The Staten Island Advance
Sunday April 06, 2008, 7:21 PM

A new plan for the redevelopment of Staten Island's North Shore focuses on an energized arts scene, tall condo buildings, architectural restorations and an unbroken retail corridor along the waterfront.

This latest proposal from the Downtown Staten Island Council is the brainchild of St. George architect Pablo Vengoechea, a team of urban planners and a six-member local advisory committee.
It suggests concentrating revitalization efforts within four areas anchored by Bay Street and Richmond Terrace along the shoreline, close to existing rail stations in St. George, Tompkinsville, Stapleton and Clifton.

The 64-page Downtown Staten Island Urban Design Plan outlines an ambitious vision for a roughly 2-mile stretch of the North Shore.

The plan includes opportunities for housing, retail and arts spaces; new parks and civic plazas; transportation improvements, including a downtown trolley; new and widened streets with improved signage; incentives for restoring old buildings and fostering local arts and culture; high-rises clustered to maintain waterfront access and area views; environmentally friendly building requirements, and aesthetic suggestions that could brighten some the area's uglier corners.

"I think this is a really great beginning toward taking ownership of our neighborhood," said Kamillah Hanks, executive director of the Downtown Council. "We have to get people excited about what the downtown area could be."

Other proposals, old and new, have already charted the area's untapped potential; the Urban Design Plan represents just one vision of the area's future. But Ms. Hanks contends this proposal is significant and unique in its comprehensive detail, its vision of neighborhood continuity, and usefulness as a resource to developers and neighborhood stakeholders she believes should have first say in their own city's future.

While rumors that the North Shore is poised for renewal are decades old, the winds of change have been blowing harder as of late -- and from so many directions, they can be difficult to assess. Along with projects planned, completed or under way-- including the proposed development of the Stapleton home port, new initiatives are afoot, including a not-yet-public rezoning plan for St. George and Tompkinsville in the works at City Planning; a forthcoming waterfront study by the American Institute of Architects and the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, and capital projects from the Staten Island Economic Development Corp. (SIEDC) to be introduced at its SI Conference on April 22.

Thus far, this Urban Design Plan is one of the more thorough visions put forward.

As Downtown Council chairman Michael Behar said at the members-only unveiling of the plan at the Staaten, West Brighton, project leaders seized on the opportunity to create a cohesive, ambitious blueprint they hope will "leave a legacy for our children."

Members of the Council ratified the plan and its definition of North Shore flaws that stand to be rectified.

"Much more work needs to be done," according to the proposal. "Tourists still do not leave the ferry terminal nor can they easily find local attractions; the area still has too many sectors that are neglected and deteriorated; the SIR stations are unattractive and unsafe; the existing zoning is inadequate to the task of contributing the to rebirth of the area; ... the pedestrian experience is marred by unappealing streetscapes and public places, and cultural activity needs to be made a center piece of this revival."

Creative suggestions such as a kayaking boathouse (next to Joseph Lyons Park, Tompkinsville), a bike-sharing program and an outdoor ice-skating rink (near the St. George ballpark) are scattered throughout the proposal like hidden candy.

More likely to prove contentious are designs for buildings of unprecedented height on Staten Island -- mixed-use structures on which neighbors could pin hopes for improved retail along with fears of blocked views, crowded schools or insufficient parking.

In each district, the planners aimed to strike a balance between preserving historic character while fostering density to achieve the critical mass needed to stimulate local economies.

"Skyscrapers and a bustling metropolis won't be created overnight," said Dan Marotta, real estate attorney and chair of the design plan advisory committee, "but the area is ready to pop."

In addition to Marotta, five members of the plan's advisory committee contributed ideas and opinions about how the coming "pop" could happen. They were James Prendamano of Casandra Properties; architect Kevin Rice; entrepreneur Kevin Barry, and artist-slash-community-leaders Theo Dorian and Cynthia Mailman.

The proposal's designation of each neighborhood as a cultural or arts district underlines what could be an auspicious marriage of real estate interests with the North Shore's art scene. As the designers point out, linking community development to nourishing artists and cultural institutions has been fruitful in revitalizing other urban centers, including Baltimore, Providence, Pittsburgh and Tucson.

In addition to providing housing and work spaces for artists, the Urban Plan calls for the installation of a Staten Island Museum of Contemporary Art (SIMOCA) in St. George, a new High School of Art and Design and a multimedia center for the arts in an area of Clifton they would dub the Alice Austen Cultural District.

Not included in the proposal are zoning specifics and funding sources, but the authors sought to put forward a vision that might be used and elaborated by policy makers in the future.

In conjunction with the plan, the Council will launch an Adopt-a-Town-Center initiative next year that will seek support from civic and business leaders to bring action to the proposal's big ideas. Plans to enact a streetscape improvement initiative are already under way, said Marotta, and the Council is seeking political partnerships to begin improvements at and around the Ferry.

"Once you've shown the pubic that there is something coming, and you've shown developers the reasoning behind it, it's going to be a tremendous catalyst," said Marotta.

---- Tevah Platt

Long Live The Ferry's Fish Tanks...and Fish

2008-03-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

I love the new fish tanks at the ferry. I can see why people are missing their boats (see the article below). The fish are mesmerizing. The "Lookdown Fish" appear to be staring at you. They are my favorite fish in the tank. There has been some complaining about the money spent but if you watch the normally grumpy and hurried people stop, stare and smile you will realize that they are worth every penny. They are making people happy. I have posted a few of my cell phone pictures here.- CvB

From The Staten Island Advance
Sunday March 16, 2008, 8:49 PM
Tales from Staten Island's premiere fish tanks by Maura Yates

Two complaints have been filed so far against the two saltwater fish tanks installed last month in the St. George Ferry Terminal.

But though some have derided Borough President James Molinaro's $750,000 capital expenditure as a "boondoggle," the latest remarks weren't what you might think.

Instead, two ferry riders expressed their annoyance that they missed their ride because they were too busy admiring the fish and didn't hear the announcements the boat was boarding.

And, Molinaro said, fish aficionados will be getting even more distractions when four computers are installed at the tanks to aid in species identification. The units are expected to be up and running by the end of April.

But while countless kids, and some adults, have pressed their faces up to the glass looking for "Nemo," other more morose tank observers have launched a "death watch," to document the unfortunate ends for the aquarium inhabitants.

The first victim, a silver and alienlike Lookdown Fish, was spotted just moments after the ceremonial unveiling late last month. The fish's body, largely obscured by a piece of plastic coral, had already provided lunch for its tankmates.

As many as three others have since gone belly up, amounting to a one percent loss among the total population of 400 fish divided between the two tanks.

A number that low for tanks that large with water chemistry that delicate is "unheard of," said Brett Raymer of Acrylic Tank Manufacturing, the Las Vegas-based company that custom-designed the terminal aquariums.

And there have been false alarms, Molinaro said.

"One fish lays on its side and looks like he's dead, but he's not really dead."

Twice when tank maintenance crews went over with a net, the fish got a second wind, he said.

And for those who worry that such an up-close view of death might traumatize children, don't forget, as any kid who has seen "The Lion King" can tell you, it's all about the circle of life.

"Even people die," Molinaro said. "What can you do?"

"You're going to have casualties," Raymer said. "The key is having as few as possible."

To keep the fish healthy, they are placed in quarantine tanks in the state-of-the-art pump room built below the terminal floor. Once the fish appear to have no signs of illness and are eating vigorously, they are gradually introduced into the tanks in the waiting room.

Fish can die from old age, of course, but stress and poor water condition are also factors that can cause an untimely demise. To prevent fish loss, ATM employees are on duty at the terminal every day to monitor the health of the fish, and ensure the different species are eating, but are not overfed.

And since each fish was caught in the seas of the Caribbean, instead of hatched in a tank "you can never really tell how old the fish is." But, Raymer said, he's seen young fish live as long as 10 years, while the average life expectancy of an aquarium fish is usually between two and five.

When a fish goes belly-up, the workers wait until nighttime, when the waiting room empties, to scoop the body out with a net, so as to avoid creating a spectacle and upsetting children. "You're not just going to bust out a ladder and get that fish out as the ferry's coming in," Raymer said.

Saltwater fish are particularly difficult to breed in captivity, requiring replacements to be caught in the wild. There is room to store back-up fish in the pump room to replace the stock as fish die off.

The Artists Are Coming: NBC News Interviews Staten Island Artists

2008-03-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

Theo Dorian and I (Cynthia von Buhler) were interviewed by NBC's Gabe Pressman about being artists on Staten Island and how more artists are finding out that Staten Island is a unique place to live and work. Theo, a photographer, came awhile back, and I am a painter/sculptor who arrived more recently. In this short clip Theo and I talk about SHOW, an art space near the ferry terminal that we are opening soon. A couple of my paintings will be featured in the clip. Gallery 6 and Staten Island painter Jenny Tango were also featured and interviewed. This clip focused on the artists who were the first to come and have been here for a long time and how they paved the way for the new crop of younger artists and galleries.

The clip aired on the March 18th 11PM news, Channel 4 (Tri-state area: NY, CT, NJ). It will also appear on some digital affiliates.

Other recent press about artists coming to Staten Island can be found in the following posts on this site. You can find them using the "Search Prodigal Borough" box to the right:

Bohemia by the Bay: New York Times Feature
Hipsters on Staten Island: A New York Times video feature
Staten Island Seeks Artists: NY1 News
House call, Animal Kingdom: Time Out New York
A Quest for a Castle, New York Times slideshow feature
Looking for a House and a Turret, The New York Times

The Ferry Goes Green

2008-02-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

I'm really happy to hear of this news (see The Daily News article below). I like to sit at the back of the ferry and the diesel occasionally bothers me. I have also been informed that the Staten island ferry terminal fish tanks are now up and running. I'll try to get a photograph for Prodigal Borough soon. --CvB

Staten Island ferries to use clean fuel
BY FRANK LOMBARDI
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU
Monday, February 18th 2008, 4:00 AM

Even the orange boats of the Staten Island ferry are going "green."

And just to make sure they do, the City Council has passed a bill mandating that the city-run ferries - which make some 33,000 trips yearly between Staten Island and Manhattan - switch to less-polluting, ultralow-sulfur diesel fuel by July 1.
The bill, which is expected to be signed into law soon by Mayor Bloomberg, also requires the Staten Island ferry to make other environmentally friendly upgrades in coming years.

Total costs of the required improvements have been estimated at $15.4 million, of which $3.8million would come out of the city treasury. The rest is to be funded by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as part of its obligation to do environmental mitigation work.

Also, because ultralow-sulfur diesel fuel is more costly than regular marine diesel, officials estimate the cleaner fuel will add $249,400 more a year to the ferries' fuel costs.

The greening of the Staten Island ferry is long overdue, according to Councilman Alan Gerson, a Democrat whose lower Manhattan district includes the Whitehall Ferry Terminal, where the ferries dock before their 5.2-mile trip to the St. George Terminal on Staten Island.

"The Staten Island ferry has been one of our city's worst polluters," Gerson said Wednesday before the Council voted 50-0 for the bill.

"With this bill, gone will be the odors, and more importantly gone will be the poisons which got into our lungs, both while we're on the ferry and when we're on land," Gerson added.

The bill, which does not apply to private ferry services, also requires the Staten Island ferry to meet other current and future federal anti-pollution standards for marine vessels - either by installing diesel oxidation catalysts on ferry exhausts, making engine upgrades or buying new boats - which can cost upward of $40 million each. A deadline schedule is in the bill.
Staten Island ferry officials said they were already well underway in making such upgrades. They said none of their current eight boats are in immediate danger of having to be mothballed because of the mandates.

That includes the John F. Kennedy, the granddaddy of the Staten Island ferry fleet, which went into service in 1965. But any ferry older than 30 years will have to be scrapped if it doesn't meet tougher federal standards by 2011.

The Kennedy began using ultralow-sulfur diesel in mid-2007, and the remaining boats are expected to be in compliance by the July 1 deadline.

The Staten Island Commute

2008-01-22T14:19:00.000-08:00

The New York Times has a new column for the month of January called New Stops. It features New York City commutes and is written by Billie Cohen. To read the one on about the ferry commute go HERE. Prodigal Borough also featured two of our own personal Staten Island to Manhattan commutes with pictures and time stamps. To see the Staten Island to West Village commute go HERE. To see the Staten Island to Times Square commute go HERE.

Staten Island Wonderland

2008-01-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

Photograph courtesy of Forgotten NY
Forgotten NY features fantastic tours of little-known New York City neighborhoods. Our friend Kevin Walsh, at Forgotten NY, has another Staten Island post up on his site. This time he is featuring Hamilton Park. Click "HERE" for the article and pictures.

Did you know that we found Staten Island through his site? I had never been to Staten Island before I read about it on Forgotten NY about three years ago. We almost bought a building we saw on his site, in Vinegar Hill, but the foundation was badly eaten by termites. So, we methodically visited every Forgotten NY neighborhood before deciding that St. George was the one for us.

The Prodigal Borough was almost named The Forgotten Borough (if you type in www.forgottenborough.com you arrive at our site) but we decided that the name was too similar to Kevin's site name. But you never know, we might still use it someday or maybe we should share it and make a page that features all of Kevin's Staten Island Forgotten NY tours. Get busy Kevin! Kevin grew up on Staten Island. Buy Kevin's book, Forgotten NY "HERE. "

Please Move To Tompkinsville: Another North Shore Neighborhood in the Press

2008-01-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

At the Everything Goes Bookstore and Cafe, in Tompkinsville, the performers Christoph and Trish sing their song "Please Move To Tompkinsville"
Excerpt from The New York Times
By Carole Braden
Published: December 9, 2007
For the full article and pictures click on the headline above.

During the morning rush, commuters from the rest of Staten Island, bound for offices in Manhattan and elsewhere, exit the Staten Island Railway at Tompkinsville, a stop before the ferry terminal in St. George, and head out to the street in droves.

It takes a local resident like James Boivin to know that these people aren’t alighting here out of any particular wish to visit the neighborhood, but to duck Staten Island’s sole bank of MetroCard turnstiles at the ferry stop. “They avoid the fare by getting off at Tompkinsville,” said Mr. Boivin, “and walking the rest of the way to the ferry terminal.”

Deirdre Parker, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, explained that because a majority of Staten Island Railway riders are commuters to Manhattan and beyond, the authority had decided against the expense of installing turnstiles anywhere else along the line. Thus Tompkinsville, which is wedged between the better-established North Shore neighborhoods of St. George and Stapleton, has become the hop-off point for fare dodgers who get on at points south.

Mr. Boivin, a community activist who works as a freelance garden designer and real estate broker, has lived in the area for more than 20 years. He moved into his current home in Tompkinsville in 1999 after a stint in Europe, and runs a bed-and-breakfast out of his two-floor rental in a 1910 brownstone on Montgomery Avenue, for which he originally paid $500 a month (he would not reveal his current rent). He described the area as one of the most “robust, diverse” ones in the city, pointing to the mix in the local school playgrounds as proof. (School data cite a student population speaking 37 languages.)

Census figures from 2000 show a general neighborhood population of about 4,300, roughly 60 percent nonwhite, though more recent estimates suggest the numbers have climbed. Boroughwide, the overall population has jumped 7 percent since 2000, while the minority population has increased 25 percent.

The accurate figure for Tompkinsville, of course, depends on pinning down exact neighborhood boundaries, which proves an elusive task. The heart of the community, about a quarter-mile square and surrounding a vest-pocket triangle called Tompkinsville Park, is not at issue. It spans from New York Harbor on the east to St. Paul’s Avenue on the west, from Victory Boulevard to the north to Grant Street on the south.

It’s once you wander farther that the debates begin about this area named for an early 19th-century state governor, Daniel D. Tompkins. Many residents declare it larger, stretching it north to Benziger Avenue and beyond (an area that others consider part of St. George), or south to surround Clinton and Baltic Streets (more often claimed by Stapleton). Many also maintain that Tompkinsville encompasses Ward Hill, a grander area bound by St. Paul’s and Cebra Avenues and Victory Boulevard.

“You can’t be wrong” when it comes to boundaries on Staten Island, said Thomas W. Matteo, the borough historian — leaving unstated the obvious corollary that you can’t be right either.

One border that nobody argues about is the one that the harbor’s edge enforces — the area that stands to bring in more house hunters someday, residents and real estate brokers say. One condominium building and two midrise co-ops, both former warehouses, overlook the water from Bay Street Landing, a dead end at the northern tip of this neighborhood’s largely undeveloped waterfront (or the southern tip of St. George’s). This area is to be part of the St. George Esplanade in coming years.

Developers like Leib Puretz, who owns 130 Bay Street Landing, are angling to get in on the action with residential properties, near the water and farther inland.

Zoning rules don’t allow new construction exceeding five or six stories, said Joseph Carroll, the district manager of Community Board 1, but he acknowledged that the zoning could change. “Most people agree that there is a need for height here,” Mr. Carroll said. Upward construction would greatly increase the housing opportunities in the area, and its cachet. Or so local brokers hope.

What You’ll Find

Tompkinsville is a grab bag, offering everything from Victorians, colonials and Federal-style structures to 21st-century conversions. There are town houses, co-ops, condos, rentals and, for would-be landlords, multiunit buildings.

On Tompkins Circle and Ward Avenue, on the Ward Hill edge, houses are more luxurious; on St. Paul’s Avenue, they are slightly more modest, though often with water views.

“There isn’t a house here that you couldn’t make into a wonder,” said Norma Sue Wolfe, a sales associate for Gateway Arms Realty. Streets including Swan, Grant and Van Duzer are an odd mix: original clapboard facades and aging brick buildings, side by side with vinyl-clad homes and other surprises.

Closer to the bustle of Victory Boulevard are a number of lavishly redone buildings. Because Staten Island over all is “just not a sexy place,” said Kevin Barry, who owns 15 buildings in the borough, he is doing his bit toward changing that, with sleek rentals marketed to younger buyers priced out of Manhattan and Brooklyn. He describes his three-story 11-unit building at Victory Boulevard and St. Marks Place as having a “young dorm feel.”

Beyond the foot of Victory Boulevard, near the waterfront, stand the condos, co-ops and town houses of Bay Street Landing. It was the views that brought Linda Daller here. A 28-year resident of Suffolk County on Long Island, Ms. Daller spent eight years on South Shore Staten Island before finding and closing on a 910-square-foot unit at 10 Bay Street Landing. “I thought about Manhattan for a while,” she said, “but it’s 10 times the price.”

What You’ll Pay

There are deals, but many of them need updating. Still, those in sticker shock from other areas will find this one refreshingly affordable.

For one thing, the borough has not proved as slump-proof as Manhattan. “Prices in this area are down at least 13 percent from last year,” said Adele Sammarco, a spokeswoman for the Staten Island Board of Realtors.

According to the board, the median price in Tompkinsville this year was $442,500. At the moment inventory is not huge, judging from a Multiple Listing Service search that yielded 31 properties. These ranged in price from $239,900, for a 1910 two-family colonial with 1,700 square feet of living space, to $999,000, for a 4,500-square-foot Ward Hill five-bedroom with harbor views. A 1930 single-family attached home with an Art Deco facade, listed at $335,000, has an accepted offer. Dimas Lespier of Exit Realty Solutions recently sold a three-bedroom, three-bath town house on Margo Loop for $360,000.

New construction includes a condo, The Pointe, at Victory Boulevard and Bay Street. The broker, Casandra Properties, says the 57-unit complex is half sold.

Rentals seem strong. George Christo, a developer, hopes to get as much as $2,500 for the 800-square-foot penthouse of his as-yet-unnamed new building, and $2,200 for the units below it.

Nick Purpura, who moved from SoHo two months ago to a two-bedroom in a former firehouse at Hannah and Van Duzer Streets, said he pays “Manhattan rent,” but gets “way more space.”

What to Do

The Every Thing Goes Book Cafe and Neighborhood Stage, on Bay Street, draws a varied crowd with organic espresso, local cider, art exhibitions and music nights. But Tompkinsville has yet to nurture the upscale restaurants and bars found nearby in both St. George and Stapleton. Still, its restaurants offer Mexican, Dominican, Honduran, Jamaican and Sri Lankan food. Residents tend to wish aloud for a grocery like Whole Foods, but for now they make do with bodegas, as well as a Western Beef supermarket nearby.

The George Cromwell Recreation Center at Pier No. 6 offers sports from boxing to basketball, and the Joseph H. Lyons Pool is a summer wonderland. (Adult membership is a total of $75 a year for both facilities.)

The Commute

Commuters favor the 25-minute free ride on the Staten Island Ferry to Battery Park. The walk to the terminal takes about 10 minutes.

Everything Goes Bookstore and Cafe in Tompkinsville is currently displaying paintings by Mary Bullock.

Christmas on the Ferry

2008-01-02T20:01:00.000-08:00

New York Times writers, Ken Belson and Nate Schweber, took a ride on the ferry on Christmas day and interviewed a few people for the December 26, 2007 issue. Click on the headline above to read the full article.

Verrazano Vineyard? The Only Vineyard in New York City is Underway

2007-11-14T22:36:00.000-08:00

The God and Goddess of Wine by Cynthia von Buhler.
While I have my ear to the ground on Staten Island this bit of news actually came to me from my Italian gallery partner, Stefania Carrozzini, at our ("Carrozzini von Buhler Gallery "in Manhattan). I was telling her how much she would love it here and how so many people speak Italian when she said "Si, I know all about it. I read about it in the New York Times the other day. They are making wine there."

What?!

So, I dug around online and found the article. Here it is:

A Toast to Tuscany, With a Staten Island Red
By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO
Published: November 13, 2007, The New York Times

"CRESPINA, Italy, Nov. 7 — The visit to this picturesque corner of Tuscany probably will not spawn a best-selling sequel with a title like “Under the Staten Island Sun.” But in the not-too-distant future, Staten Island will bring a little bit of Tuscany to New York, in the form of a vineyard being developed at the Staten Island Botanical Garden.

A group of businessmen from the borough spent a few days this month rambling through lush vineyards, Renaissance villas and an Etruscan tomb, seeking the essence of the Tuscan experience to transplant back home. They hope the vineyard, which they said would be the first large-scale venture of its kind in the city, will entice more visitors to the oft-forgotten borough.

“We were looking for something to draw tourists off the ferry and see what Staten Island has to offer,” said Henry Arlin Salmon, a Staten Island real estate appraiser and one of the members of the Tuscan Gardens Vineyard Founders Group, which is behind the planned winery.

The Tuscan angle seemed natural, considering that nearly 38 percent of Staten Island residents are of Italian ancestry, according to the 2000 Census, more than any other county in the United States, said Joseph J. LiBassi, a promoter of the vineyard project and a member of the botanical garden’s board. “The vineyard encapsulates what Italians brought to Staten Island: agriculture, wine, culture.”

Of course, he added, the vineyard should appeal to non-Italians, too. “There are a lot of wine aficionados,” he said.

Work on the vineyard should start in the spring on about two acres of botanical garden land next to the Tuscan Villa and the Tuscan Garden exhibitions under construction. (The Tuscan Garden is based on the Villa Gamberaia, at Settignano, near Florence.)

Experts in viticulture and enology at Cornell University are helping determine which Italian grape varieties will have the best chance of thriving on Staten Island, “which can get pretty damp,” Mr. Salmon said. Because it is illegal to import vine cuttings into the United States, the plants will most likely come from vineyards in upstate New York or, perhaps, California.

Eventually, the idea is to make red wine — and someday maybe white — from the 2,000 vines that organizers of the vineyard figure will be planted at the botanical garden. It will be years, however, before anyone can get a tasting of Staten Island red.

As for potential names for the winery? Mr. LiBassi proposed “Crespina Staten Wine.”

R. Randy Lee, a real estate developer and the chairman of the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation, suggested “Vespucci” or “Verrazano.”

The wine is also expected to incorporate the kind of heritage grape varieties that would have been known in colonial times.

“After all, George Washington wasn’t importing wines from Tuscany,” Mr. Lee said. “I’m not sure how it will taste, but we want to reproduce it.”

The interest in heritage grape varieties is one reason the Staten Island delegation came to this part of Tuscany, to meet with Piergiorgio Castellani, a winemaker trying to save indigenous local grape varieties from extinction.

Mr. Castellani plans to travel to Staten Island in February to provide technical assistance on the vineyard. The borough, he said, “is not the best microclimate in the world; it’s close to a large city, there’s pollution. So they have to find a compromise solution that will mix resistant, adaptable vines with the right Tuscan varieties.”

Mr. Castellani, who escorted the Staten Island group to the University of Pisa to meet with viticulture experts, added: “The principal aim of the project is didactic. We’ve given them a broad basis of knowledge so they can go forward.”

Once the vineyard is up and running, visitors will be able to follow winemaking from the vine to the bottle.

“It’s basically chemistry; you mash grapes, and there’s a chemical reaction,” Mr. Salmon said. “Let’s face it, wine is exciting.”

The visit from the Staten Island delegation caused a major buzz in this small town roughly 21 miles south of Pisa that is known for its hoot owls. Officials in Crespina were thrilled when Staten Island officials accepted their invitation to be a sister city. “For a town of 4,000, it was like entering a skyscraper,” said Thomas D’Addona, Crespina’s mayor.

In addition to a small parade down the town’s main street (serenaded by the Walking Sharks Street Band) and a crossbow demonstration, the town’s celebrations included a photo session with Giancarlo Giannini, an Italian movie star who has a home in the area.

A previous sister city partnership with the French town of Penchard some time ago was kept alive for a few years and then passed into oblivion, local officials said. But the vineyard at the botanical garden, everyone involved agreed, will be one tangible link across the ocean.

“If they want us for the grape harvest, we’ll be ready to go with our boots and tools,” Mr. D’Addona said.

The Circular World Of The Blogging

2007-11-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

Bloggers read news items or other blog posts and then post about it on their own blog. Here is an example of how ciruclar this can be: I posted about an article on Staten Island that was in The New York Times. (See Bohemia by the Bay a couple of posts down.) Then The New York Times quoted from my post. Now I am posting again about their article. Confused yet? You can read what they have to say "HERE. "

A Brand New South Ferry Subway Station in 2008

2007-10-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a Prodigal Borough blog post from Cid for alerting us to this fantastic news.

Excerpted from The Lower Manhattan Info Web Page:

A ride on the 1 train down to the end of the line is a one-of-a-kind New York subway experience. To exit the train at the South Ferry station, riders must be in the first five cars of the train, where they wait for retractable floor grates to close the gap between the doors and the sharply curved platform before heading up the stairs to use the station’s single exit.

This old-fashioned experience is about to become obsolete, as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority spends $450 million of the Federal Transit Administration’s post-9/11 funds to usher the original 1905 South Ferry station into the 21st century.

In August 2008, the South Ferry subway station -- now a small, curved platform -- will become a brighter, ADA-accessible terminal. The new station will accommodate 10-car trains and have multiple station entrances, including escalators and elevators.

Work on the revamped station began in late 2004, just as the finishing touches were being put on the neighboring Whitehall Ferry Terminal. The single greatest improvement of the new station is its new platform -- a standard, 10-car platform that’s as straight as an arrow and ADA-accessible. It will connect to the R and W trains at the Whitehall subway station and lead to three separate street exits: one near Whitehall, one at State Street, and one at the edge of Battery Park.

The first phase of construction is taking place in Peter Minuit Plaza, directly in front of the ferry terminal. The plaza is above the current subway station’s loop tracks (which enable the train to turn around), and there the MTA’s work crews are excavating the 50-foot-wide tunnel that will house the new station’s tracks.

In summer 2005, work began under the northeast section of Battery Park, where new tunnels are being opened and tracks laid. As part of the MTA’s commitment to the New York City Parks Department, trees and other foliage aboveground will be preserved and replanted at the end of the project -- along with other improvements the Parks Department had planned for Battery Park.

Throughout the project, the MTA is committed to keeping noise to a minimum, using dedicated truck routes, and running equipment with ultra-low-sulfur fuel. Ensuring access to area businesses and to the ferry terminal are also top priorities.

When South Ferry is completed in 2008, residents, commuters, and visitors will have a clean, new subway station and an open, pedestrian-friendly Peter Minuit Plaza that leads to the Staten Island Ferry, Battery Park, and the diverse Lower Manhattan community.

History in the Making at South Ferry

In the single most historically rich area of New York, it is no surprise that artifacts dating back to the early 18th century might crop up at construction sites. But no one was expecting four pre-revolutionary-era stone walls to stand, literally, in the way of South Ferry subway station progress.

Discovered by Metropolitan Transportation Authority crews during excavation for the $400 million terminal, the walls were revealed in sections along State Street at Battery Park. The first, uncovered in November 2005 near Battery Place, set off a flurry of archaeological activity by the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), both eager to determine the wall's original function and construction date.

But before city and state officials could even really dig into analyzing the wall, another was found, then another, then another, along with thousands of smaller artifacts such as fragments of ceramic dishes, bottle glass, bones, and an intact 1744 British coin. It became clear that one crew's historical goldmine is another's construction excavation dilemma.

"We were expecting to find artifacts [at the site]. That's why we had archaeologists supervising the excavation," says Mysore Nagaraja, P.E., president of MTA Capital Construction. Planners went so far as to create a map overlay of the archaeological "hotspots" in the construction area, which proved to be spot-on. But of the walls themselves -- while significant to the history of Manhattan and the nation -- he says, "They are very much in the way."

Four Walls as One Fortification

The four walls, though unearthed in sections as far apart as 500 feet, appear to have been part of the same pre-Revolutionary War battery wall. Dating from the mid-1700s, SHPO archaeologists concluded that they represent "one of the oldest standing manmade structures in the United States, part of the first military fortifications during the colonial years by the British," according to a report by the MTA.

Click on the post headline for more information.

Just Announced: New Stapleton Branch of The New York Public Library

2007-10-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

Council Member Michael E. McMahon Unveils Renovation Plans for Stapleton Branch of The New York Public Library

A State-of-the-art renovation will double the library’s size, add more than two dozen new computers, 11 laptop stations, wireless access, new areas for adults, teens and children and self-checkout stations

At a press conference today, Council Member Michael E. McMahon and officials from The New York Public Library announced a dramatic renovation and expansion of the library’s Stapleton Branch, located at 132 Canal St. The building will undergo a technology facelift, receiving 11 laptop plug-in stations, convenient self-checkout stations and free wireless Internet access. Public space will more than double, and a light, airy new building will be added to the historic structure, retaining its character and providing neighborhood residents a sleek, modern new library.

“I am delighted that I could help secure funding for the renovation and expansion of the Stapleton Branch Library,” said Council Member McMahon. “This project will provide the community with a beautiful new state-of-the-art library with access to countless resources – all free of charge.”

The renovation, designed by Andrew Berman Architect, will provide new areas for adults, teens and children, as well as a community room. The adjoining new building will feature 13-foot ceilings, attractive wood floors and a glass curtain wall to create light and space. Adult and teen reading areas will include cozy chairs for reading, and the children’s area will feature interactive educational games. The project is to include a new HVAC system and new electrical wiring.

"We are exceedingly thankful to Council Member McMahon, who provided over $5 million toward this project," said Mary Frances Cooper, Deputy Director for Public Services at The New York Public Library. We are also grateful to Mayor Bloomberg and Borough President Molinaro for making this significant contribution to the neighborhood a reality,” “The renovated Stapleton Branch Library will become a well of information and enrichment for the entire community.”

The renovation and expansion of the Stapleton Branch Library is generously funded by the City of New York: Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor; Christine C. Quinn, City Council Speaker; James P. Molinaro, Staten Island Borough President, and Michael E. McMahon, City Council Member.

About the Stapleton Branch
The Stapleton Branch of The New York Public Library, which opened in 1907, is located on Canal Street, near the center of Stapleton Village and adjacent to Tappen Park and the Old Village Hall. The graceful, single story, brick and limestone building was constructed with funds provided by Andrew Carnegie. It was designed by Carrere and Hastings. Today the Stapleton Branch continues to be a center of community life. The branch serves its diverse neighborhood by presenting programs for all ages, providing access to computer technology and lending books, magazines and other media to inform, educate, and entertain. Programs include a book discussion group, picture book hours, preschool programs and arts & crafts programs for teens.

About The New York Public Library
The New York Public Library was created in 1895 with the consolidation of the private libraries of John Jacob Astor and James Lenox with the Samuel Jones Tilden Trust. The Library provides free and open access to its physical and electronic collections and information, as well as to its services. It comprises four research centers – The Humanities and Social Sciences Library; The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and the Science, Industry and Business Library – and 87 Branch Libraries in Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Research and circulating collections combined total more than 50 million items. In addition, each year the Library presents thousands of exhibitions and public programs, which include classes in technology, literacy, and English as a second language. The New York Public Library serves over 15 million patrons who come through its doors annually and another 21 million users internationally, who access collections and services through its website, www.nypl.org. Click the headline to viist the NYPL website.

Note from CVB: Hmmm... new library, beautiful houses, great coffee shops, and restaurants. Last time I looked this gorgeous house in Stapleton was for sale along with another pretty white Victorian across the street:

Channel 13 to give an “Island Tour” in early December

2007-10-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

By TEVAH PLATT
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The history and culture of Staten Island — from Dutch settlement to Denino’s pizza — will be the subject of an hour-long Thirteen/WNET documentary to air during the station’s pledge drive in early December. Co-hosts David Hartman and historian Barry Lewis reunited for “A Walk Through Staten Island,” the latest in an acclaimed PBS series that has featured 10 other walking tours of various sections of New York and New Jersey over the past decade.

“This has been a wonderful immersion in Staten Island culture,” said Hartman, who is also well known as the first and longtime co-host of ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “It’s been a real education.”

Hartman and Lewis disembark to explore Borough Hall and the Richmond County Bank Ballpark at St. George; the Conference House in Tottenville; the Greenbelt; the Alice Austen House, Sandy Ground and the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum; the Sea View Hospital Historic District; the Seguine Mansion; the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art; Historic Richmond Town; the 9/11 “Postcards” Memorial; Fort Wadsworth, and Snug Harbor Cultural Center in Livingston.

“It will change a lot of perceptions,” said Cesar J. Claro, executive director of the Richmond County Savings Foundation, which recently approved a $50,000 grant that made the documentary possible. He referred to both newcomers and residents of Staten Island: “I would bet that more than half of Staten Islanders haven’t visited all of the borough’s cultural institutions,” he said.

For the documentary makers, it was a crash course in all things Staten Island, and they came away with astute observations about the borough’s — you know — Staten Islandness.

Hartman noted the difficulty of getting around on Staten Island by public transportation, and the abundance of good Italian food. He also noticed the degree to which Islanders coalesced around the tragedy of Sept. 11 — a remarkable thing, he said, for a town of a half-million people.

“Maybe the fact that it’s the most remote borough allowed it to develop at its own speed, in its own way,” he said at Snug Harbor yesterday. “And so it has a different feel from the other boroughs.”

Hartman also sensed a pride in independence among Staten Islanders.

“Staten Island has a multiple personality,” observed producer James Nicoloro. “It’s got a city feel and a country feel. … In a funny sort of way, it’s New York City but it’s not New York City.”

It’s also a borough with great stories: From the oystermen and strawberry farmers of Sandy Ground, the country’s oldest free black settlement, to the doctors who found a cure for tuberculosis at Sea View, the grounds of the former Farm Colony and once the largest tuberculosis hospital in the world.

“I came into this thing as an outsider and I was impressed with what I found,” said Nicoloro.

Bohemia By The Bay: The New York Times Features Staten Island

2007-10-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

Cara Buckley from the New York Times first contacted me about this feature a few months ago. Supposedly she had heard my interview on NY1 or maybe she had heard Sara Valentine's interview on NPR. Either way, she got in touch with me first and she wanted to come to Staten Island and find out if it was becoming "hip". I introduced her to most of the people I know on Staten Island including Christoph and Trish who were just about perfect for this piece because of their witty songs about the island. Michelle Monteleone, from The Times, also came to the island and I gave her a little tour and interview. In her video, Adam Ferretti, makes a good point. Staten Island attracts "more actual artists" and not hipsters who desire to to be seen as cool. Many people were interviewed and things were left out due to space constraints. My main feelings about Staten Island were not included. This is how I feel: I live here because I want to, not because I have to. Staten Island's North Shore offers trees, gardens, unique people, diversity, large beautiful homes, safety, fog horns, water, marinas, really good Italian food, and it is IN New York City. Sure, it is cheaper than Manhattan but most places are. We looked everywhere (Ditmas Park, DUMBO, Vinegar Hill, City Island, Jersey City, Jersey City Heights, Kensington, Manhattan, The Bronx, Westchester, Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Crown Heights, and so many more places) and we chose Staten Island because of this unique combination of all the things we wanted. Also, I'm so sick of ferry bashing. The ferry is the best thing about my day. It is so beautiful and relaxing to take a boat into the city. I can use my computer. I can stare at the water. I never get sick of it. And it is exotic to take a boat to work. I would take 22 minutes on the ferry over 22 minutes on the F or L trains in Brooklyn any day! Please! Let the hipsters stay where they are but bring on the real artists.

"Hipsters On Staten Island" video from The New York Times. Yours truly is featured in this but I'm NOT a hipster, sorry!

"Bohemia By The Bay" a feature article from The New York Times

And speaking of hipsters here is a YouTube video you MUST watch. The Hipster Olympics in Williamsburg:

Thank you to all of you came out to meet and talk to Cara and Michelle: Kamillah Hanks, Diane Matyas, Michelle Budenz, The Fort Hill Circle clan, Rispoli (who fed us delicous Italian ices), Leidy's, Everything Goes Cafe, The Downtown Staten Island Council (who didn't know that Cara was there at their party), The St. George Theater, Cargo, Sara Valentine, Gregor Scheer, Ann Marie and Wilder Selzer, Russell Farhang, the attic guys at The Staten Island Museum who gave us tours, and those of you who met Cara at Leidys. And thank you to Cara and Michelle for finding out more about us.

Please read the article and watch the video and post your thoughts on it below. Many people wrote to me (via e-mail and my "MySpace page" ) but it would be good to let others hear what you have to say as well.

Photographs from Cynthia von Buhler and Russell Farhang's party at their home to celebrate the closing of Show & Tell at The Staten Island Museum. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.
The Times sent a photographer to my recent Staten Island Museum closing party at our house but they only printed one photo (without a credit, it was of The Hungry March Band) so here are some photos, by Paul Weiner, from the party. It attracted a ton of people from Manhattan and also from Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Boston, New Jersey, and the island. And people of all different ages arrived, not just twenty-something hipsters (although there were plenty of those in attendance). So, things are a-changing here. Thanks to: The Hungry March Band for leading a parade from the museum up to our house, Christoph and Trish (and Russell) for entertaining us with songs about Staten Island, Al Gori and his fabulous merry-go-round (a big hit with children and adults), Miwa (our lovely bartender), Dalia (who helped me clean up and prepare the house for a Latina magazine photoshoot that happened the next day at 8AM), and all of you who took the ferry over (and loved the ride).

The FM Ferry Experiment Live Broadcast From The Staten Island Ferry

2007-09-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

Note from CVB: An artist friend from Boston sent me this information. Recently while driving in Staten Island Russell and I saw a sign that said "neuroTransmitter" with an arrow pointing down a road. We both looked at each other and said, "What is that?" Well, now we know.

The FM Ferry Experiment Live Broadcast From The Staten Island Ferry

Concept and programming by: neuroTransmitter (Valerie Tevere + Angel Nevarez)

September 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29 - 2007
12 - 4 pm EST (NYC)

On-Air:
WSIA 88.9FM
http://www.fmferryexperiment.net

In-Studio:
Hurricane Deck of the
Staten Island Ferry
reached via:
Whitehall Terminal -- 1 Whitehall St. Manhattan
St. George Terminal - 1 Bay St.
Staten Island

For eight days in September, neuroTransmitter presents The FM Ferry Experiment, a project which transforms the Staten Island Ferry into a floating radio station, broadcasting out to the NYC region as it continuously travels between Staten Island and Lower Manhattan.

In 1967, The New York Avant-Garde Festival (1963-1980) founded by Charlotte Moorman, landed on the Staten Island Ferry for 24-hours. In the spirit of this festival, The FM Ferry Experiment integrates broadcast and performance into one of New York's most traveled public spaces, expanding its architecture out into the airwaves, engaging publics on the ferry and on-the-air.

Live programs consisting of performances, lectures, and conversations will take place on the Staten Island Ferry, and will be broadcast along with music, sound, and ambient noise via WSIA 88.9 FM and http://www.fmferryexperiment.net

In-studio performances and appearances by:
31 Down, Dafne Boggeri, Ralf Homann, Jesal Kapadia & Sreshta Premnath, Tianna Kennedy, Emily Jacir & Jamal Rayyis, Edward Miller, School of Missing Studies with Peter Ferko, Xaviera Simmons, Brooke Singer & Brian Rigney Hubbard, Sandra Skurvida, Alex Villar, Bojidar Yanev

Audio works by:
Julieta Aranda, Fia Backström, Mark & Stephen Beasley, Wiebe E. Bijker, Bik Van der Pol, Nao Bustamante, Paul Chan, free103point9, Wynne Greenwood & K8 Hardy, Maryam Jafri, Hassan Khan, Fabiano Kueva, Brandon LaBelle, Pedro Lasch with Thomas Lasch & Audio Wizards, Cristóbal Lehyt, LIGNA, Lana Lin, Jill Magid with Ed Vas, Naeem Mohaiemen, Antoni Muntadas, Max Neuhaus, Phill Niblock, Carsten Nicolai, Jenny Perlin, Cesare Pietroiusti, Radio Sonideros (Sara Harris, Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, Keren Ness, Clare Robbins), Steve Roden, Marina Rosenfeld, Kristen Roos & Jackson 2Bears, Martha Rosler, Scanner, Hanna Rose Shell & Luke Fischbeck, Jason Simon,
Skyline, Judi Werthein

Plus further socio-spatial experimentation, conversations, news bulletins, music, archival broadcasts, and sing-alongs…

neurotransmitter - Initiated in 2001 by Angel Nevarez and Valerie Tevere as a project whose work fuses conceptual practices with transmission, sound performance, and mobile broadcast. Their work re-articulates radio in multiple contexts considering new possibilities for the broadcast spectrum as public space. Recent projects include: WUNP, unitednationsplaza, Berlin, Germany; The Contemporary Museum, Baltimore; The New Museum, NY; viafarini, Milan, Italy; The Anna Akhmatova Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia; Govett Brewster Museum, NZ; Centre d'Art Passerelle, Brest, France; and Museu da Imagem e do Som, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Tevere is an artist and Associate Professor of Media Culture at the College of Staten Island, CUNY. Nevarez is an artist, DJ, and musician.

WSIA 88.9 FM was founded in the mid-1970s by a group of students at The College of Staten Island, CUNY who ran some wire to the cafeteria and started spinning records. They then applied for a license and have been broadcasting regularly since August 31, 1981. For over 25 years WSIA has featured a variety of programming, and the CSI students who run the station have always been committed to being new and innovative, and serving the Staten Island and Greater New York community. WSIA broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week over the air and online at http://www.wsia.fm

The FM Ferry Experiment is produced in cooperation with the New York City Department of Transportation and WSIA 88.9FM; and has been made possible in part by The National Endowment for the Arts; The Independence Community Foundation through The Staten Island Project and College of Staten Island Foundation; Lower Manhattan Cultural Council with support of The September 11th Fund; and Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art, supported by NYSCA and Jerome Foundation; with sponsorship from free103point9.

For more information click on the headline title of this blog post.

Noble Maritime Collection at Snug Harbor

2007-09-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

Note from CVB: I visited this musuem today. It is housed in a beautiful brick building at Snug Harbor. I was there for a book signing event (see the previous post). It was crowded so I plan to go back and spend more time there during visiting hours. John Noble's houseboat studio really intrigued me. The boat is on display in the museum and you can peek through its windows to see his desk, brushes, stove, and even a small bathroom.

From the museum website:

Mission Statement

The mission of the Noble Maritime Collection is to preserve and interpret the art, writings, and historical maritime artifacts of the distinguished marine artist, John A. Noble; to continue Noble's legacy of celebrating the people and traditions of the working waterfront of New York Harbor; to preserve and interpret the history of Sailors' Snug Harbor in its collections, exhibitions and programs; and to operate a maritime study center inspired by John A. Noble and the mariners of Sailors' Snug Harbor.

What you'll find at the Noble Maritime Collection:

Art exhibitions
Noble's houseboat studio, made from "the small bones of larger vessels"
Ship models
Rare and significant maritime collections
Education programs for students of all ages
Teacher training
Oral history about Sailors' Snug Harbor
Printmaking studios

About John A. Noble

Born in Paris in 1913, John A. Noble was the son of the noted American painter, John ("Wichita Bill") Noble. He spent his early years in the studios of his father and his father's contemporaries, innovative artists and writers of the early part of this century. He moved with his family to this country in 1919, a year which had great significance to him and foreshadowed his life's work. "It was the greatest wooden ship launching year in the history of the world," he often said.

"About 1929 I started my crude drawings and paintings," the artist recalled. "In the wintertime, while still going to school, I was a permanent fixture on the old McCarren line tugs, which had the monopoly on the schooner towing in New York Harbor. This kept them constantly before my eyes. In the summertime, I would go to sea." A graduate of the Friends Seminary in New York City, Noble returned to France in 1931, where he studied for one year at the University of Grenoble. There he met his wife and lifetime companion, "the lovely, green-eyed" Susan Ames. When he returned to New York, he studied for one year at the National Academy of Design. From 1928 until 1945, Noble worked as a seaman on schooners and in marine salvage. In 1928, while on a schooner that was towing out down the Kill van Kull, the waterway that separates Staten Island from New Jersey, he saw the old Port Johnston coal docks for the first time. It was a sight, he later asserted, which affected him for life. Port Johnston was "the largest graveyard of wooden sailing vessels in the world." Filled with new but obsolete ships, the great coalport had become a great boneyard. In 1941, Noble began to build his floating studio there, out of parts of vessels he salvaged. From 1946 on, he worked as a full-time artist. Often accompanied by his wife, he set off from his studio in a rowboat to explore the Harbor. These explorations resulted in a unique and exacting record of Harbor history in which its rarely documented characters, industries, and vessels are faithfully recorded. Although he was raised in artistic circles and quickly gained recognition for his work, Noble always remained intimate with the people of the Harbor. "I'm with factory people, industrial people, the immigrants, the sons of immigrants," he asserted. "It gives life to it." Late in his life, Noble recalled his first compelling views of New York Harbor. "I was crossing the 134th Street Bridge on the Harlem River on a spring day in 1928, and I was so shocked--it changed my life. I was frozen on that bridge, because both east and west of the bridge were sailing vessels. And I thought sailing vessels, you know, were gone... There it was, and I couldn't eat, or anything; I was so excited." By the time of his death in the spring of 1983, shortly after the passing of his beloved Susan, the sailing vessels he loved were all gone, and the maritime industry in the Harbor had diminished significantly.
But Noble's inexorable interest in the sea had not diminished. Although he felt the loss of many kinds of vessels, he was "just as interested in drawing the building of a great modern tanker, the working of a modern dredge, as...in the shifting of topsails." In fact, he wrote, "anywhere men work or build on the water is of interest to me...My life's work is to make a rounded picture of American maritime endeavor of modern times."

GALLERY HOURS
Thursday–Sunday, 1–5 PM

ADMISSION
$5.00 Adults
$3.00 Seniors/Students/Educators
Free to members and children under 10

Click on the post title to go to the museum website for more information and directions.

A Children's Book About Museum Manners Is released By The Noble Maritime Collection

2007-09-09T14:45:00.000-07:00

The Noble Maritime Collection will celebrate the publication of a new children’s book, The Terrible Captain Jack Visits the Museum, on Grandparent’s Day, Sunday, September 9, 2007 from 2 until 5 PM at the museum.

In The Terrible Captain Jack Visits the Museum or A Guide to Museum Manners for Incorrigible Pirate and the Like, a worldly ship’s monkey explains how to behave in a museum to Captain Jack, “a mean and dangerous pirate” with a lot of curiosity.

Author and illustrator Diane Matyas, former Director of Programming at the Noble Maritime Collection, will read from her book and sign copies.

The Viva Voce Chamber Ensemble will fill the halls of the museum with pirate music. Guest will enjoy refreshments of a nautical nature.

Members of the museum’s CloseKnit club have knitted little ship’s monkeys which will be on sale to commemorate the publication of the book.

The book is on sale at the museum for $10.00. One can also order it by calling the museum.

Admission to the museum will be free on Grandparent’s Day.

Click on the headline above for more information about the museum and the musuem store which sells the book.

SHOW. A Gallery & Studio To Open Soon.

2007-08-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

Above: Computer sketches of the proposed illuminated sign for SHOW. The "S" will blink on and off so it can be read two ways. The sign will be visible from the ferry terminal.
SHOW will open this Winter. The new gallery and studio allows for the art-making process to be viewed from the storefront windows. SHOW will feature the work of Cynthia von Buhler, Theo Dorian and other artists. SHOW will be located across from The Staten Island ferry terminal on Staten Island. Exit the ferry and walk up the steps between Borough Hall and The Courthouse. The address is 156 Stuyvesant Place. More information: 718-524-0855.

Update: Opening reception party postponed! We will be posting a new opening reception date soon.

Artist Talk at The Staten Island Museum

2007-08-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

Show & Tell installation view.
Saturday, August 11, 2007, 1PM: Cynthia von Buhler will be giving an informal gallery talk about her work at The Staten Island Museum. This artist’s talk is part of the Artists/Ideas Series: Supported by JP Morgan Chase.

More information:
The Show & Tell exhibit runs from April 26, 2007 – September 23, 2007
Cynthia von Buhler's surreal three-dimensional works blend Renaissance inspired portraiture and messianic figures with natural objects. Her enigmatic paintings impart their meaning through symbol, design, and narrative. In von Buhler’s art, butterflies, snakes, birds, and plants are set into cages, boxes, and peepholes to serve as metaphors for the human condition. The layered gouache paintings and their sculptural, performance, and audio accoutrements are at once poignant and mischievous. Show and Tell is akin to a trip down an ornate rabbit hole. Many New Yorkers are familiar with von Buhler's interactive sculptures which have been exhibited frequently in the city. But few have seen an exhibit of her 3-d paintings, since most of these works are in private collections. Also on view will be characters from von Buhler's recent children's book, The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside (Houghton Mifflin, 2006). The museum is easily accessible from Manhattan via the Staten Island ferry which is a free twenty-minute ride, and lands across the street from the museum. A free exhibition catalog is available. Books are available for sale in the museum gift shop.

The Staten Island Museum
75 Stuyvesant Place
Staten Island, New York 10301
718.727.1135
Hours: Tuesdays - Fridays from 9AM to 5PM, Saturday 10AM - 5PM, Sunday 12PM- 5PM.
Show & Tell installation view.
This talk is included in the museum admission fee.
To find out more about Cynthia von Buhler and her work click on the article headline above.

Cat Workshop at The Staten Island Museum

2007-08-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

Visit the elaborate Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside website by clicking on the headline above. Click on the picture above to see the image enlarged.
Saturday, August 25, 2007 at 2PM: Cynthia von Buhler will be reading her book, The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside, outloud and will give children a cat sculpture clay lesson at The Staten Island Museum. Each child will make their own clay cat like the one in the book to take home. For more information please visit The Staten Island Museum website. Copies of the children's book will be available in the museum gift shop and the author/artist will be signing them at this event. The clay workshop is $5 per child which includes museum admission and all supplies. Sculpture characters and press proofs from The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside will be on display as well as von Buhler's 3-d paintings.
A page from The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside.
Scroll to the blog entry below dated 6/7/07 "The Staten Island Museum Clay Cat Workshop" to find an article about a father who attended the last cat clay workshop with his son.

The Staten Island Museum
75 Stuyvesant Place
Staten Island, New York 10301
718.727.1135
Hours: Tuesdays - Fridays from 9AM to 5PM, Saturday 10AM - 5PM, Sunday 12PM- 5PM.
The museum is one block from the Staten Island ferry terminal.
Show & Tell installation view.
Show & Tell installation view.To find out more about the children's book click on the article headline above.

There's No Place Like HOME

2007-08-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

The best view in New York City is from the lawn of Alice Austen's Clear Comfort.
HOME
Exhibit Opening * Lawn Party * Concert
Sunday, August 12, 2007
2 PM - 6 PM

An artist reception of "Home," curated by Christine Osinski.
Wine, Food & Summer Games

From The Alice Austen Museum website:
"Alice Austen was one of the first women photographers in this country to work outside the confines of a studio. She was also a realistic documentary photographer - a style of photography unusual until the 20th century. With a natural instinct for photojournalism some forty years before that word was coined, she saw the world with a clear eye and photographed the people and places in it, as they actually appeared, giving US a visual record of more than fifty years of social history."

"Clear Comfort (a.k.a. The Alice Austen House) was built in 1690. In 1844 it was purchased by John Haggerty Austen, Alice Austen's grandfather. Alice Austen herself moved there as a young girl in the late1860's with her mother, Alice Cornell Austen, after the two were abandoned by Alice's father. She went on to spend most of her life there, until financial problems and illness forced her to move in 1945. In her absence, the house fell into disrepair until a group of concerned citizens saved it from demolition in the 1960's. The house successfully gained status as a historic landmark, and was restored in the mid 1980's. It currently serves as a museum of Alice Austen's life and times."

The Alice Austen Museum, 2 Hylan Boulevard • Staten Island • NY • 10305 • (718) 816-4506

Directions:

From Manhattan by Staten Island Ferry
Subway to South Ferry (1/9), Whitehall Street (N/R), or Bowling Green Station (4/5) or bus or taxi to:
Staten Island Ferry (25 minute ride). At the ferry terminal in Staten Island #S51 Bus to Hylan Boulevard (15 minute ride). Walk one block east to water and house.

From Manhattan via Brooklyn by car
From the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (toll) or the Brooklyn or Manhattan Bridge take the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to Staten Island (right lane on bridge). Take the first exit (after toll), "Bay Street". Continue to the end of street (School Road) then turn left onto Bay Street. Continue to Hylan Boulevard then turn right and follow street to water and house.

For more information on The Alice Austen House Museum click on the headline.

I No Longer Go To Manhattan To Eat. I Go To Enoteca Maria. A Restaurant Review by Uwe Kristen

2007-08-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

Painting detail courtesy of Cynthia von Buhler
Every Wednesday morning Teresa drives from Staten Island to Brooklyn, to an old warehouse beknownst only to her and a handful of other adepts. The men in the building know her. Without wasting many words they load a heavy 100-lb bag on her pick-up truck. Then she drives back to Staten Island and parks the truck in front of the Enoteca Maria on Hyatt St.

In 2006 Denise and Joe, the owners of the enoteca, started placing ads in Italian-language newspapers of the New York City area, looking for Italian women with a passion for traditional Italian cooking. They were not looking for credentials from culinary institutes but for regional recipes that had been passed down through generations. After several months of test cookings they finally hired Caterina, Teresa, Nina, Patrizia and Argentina - and opened Enoteca Maria in February 2007.

The five women, who come from different regions in Italy, cook on alternating days. Thus the menu changes daily. Even the lunch menu differs from the dinner menu each day. The focaccia and pastries are made from scratch and baked fresh daily in the restaurant, a detail Denise insisted upon. After several visits to Enoteca Maria I am particularly impressed by the consistent excellent quality of the food, be it the rich Baccala, the wonderfully tender organ meats or the subtle bacon-infused risotto, which is cooked in small batches in order to retain its bite. Enoteca Maria now also offers a very interesting selection of artisanal cheeses imported from Italy.

The wine list offers almost 40 different wines, thoughtfully selected from different regions in Italy. Most of the wines are from small producers with a focus on traditional winemaking. Every wine on the list is also sold by the glass, a fine opportunity to try something new without having to order a whole bottle. And Joe takes it upon himself to ensure that all wines are served the way they should be. He slowly pours the wine into large goblets, allowing the wine to fully unfold their aromas. He slightly chills his red wines before serving them, a small but important detail since red wine all too often is served too warm. A decanter is always at hand for the likes of Barolo and other wines with a firm structure, that need to breathe for a while in order to show their full complexity. Enoteca Maria also offers a fairly extensive selection of Italian beers.

The idea of bringing genuine Italian cooking from different regions into one small restaurant is a wonderful concept. Once I tasted Teresa'a apple pie I began to understand why she drives her truck to Brooklyn every Wednesday. Not that Enoteca's flour is of inferior quality. But she insists on using the flour that her mother and grandmother have used before her. The crust of the pie is so heavenly flavourful that I picked every single crumb that was left on my plate while sipping the amber-colored Vin Santo at the end of my deeply satisfying meal. And I didn't even have to take the ferry afterwards to get home.

Enoteca Maria
27 Hyatt St.
St. George, Staten Island
Open Monday through Saturday
www.enotecamaria.com - Click on the article headline for a direct link to this site.

This restaurant review was sent to Prodigal Borough by Uwe Kristen. Thank you Uwe!

Art/Music Party At The Alice Austen House

2007-07-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

I received this letter from the Executive Director of the Alice Austen House Museum. This sounds like a fun party. I have to be elsewhere otherwise I would have attended. I listened to Dead Rabbit on MySpace and they sound cool. Click the headline to get to their site. Honestly, you don't need an excuse to go to Alice's Clear Comfort. It is a dreamy house right on the water. - CvB

"Dear Friends:

On Saturday, July 28, at 7 PM local quartet Murray will join indie rock band Dead Rabbit for a live performance at the Austen House.

But that is not all.

Joining them is painter Dan Pokorny, sculptor Arthur Vallario, and filmmaker Geoffrey Celis for what promises to be an exciting, anything can and will happen, evening at Clear Comfort titled "Voyage of the Valkyrie." What would Alice have said, you wonder? Well, we who know her know that there was nothing she liked better than to throw wild parties at her House.

This event, for good reasons, is according to the editors at AWE the Number One thing to do on SI this weekend. Don't you want to find out why?

G. Carl Rutberg
Executive Director"

The Alice Austen House Museum
2 Hylan Blvd.
SI NY 10305
718 816 4506
Click HERE for the www.AliceAusten.org website.

"Snobbery Parts Fools From Money" from The New York Sun

2007-07-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Same price.
Do you want this?

Or this?

A New York Sun writer and long-time Staten Island booster explores why people are willing to pay such high prices for living spaces in Manhattan. You can read the full article by clicking on the headline above. I have provided the floorplans above. They are not from the Sun article. Here are a few highlights from the article:

"There's a point where a shorter commute to work just isn't worth the high cost of living in the city. Manhattan has become a nice place to visit, but I'm glad I don't live there anymore."

"I can't understand these purchases. When I think of all my sleepless nights due to parties in the upstairs apartment, the piano in the next apartment placed right next to my bedroom wall, the garbage truck pickups at 3 a.m., and patrons noisily exiting their favorite bar at closing time, I can only imagine how bad it is now that smokers are forced to spend much more time chatting outside."

"If I were a Wall Streeter, I could walk to the free ferry for a lovely ride, wave to the Statue of Liberty, then walk to a home where I could actually own and keep a car (condo owners have their own parking spaces). If I had millions to spend, I could buy a mansion on Staten Island instead of a measly two-bedroom in TriBeCa."

"The average rental rate for a studio in Manhattan is now $2,000 a month, and it's probably a good barometer of the great economy we're in that so many can afford such ridiculous prices. I was born in the borough, but by the time I left I had sworn never to live in an apartment in Manhattan again — and it wasn't because of the high rents."

"There has always been snobbery from Manhattanites about the "bridge and tunnel crowd" — those living in the other boroughs. As a young, single woman, I was living in a project, but at least it was in Manhattan, so I risked less disdain from the preppy crowd as long as I described it as living on the Upper East Side. What a sap I was, buying into that shallowness!"

Quotes "Snobbery Parts Fools From Money" by Alicia Colon, New York Sun writer

Old-Skool On Staten Island

2007-07-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

Call me old-skool but I prefer roller skates to roller blades. I even own my own skates. It looks like this place has both types of skates available. My friend Ann-Marie sent me this picture. Roller Jam USA is opening on Staten Island. Cool! We'll have to plan a Prodigal party there. Click the title to go to their site.

Taco Season in the Prodigal Borough

2007-07-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

Although I'm not fully done digesting last night's three tacos al pastor from El Mirador, my appetite was again whetted keen by an article I came across on Writing With my Mouth Full. The writer has undertaken a quest for the perfect taco in all of NYC. Not only am I immensely pleased that Staten Island was given appropriate consideration in the search, but I'm also thrilled that I now have an illustrated list of local tacos to choose from. As CvB will tell you, I'm a very adventurous eater. But I'm not even sure whether I could knowingly eat earlobe tacos.

Oscar Nominated Staten Island Short Film "Ferry Tales" Premiers on Television This Week

2007-07-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

The Reel New York Film Festival kicks off the summer with 29 independent films and videos by New Yorkers about New York. The eight-week festival airs on Thursdays at 10 p.m. from July 5, 2007 through August 20, 2007.

Channel Thirteen has chosen Ferry Tales, to open its TV-based ,Film Festival: Reel NY. Many Staten Islanders have never seen this film about women who put on their make-up on the Staten Island Ferry - now it will premier on television. The film was directed by Katja Esson and co-stars Valerie Campbell and Kamillah Hanks.

For more information on viewing the film go HERE. For more information on the television program go HERE.

An Open Letter to Staten Island Artists

2007-06-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

"Hello Artists,

In the Massachusetts city where I grew up, Pittsfield in the Berkshires, the downtown Main Street had become obsolete when the malls went in on the other side of town. This quaint street was a ghost town until Maggie Mailer, Norman Mailer's daughter, took a storefront as her art studio. Now, many artists have taken storefront studios and the street has become a tourist attraction. They even organized and have become a non-profit entity so they can receive tax-free donations and incentives. More information can be found HERE.

Last year in Manhattan, the non-profit art space Exit Art had a show called "The Studio Visit". In this show, 8 artists, including me, moved our art studios to their large storefront windows for a few months. I was interviewed by Time Out about my studio window. More information can be found HERE. People loved watching us work in the windows.

SO,

while looking for an art studio space in St. George I have decided to take a storefront with a view of the water and ferry terminal. With the millions of tourists coming through, wouldn't it be great for them to stop by and look at (and possibly buy) my work? If there were more storefront artist studios for them to visit, wouldn't this be a great way to revitalize St. George? Think about the press we could receive. Already, NY1 News has interviewed me about my choosing St. George for my new studio (scroll down), indicating that the area may really be on the verge of a renaissance. If we all came together, we could be a much more powerful press presence, and we could make waves in Manhattan as well.

I'm renting a storefront on Stuyvesant Place and I'm offering to help others fine them as well. The stores could be shared and split by 2-3 artists. Most stores in the area rent from $1500 - $2200 a month. One artist has already contacted me and he is looking for someone to share a store with. Starting with two storefront artist studios is a great beginning and maybe others will follow. I can also help artists find spaces and advise them with everything that goes along with renting a commercial space. As many of you know, I have a large gallery and studio in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, so I know the ins and outs of commercial renting.

I'm also starting a Staten Island film/photo/event location leasing company, so if you take this space it could be added to my list of sites to be rented for lucrative film and tv shoots (and events if you are up for that). In addition, if any of you out there have unique houses or spaces on Staten Island that might be good candidates for films or television, please let me know -- I've already rented our house out three times for photo shoots and have received many more inquiries, so the interest is there.

Best wishes, Cynthia von Buhler, Artist, Author & Prodigal Borough Blogger"
www.cynthiavonbuhler.com

Ice Cream With Exceedingly Bad Taste

2007-06-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

This is the Fresh Kills Landfill now after being treated and cleaned up. A park larger than Central Park is in the works. The air is fresh and clean. Its creeks and wetlands have been designated a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat by the New York State Dept of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Fresh Kills and its tributaries are part of the largest tidal wetland ecosystem in the region:
This is the troublesome ice cream:
I hesitate to give this ice cream company more press. It will only entice more people to buy the ice cream and it will bring them more name recognition. I have wriiten to them and while they were nice, they are not planning on shelving Land Fill. They said that they want to show all of New York City, including its "warts." So, if this is true, I propose that they make one negatively-named and one positively-named flavor for all five boroughs. I also propose that they add positive information on the backs of the containers with urls. For Land Fill they could have a funny blurb about how the site is visible from the moon but now there is a world class park in the works and its creeks and wetlands have been designated a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat. Let's try to compromise. Maybe we can use this to educate people.

UPDATE: The owners of 5 Boroughs have agreed to my plan. They already have a certain number of pint containers printed but I'm trying to see if they can make educational stickers until they sell out of the already printed containers. They are also going to put links and educational info up on their site. This a good compromise. Everyone reads the backs of ice cream pints and cereal boxes. Read their letter at the bottom of this post.

It is true, Fresh Kill was once a landfill visible from space. When the landfill became full it was closed and the city created an ambitious plan to turn the area into a city park. Plans for the park include a bird-nesting island, public roads, boardwalks, soccer and baseball fields, bridle paths and a 5,000-seat stadium. Today, freshwater and tidal wetlands, fields, birch thickets and a coastal oak maritime forest, as well as areas dominated by non-native plant species, are all within the boundaries of Fresh Kills. Already, many of the landscapes of Fresh Kills possess a stark beauty, with 360 degree, wide horizon views from the hills, over 300 acres of salt marsh and a winding network of creeks.

Go HERE to read more about the project, listen to the beautiful birds who now call these man-made rollling hills their home, and see plans for the park.

Perhaps when this new park is complete Staten Island residents will find the ice cream flavor quaint or funny but until then feelings are being hurt and compromises should be made. - CvB

Here is a New York Magazine article by Amy Zavatto, our friend and neighbor:

"Ice cream and politics don’t mix: Just look at the strange case of Staten Island Land Fill, a new flavor sold in stores by 5 Boroughs Ice Cream, and the source of a major hassle on the other side of the Verrazano. Things came to a head last Friday when Staten Island borough president Jimmy Molinaro urged an all-borough ban of 5 Boroughs Ice Cream. “Initially, we considered changing the name,” says Kim Myles, 5 Boroughs’ co-owner, “but then we realized we didn’t get into this to take direction from everybody else. And it’s our number-one seller!” What the two did not count on was what a very sore toothache the dump has become to most Islanders, long weary of being the Abbott to the-rest-of-NYC’s Costello.
Fresh Kills’ 2,200 acres shut down six years ago, and the Department of City Planning is well on its way to turning the former blight into a park, part of the reason Myles and her husband, Scott, thought borough residents would laugh it off. But so far, the controversy over the year-old flavor has been a big, drippy mess. “As a native Staten Islander and proud resident of the borough, I won’t buy any of the company’s products until they change the name,” says Staten Island Advance food critic Pamela Silvestri. Myles, however, who’s got Staten Island Cherry slotted as the next Island flavor to come off the conveyor belt, seems to get what a big nerve 5 Boroughs has irritated: “It’s really a sociological mirror. We got a funny e-mail from one Islander saying Staten Island should be glad we made a flavor for them and then suggesting a new one called Fake Tan Pecan. But I don’t think we’re going to use that one.” —Amy Zavatto, New York Magazine"
Fresh Kills Park Plans:

Letter from 5 Boroughs:

"Cynthia,

What a great idea! Kim and I both think this could work. What a great way to advertise what the island does offer and what the future looks like for it. The only problems I see are these:

1. There is not much space on the pints, but there is enough for a small intro that could be flushed out on the website page.
2. We have already bought and had printed the first 5000 pint cups. So we'll need to get through all those before we can add anything to the back of the pint. Not sure how long this will take.

Thanks so much for such a wonderful compromise/solution. Let's keep in touch and as we get closer to the time when we can change the pints we'll work it all out. In the meantime, I suppose we could link to a few Staten Island websites on our links page. These sites could have all the info you just sent me.

Scott"

The Staten Island Museum Clay Cat Workshop

2007-06-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

The clay cat workshop and book reading at The Staten Island Museum was a big hit. We are doing another one on Saturday, August 25th at 2 p.m. For more information please click HERE.

Here is a letter from a parent who attended the Clay Cat Workshop at The Staten Island Museum:

"Cynthia,

Kodiak (age 4) is finished with the cat sculpture he started at your 5/19 clay workshop at the Staten Island Museum. The photos are attached. The sculpture is painted like one of his mom's cats.

I also blogged (with lots of photos) about the entire process at the link below. This post includes the trip to SI, sculpting at home, and painting... as well as the Prodigal/Splashdown backstory.

http://brian-of-brooklyn.blogspot.com/2007/06/cat-who-wouldnt-come-inside.html

Thanks for putting on this workshop. I hope to get back to the museum this summer to take a closer look at your 'grownup' exhibit. Keep spreading the good word about Staten Island!

-Brian Hedden"

Italy? Spain? Mexico? Nope, it's Staten Island!

2007-05-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend, while driving around in our new convertible, we finally ventured to Fort Wadsworth. If you have ever taken the Verrazano Narrows bridge to Staten Island you may have glimpsed a castle-like fort underneath it. This stunning fort is run by The National Park Service and is open to the public. When we walked up to the edge of the cliff I looked over and said "Holy Shit!" You don't expect vistas like that in New York City. It is breathtaking. For more information click on the title. To see an enlarged picture click on the image.

We also visited the Arthur von Briesen Park which is next door. This park has trees from The World Trade Center planted in a grove near the water. They were uprooted and damaged during the disaster so they were planted here. They appear to be thriving. This park was a gathering place during the disaster as it has incredible views of Manhattan. The trees in this park are magical. We didn't have our camera at this point but you can see some great pictures HERE. We also discovered a secluded beach a little bit further down the coast.

New York Magazine Promotes the Prodigal Borough Site & Staten Island

2007-05-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

CLICK on the title above to view the whole New York magazine article.
"Staten Island: Look to the Harbor for Value and Space
An honest-to-goodness Colonial with clapboard siding isn't something you see every day in Manhattan or Brooklyn. But Staten Island isn't like the other boroughs. Perhaps by virtue of its isolation, it has managed to retain a decidedly suburban vibe. Working Girl notwithstanding, Hollywood production companies eager to replicate a small-town feel without having to invade one have been known to shoot there instead. (See Richard Dreyfus's The Education of Max Bickford) Critics belittle Staten Island for being so different — too different? — from the city, but fans of the hushed streets and verdant corners say that's precisely why they love it. Prodigal-borough status aside (the name of a local blog of course), Staten Island has much to offer buyers. First, many of the spaces are huge, as in four to six bedrooms. Plus, they're shockingly affordable; with one exception, all the properties listed below are priced at under a million. The open houses listed after the jump are in the northwest neighborhood of Mariners Harbor or the North Shore itself, which means you won't be too far deep in the heart of the island. Not that there's anything wrong with that. —S. Jhoanna Robledo"

We'll Miss Her

2007-05-16T22:54:00.000-07:00

I have been watching them raze this old house on Richmond Terrace with great disappointment. The house was not especially grand but it was pretty and its location on the water made it so wonderful and rare. It appears that a few more of these waterfront houses are going to have the same fate. See the blurb below. For the full article click on the headline above. Happily, if you want to own a house like this that IS landmarked scroll down to my last Prodigal House For Sale Pick.

From the Staten Island Advance:

"The developer who bought a 138-year-old house on Richmond Terrace in St. George and tore it down plans to build in its place a six-story, 12-unit condominium that will take advantage of the spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline. The president of the Preservation League of Staten Island, a former owner of the house who lovingly restored it in the late 1990s, called it a window onto Staten Island's past that deserved to be saved through landmarking, despite an emerging development boom in the area. On a day when scores of preservationists gathered on the steps of City Hall to call for more funding for the city Landmarks Preservation Commission to save historic homes from the wrecking ball, James Ferreri, who supports such efforts, said he didn't know if more money and more Landmarks staff would have saved 208 Richmond Terr.
He was sure of one thing, though. 'St. George is the worse for the loss of this building,' Ferreri said of the demolition of his former home. 'It's pathetic.' Over the years, the Landmarks Commission has refused to grant protective historic status to the house, either through individual landmarking or by adding it and others on the same block to an existing landmark district in St. George. Resistance to incorporating the buildings in the St. George Historic District first came more than a dozen years ago from owners on the block who recognized the development potential of their waterfront properties.

Today, some of that potential is finally being realized. An eight-story, 40-unit condominium dubbed "The View" is planned for the corner, next door to the recently obliterated 208 Richmond Terr. Bill Tuli, who with a partner purchased the house for $1 million in 2005, said he hopes to start construction on his 12-unit condominium by the end of June. 'It's a beautiful area and that's why we want to make a beautiful building,' said Tuli. Ms. Levin said the same broker who handled the sale of 208 Richmond Terr. offered $1 million for her home, another Second Empire-style building. She declined the offer because she believes her unobstructed view of Manhattan makes her property more valuable, especially as a much anticipated burst of development in the area begins. Ms. Levin said she hopes to sell to a developer in the future -- for the right price. "It would not be possible if it were landmarked," she added."

CVB says: Argh!
Click the headline for the full artcile.

Children's Clay Workshop & Book Reading at The Staten Island Museum

2007-05-15T22:29:00.000-07:00

On May 19, 2007 at 2PM Cynthia von Buhler will be reading her book, The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside and giving children a cat sculpture clay lesson at The Staten Island Museum. Each child will make their own clay cat like the one in the book to take home. For more information please visit The Staten Island Museum website. Copies of the children's book will be available in the museum gift shop. The clay workshop is $2 per child which includes admission and all supplies. Sculpture characters and press proofs from The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside will be on display as well as von Buhler's 3-d paintings. 75 Stuyvesant Place, Staten Island, New York 10301, 718.727.1135, Hours: Tuesdays - Fridays from 9AM to 5PM, Saturday 10AM - 5PM, Sunday 12PM- 5PM. The museum is one block from the Staten Island ferry terminal. THIS EXHIBIT HAS BEEN EXTENDED THROUGH TO SEPT 23rd! For more information please scroll down to the "Cynthia von Buhler: Show & Tell Solo Exhibit Opens at the Staten Island Museum" post. To find out more about the children's book click on the headline above the picture of the bookcover.

Sammy Owns Us

2007-05-15T22:14:00.000-07:00

He drives everyone on Fort Hill home from the ferry after a long day in Manhattan. Sure, we could walk but when it is cold or dark I'd rather get a ride up with Sameer. It was one of the perks we discovered after moving to Staten Island. I was a bit worried about the short but very, very steep trek up Fort Hill in the snow, rain or late at night. I had thought that I'd look on the bright side because we would be in terrific shape from walking up that hill. We have been lazy. Sameer spoils us. So, if you take the ferry over and need a ride up the hill look for Sammy. Even if his car is full he'll put you safely into a car with one of his buddies.

How Do You Make Cardboard Furniture?

2007-05-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

It seems as if an armchair made out of cardboard would not be sturdy and would look unattractive, however, the furniture pictured here looks fairly substantial and quite elegant. Eric Guiomar, a cardboard furniture maker, discovered his vocation by accident. In 1993, while working as a photographer in Paris, he needed an armchair for a photo shoot, but could not afford to buy one. So he made one instead, out of cardboard boxes he found on the street. Soon after, he quit his job as a photographer. Mr. Guiomar, 41, who calls himself a cartonniste, now sells custom designs and gives classes at his Paris-based studio, Bleuzen. Find out how cardboard furniture is made on May 18, 2007 at the Staten Island Museum where the Staten Island Film Production company Vine Street Works will present Cardboard Furniture, a film from their series How Things Are Made. Producer Elizabeth Way, Director Gregor Scheer and three featured Cartonnist Artisans from France will be on hand for a Q&A. There will also be live jazz with Bob Kaiser and Friends (who created the film score). Admission to view the film is free with the regular museum admission price. (Adults: $2; Children, Students, Seniors: $1; Children under 12: free). For the complete program, trailers and more information please click on the headline above.

The Staten Island Museum
75 Stuyvesant Place, Staten Island, New York 10301, 718-727-1135
7:30pm - 10:00pm

The film will also be screened at the Everything Goes Book Café on Saturday May 19th at 9pm. Eric Guiomar and two of his students, Valerie Pagesi and Isabelle Boissar, will be present for a Q&A.

Urban Renewal: Time Out New York Hyping Staten Island...again

2007-05-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

From Time Out New York last week:

"You’re ready to buy, done with roomies or having a kid: You’re at the tipping point and need help making the move. Here’s where to look.

Stepping over passed-out drunks to get to your front door has lost its charm. You want something safe, quiet and affordable, but still interesting. Consider St. George—Staten Island’s most proximate neighborhood to the ferry landing. Rents are cheap ($1,500 can get you three bedrooms plus a yard), and if you squint it looks a hell of a lot like a tony San Francisco nabe—hills, clean streets, rustic Italian bistros like Enoteca Maria (27 Hyatt St at Central Ave, 718-447-2777) and a ballpark on the water. What you won’t find are high-rises popping up anytime soon. 'There is certainly an anti-Manhattan sentiment with some of the longtime residents, and the local political machine takes care of unwanted growth,' says Graham Smith, a 28-year-old advertising engineer who moved from Long Island City to a quiet block on Daniel Low Terrace. 'And when the gentrification wars do occur, they will be bloody.'

What we found:

2BR, St. George, Staten Island, $1,575/mo, Seaview Estates (718-815-3334)
Two-family home, St. George, Staten Island, $649,000"

Note: Click on the headline for the full article.

Prodigal House For Sale Pick - $749,000 (St. George) A House With A Million Dollar VIew

2007-05-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

This beautiful house is such a find I hesitate to promote it up on this site because I want it for myself. Since I already have a house that I love here on Staten Island I will reluctantly share this with you. It is a landmarked 1840 Greek Revival, 3803 square foot, 3 floors with a finished basement, house. It is currently a single family home but it is approved to be a 2 family. It has views of Manhattan to die for from every room at the front of the house including the first floor huge windows and the lovely porch. These views should never be blocked because it is directly across from a city owned waterfront park. Unlike most Richmond Terrace houses this one is set back from the street so you have a front yard and a back yard. The 7,600 lot goes all the way back to Carroll Street behind it. The house has an adorable carriage house where you can park your car (or horse). The basement has a darkroom built into it. The house appears to be in great shape and has an incredible feeling of openness and light. There is a blooming magnolia tree out front and the back garden is prettily landscaped. This is only 2 blocks from the ferry and you can walk along a beautiful waterfront park on way. Snatch this one up. You will not regret it. And remember to thank Prodigal Borough when this house doubles in value. Contact: Norma Sue Wolfe, Gateway Arms, 718-273-3800 X16, or by cell 718-816-9472 (6AM - 9PM calls only)

Staten Island Seeks Artists, NY1 Television News

2007-04-29T18:21:00.000-07:00

Artist and Prodigal Borough Blogger Cynthia von Buhler was interviewed by NY1 News. View the news clip by clicking the headline above.
"Members of the Downtown Staten Island Council have been talking about revitalizing Stapleton and St. George for quite some time. As NY1's Shawna Ryan reports, some say the best way to do that is to find a new artistic appreciation. Cynthia Von Buhler has a gallery in one of the most sought-after neighborhoods of Manhattan. She moved to the Island two years ago and now she's ready to bring her gallery to St. George. “I have a studio in the Meatpacking District and now it’s a hot neighborhood and I’m giving up that studio to be in Staten Island,” says Von Buhler. Von Buhler's work is part of an exhibit that opened at the Staten Island Museum Friday.
She says she's part of a movement of artists who hope to revive the downtown neighborhoods like St. George and Stapleton.
“I think that the potential is there, definitely, and there is a community of young people and we’ve all been getting together. We talk about what we can do to make it better,” says Von Buhler. But some artists say it’s not easy to get connections with financial institutions and brokers to secure a gallery space. And that's what members of the Downtown Staten Island Council hope to change.
“That’s part of what we're here for as a business development group,” says Downtown Staten Island Council executive director Robert Cross. “We have representatives from banks, insurance residential, commercial brokers. We can definitely bridge that gap and we're trying to do that as we speak. A study released by the Center for an Urban Future called "Staten Island 2020" suggests the Island could benefit from bringing artists downtown. Stapleton Gallery owner Jeff Kolasinkski agrees. “Before they were really developed the artists were people who situated themselves and led the way for the development that followed,” says Kolasinkski. Artists say the spaces available on the island rival ones in the Big Apple. “There's a lot of potential here,” says artist Scott LoBaido. “I’m excited. I still will have shows in Manhattan, but this is my home. I mean, look at this tremendous space I have. It’s an artist's dream.”
“If you look in SoHo, artists have to leave because the rents are so high. Staten Island is a find and I think more people will come here,” says Von Buhler. But it looks like Manhattan’s loss is Staten Island’s gain." – Shawna Ryan

Note from CvB: We need to make people realize that Staten Island IS part of The Big Apple. Staten Island IS in New York City.

Cynthia von Buhler: Show & Tell Solo Exhibit Opens at the Staten Island Museum

2007-04-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

April 26, 2007 – June 17, 2007, EXTENDED until September 23, 2007 due to popular demand
On Friday, April 27, The Staten Island Museum will unveil Cynthia von Buhler: Show & Tell. The surreal three-dimensional works blend Renaissance inspired portraiture and messianic figures with natural objects. Cynthia von Buhler’s enigmatic paintings impart their meaning through symbol, design, and narrative. In von Buhler’s art, butterflies, snakes, birds, and plants are set into cages, boxes, and peepholes to serve as metaphors for the human condition. The layered gouache paintings and their sculptural, performance, and audio accoutrements are at once poignant and mischievous. Show and Tell is akin to a trip down an ornate rabbit hole. Many New Yorkers are familiar with von Buhler's interactive sculptures which have been exhibited frequently in the city. But few have seen an exhibit of her 3-d paintings, since most of these works are in private collections. Also on view will be characters from von Buhler's recent children's book, The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside (Houghton Mifflin, 2006). The museum is easily accessible from Manhattan via the Staten Island ferry which is a free twenty-minute ride, and lands across the street from the museum. An exhibition catalog will be available. Books are available for sale in the museum gift shop. 75 Stuyvesant Place, Staten Island, New York 10301, 718.727.1135, Hours: Tuesdays - Fridays from 9AM to 5PM, Saturday 10AM - 5PM, Sunday 12PM- 5PM.

May 6, 2007: Cynthia von Buhler Artist’s Talk will be held on Sunday, May 6th at 2:00 p.m. Von Buhler’s Renaissance inspired portraits hold hidden secrets, butterflies, snakes, and birds---while cages and peepholes serve as mischievous metaphors. The Artist’s Talk is part of the Artists/Ideas Series: Supported by JP Morgan Chase.

May 19, 2007: The Cat Who Wouldn’t Come Inside Family Workshop and Book Signing with Artist and author Cynthia von Buhler will be held on Saturday, May 19th at 2:00 p.m. Participants will meet the artist and find out how she created her new book with dollhouse charm and a message about patience and giving. A cat figurine workshop for children is included in the program. Admission is $2 per child. Signed books will be available for sale at the event.

August 11, 2007: Cynthia von Buhler Artist’s Talk will be held on Saturday, August 11th at 1:00 p.m. Von Buhler’s Renaissance inspired portraits hold hidden secrets, butterflies, snakes, and birds---while cages and peepholes serve as mischievous metaphors. The Artist’s Talk is part of the Artists/Ideas Series: Supported by JP Morgan Chase. Free with museum admission.

August 25, 2007: The Cat Who Wouldn’t Come Inside Family Workshop and Book Signing with Artist and author Cynthia von Buhler will be held on Saturday, August 25th at 2:00 p.m. Participants will meet the artist and find out how she created her new book with dollhouse charm and a message about patience and giving. A cat figurine workshop for children is included in the program. Admission is $5 per child. Admission is free for children under 12. Copies of the book will be available for sale at this event.

Read the museum press release and view close-up details of some of the paintings HERE

Best of Borough's Festival at P.S. 122: Peripherally Yours...With Love, Staten Island

2007-04-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

A two-part special series investigating the wild and wacky world of NYC's Forgotten Borough. Little Miss Big Mouth has been selected to represent Staten Island at P.S. 122's "Best of the Boroughs" festival, a new super-charged celebration that takes audiences on a tour of the city's brightest theatre, dance and performance. Sara Valentine is a resident of Staten Island's North Shore. Little Miss Big Mouth, her live, theatrical talk show and performance series, has been introducing audiences to some of Downtown's most eclectic performers for 9 years. Valentine is a member of the Hungry March Band, and is a past curator of the HOWL! Festival of East Village Arts. Little Miss Big Mouth, in its talk show format, combines Valentine's love for performance with her passion for learning the stories of people's lives, and in general, not being able to keep her mouth shut.

Friday April 6th and Saturday April 7th at 8pm at P.S. 122
150 1st Avenue @ 9th Street, in Manhattan.
Tickets are $20, $15 for students and seniors and $10 for members.

To purchase tickets online click on the headline above.

Friday, April 6th
-Reverend Adele from Mystikal Wonders - on why S.I. is the hub of all Wiccan activity in NYC
-Trish & Christoph - lead a guided tour of the North Shore and a song...Simon & Garfunkel meet Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
-Jesse Tigner Hayden McCrary, Jr. (Kris' & Sara's landlord!) - presents "Men Dancing , " a pas de deux in the nude
-Tiokasin Ghosthorse - Native American storyteller and flute player, host of WBAI's First Voices Radio performs live
-Century Dance Complex - present a traditional African dance by Liberian artist Rose Kingston & her dancers
-Elektro Motif - presents interactive poetry and music, featuring Doug Principato, Will Wyn, Marguerite Rivas and Andre Martinez

Saturday, April 7th
-Staten Island Paranormal Society - talks about ghost busting on S.I. and hunts for P.S. 122's resident ghost
-Minnie Van Driver - Staten Island's Ambassador of Love serenades and waxes philosophical on the island
-Gabri Christa - Caribbean dancer, theatre and film artist gets interviewed while performing an automatic dance
-A New Shade of Black - a performance by Staten Island's all black, post-hardcore band
-The Sisters Wijesinghe - recent emigrants to S.I. and students at the College of Staten Island perform a traditional Sri Lankan dance
-Sheila Rohan - an interview with the director of the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre
-Day de DaDa - the Art Nurses and the Mighty Men of DaDa welcome you to S.I.
-The Eternal Knitter of Staten Island - Knits during the show

Food provided by Panini Grill of Forest Avenue in Staten Island

Features for both nights:
-Jenny Tango & Maureen Seaberg - Octagenarian feminist artist meets the undercover reporter of S.I. in their shared role as co-hosts
-The Little Miss Big Mouth House Band - Fronted by Sari Rubinstein of Rubulad and featuring Mary Feaster of the Circus Amok Band, a resident Islander who will perform an "Ode to the Dancing Aliens" of Staten Island
-Also in the house band: Viva and Kim of the all-girl world dance band Paprika
-Video interview with local groundhog, Staten Island Chuck , and his keeper, Doug Schwartz, who is building the City of Rocks on Staten Island's South Shore, which will also be profiled
-A Night out With Sammy - Documented cab ride with the Island's alpha dog of drivers, Sammy, the Catholic Egyptian cab driver who speaks Ebonics fluently and recites poetry while driving his 9+ passengers up and down the hills of S.I.
-Footage of Staten Island's splendor...from the summit of Todt Hill to the shores of the Atlantic, the Ship's Graveyard to the Ferry Terminal, the double-decker diner on Hylan Blvd. to the Italian-Catholic Shrine made of rocks and shells in Rosebank, the house of Alice Austen to the Tibetan Museum....and every bagel shop in between.
-Set by Gallery Six owner Jeff Kolasinski, with the work of Staten Island artists Tom Ronse and Cynthia von Buhler, and more.

Time Out New York Staten Island Home Feature

2007-04-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

Staten Island's Fort Hill Castle, owned by Prodigal Borough bloggers, was featured this week in Time Out New York. The interview is by Kate Lowenstein and photos are by Patrik Rytikangas. (above photo by Russell Farhang). Read the interview HERE.

Prodigal House For Sale Pick - $995,000 (Snug Harbor)

2007-03-28T22:59:00.000-07:00

A Prodigal Borough reader sent us the MLS number for this handsome house. This house has LAND! The lot size is 16,800 square feet. That is quite a bit of land, even for Staten Island. The house is a grand 7,100 square feet. The listing boasts 11 rooms, commerical kitchen, library, period detailing, wraparound porch, 3 car garage, loft, inground pool, and more. All for under 1 million dollars! The listing calls the house a "1900's Queen Anne Victorian" but it looks more like colonial meets Queen Anne to me. With all of that land I'm tempted to go and see it myself. For those of you who don't know Staten Island well, Snug Harbor is a beautiful museum complex, across from the water, a short bus or car ride from the ferry. (Take S40 bus on Richmond Terrace outside SI Yankee Ballpark.) Snug Harbor is 2 miles from the ferry terminal. If you go to Snug Harbor check out the Chinese Scholar's Garden. The koi and the extensive ponds are gorgeous and the fish actually follow you as you walk around. (I think they want to get fed. Believe it or not, our own pond fish eat out of our hands). Make sure you stop in and have brunch at Cafe Botanica. It is Prodigal Borough's favorite place for breakfast in all of Staten Island. To visit the Snug Harbor website click HERE. Connie Profaci Realty, Jo Ann Della Rocca, 718-614-2676, jadr22@aol.com, MLS#1034289

Cynthia von Buhler: Show & Tell at The Staten Island Museum, April 27, 2007 – June 17, 2007 (EXTENDED until September 23, 2006)

2007-03-28T22:45:00.000-07:00

Yours truly is showing at The Staten Island Museum in April. Click the title to go to the museum's website. Here's the press release:

(Staten Island, New York – March 2007) – On Friday, April 27, the Staten Island Museum will unveil Cynthia von Buhler: Show & Tell. The surreal three-dimensional works blend Renaissance inspired portraiture and messianic figures with natural objects. Cynthia von Buhler’s enigmatic paintings impart their meaning through symbol, design, and narrative. In von Buhler’s art, butterflies, snakes, birds, and plants are set into cages, boxes, and peepholes to serve as metaphors for the human condition. The layered gouache paintings and their sculptural, performance, and audio accoutrements are at once poignant and mischievous. Show and Tell is akin to a trip down an ornate rabbit hole.

Cynthia von Buhler states: “I am a story teller who enjoys revealing the hidden. We all have our outward stories of who we are, how we make our living, what we wear, how we want to be perceived - but what truly interests me are the stories we normally choose not to tell.” Her work focuses on three-dimensional using objects such as insects, fruit, or frog skeletons dangle provocatively in shadowy recesses. Live and taxidermy birds can be found seated in cages within the pieces, demonstrating trapped emotions. Ms. Von Buhler raises pet doves and all of the taxidermy doves in her work have died of natural causes.

The exhibit will include sculpted characters and press proofs from von Buhler’s recent children’s book, The Cat Who Wouldn’t Come Inside. The children’s book was released by Houghton Mifflin in September 2006. The book was chosen as “Teacher’s Pick-Best Books of 2006” by Parent & Child and a “Children’s Pick, Winter 2006/2007” by Book Sense.

Cynthia von Buhler is an internationally exhibiting visual artist, illustrator and author living in New York City. Her work has appeared as the cover feature of New York Arts, New York’s Gallery Guide, Communication Arts, Step by Step Graphics, The Boston Globe, The Boston Phoenix, and many other publications. Art & Antiques named Ms. Von Buhler as “one of the top contemporary surrealists” in 2006.

Ms. von Buhler has won the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals at the Society of Illustrators Los Angeles, and the Gold Medal from the Visual Club. Her work has been published frequently in the Society of Illustrators Annual, Communications Arts Illustration Annual, and American Illustration, each of which feature the best and most cutting-edge illustration in the country.

April 27, 2007: Opening Reception will take place on Friday, April 27, from 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.

May 6, 2007: Cynthia von Buhler Artist’s Talk will be held on Sunday, May 6th at 2:00 p.m. Von Buhler’s Renaissance inspired portraits hold hidden secrets, butterflies, snakes, and birds---while cages and peepholes serve as mischievous metaphors. The Artist’s Talk is part of the Artists/Ideas Series: Supported by JP Morgan Chase.

May 19, 2007: The Cat Who Wouldn’t Come Inside Family Workshop and Book Signing with Artist and author Cynthia von Buhler will be held on Saturday, May 19th at 2:00 p.m. Participants will meet the artist and find out how she created her new book with dollhouse charm and a message about patience and giving. A cat figurine workshop for children is included in the program. Admission is $2 per child. Signed books will be available for sale at the event.

August 11, 2007: Cynthia von Buhler Artist’s Talk will be held on Saturday, August 11th at 1:00 p.m. Von Buhler’s Renaissance inspired portraits hold hidden secrets, butterflies, snakes, and birds---while cages and peepholes serve as mischievous metaphors. The Artist’s Talk is part of the Artists/Ideas Series: Supported by JP Morgan Chase. Free with museum admission.

August 25, 2007: The Cat Who Wouldn’t Come Inside Family Workshop and Book Signing with Artist and author Cynthia von Buhler will be held on Saturday, August 25th at 2:00 p.m. Participants will meet the artist and find out how she created her new book with dollhouse charm and a message about patience and giving. A cat figurine workshop for children is included in the program. Admission is $5 per child. Admission is free for children under 12. Copies of the book will be available for sale at this event.

General Museum Information

For now 125 years, the Staten Island Museum (Staten Island Institute of Arts & Sciences) has been fostering and sustaining scientific and cultural heritage on Staten Island. Founded in 1881, New York City's only general interest museum explores the arts, natural science, and local history through permanent and changing exhibitions and welcomes over 65,000 adults and school children to a comprehensive array of programs.

The Museum’s History Archives & Library is open to the public by appointment and houses a large collection of Staten Island related materials, including 55,000 photos, 6,600 postcards, 3,100 maps, and 15,000 books. Photographic reproduction and research services are available for those who are unable to visit.

The Museum Store offers a selection of New York City and Staten Island related souvenirs, postcards, books and maps. Look out for magnets and mugs featuring the Staten Island Ferry.

Permanent installations include Above the Molding, a selection of unique paintings of New York Harbor and the Staten Island Ferry; The Lenape: The First Staten Islanders, featuring arrowheads and artifacts dating back to ca. 10,000 B.C.; prized specimens from the Museum’s vast insect collection at the Wall of Insects; and the Fluorescent Mineral Room, a glow-in-the-dark display of minerals. And since October 2005 we celebrate one of New York City’s icons in The Staten Island Ferry: The First 100 Years.

Changing exhibitions include the presentation of both established and emerging regional artists, in depth exploration of natural history such as the geology and biodiversity of Staten Island, and periodic displays based on compelling subjects of local history.

Museum Building
75 Stuyvesant Place
Hours:
Sunday – Friday 12:00pm - 5:00pm;
Saturday 10:00am – 5:00pm;
Admission: Adults: $2; Children, Students, Seniors: $1; Children under 12: free
The museum building is wheelchair accessible.

Treehouse Living on Staten Island?

2007-03-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

We were driving down a road that we had never traveled in Staten Island, and low and behold, we discovered this amazing treehouse on De Groot Street. I wonder if someone actually lives there? It could use a coat of paint and a few repairs but anyone who ever dreamed of living in a treehouse as a child will agree that this is the one they would want. I would paint it purple and green. I bet it even has a view of Manhattan from up there.

Prodigal House For Sale Pick - $405,000 (St. George)

2007-03-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

This house is in the St. George historic district and it is near the the ferry. It looks like it probably needs work but it is quite attractive and is priced reasonably. It is 2180 square feet with 3 bedrooms. I'm partial to towers so here you go again. Clove Lake Realty, MLS: 1034568

Prodigal House For Sale Pick - $689,900 (Westerleigh)

2007-03-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

This pretty victorian house with a tower in Westerleigh caught my eye on the Safari Real Estate page. Click the title above to see the full listing. It looks like it has been nicely maintained and appears to have retained details inside as well. Where else in NYC can you get an amazing house like this for this low price? 10 rooms, 3168 square feet and a yard. Contact: Safari Realty, 718-442-5200, MLS: 5318252

Old Photographs and Maps of St. George

2007-03-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

Our friend and neighbor, Kevin Rice, sent us this link. These old postcards and maps give us a glimpse at what St. George once looked like. Try to see if you can recognize buildings that still exist. There is also a great map of the area. There is a "two story brick mansion" on Fort Hill Circle. I cannot locate any pictures of this mansion. If anyone knows where we can find one let us know. The British Fort appears over a bit more than I had been told but perhaps at one point the fort took up more space than this map depicts. Click on the title above to view the link. There is a zoom and pan feature so you can get a close look at the map.

Forget about Macy's! Over-the-top Holiday Decorations on Staten Island

2006-12-26T16:22:00.000-08:00

On December 24, 2006, The Advance listed a few Staten Island houses known for their over-the-top holiday lights. Prodigal Borough set out with our holiday guests, Michelle Auerbach and Aaron Morris, on Christmas eve in search of these and other extravagantly lit homes. When it comes to Christmas lights it doesn't matter if your home is a small brick contemporary, MacMansion or an antique victorian. This is the time of year to make your house stand head and shoulders above the rest purely based upon your creativity and willingness to pay Con Ed some extra cash. We were not disappointed. By far the most remarkable street was Philip Avenue, a small dead end street that you'd probably never venture down. However, when we spied Santa's sleigh and reindeer flying across the street in mid air we decided this street needed closer examination. These pictures do not do these houses justice. One house had even removed their huge front door and placed plexiglass over it so you could view a bizarre Christmas tableaux. Even their large second floor window was a huge diarama. There were more animatronics on this street than in a Macy's window display. The house with the reindeer flying towards it had a frightening singing Santa and Snowman with a large repertoire of holiday songs. They were on motion sensors so we had to drive back and forth to make them go on. Take our word for it and go see these for yourself. Hopefully, they will still be lit through the new year. The houses the Advance chose were nice but nothing in comparison to our first prize winning street, Philip Avenue. Second prize goes to the house with about 50 lifesize angels in the yard. (Does anyone have the address for this one?) It was hard to photograph those due to their high fence but in person it was exceedingly tasteful and pretty. There were are some strangeness while we drove around including houses with dozens of reindeer and some yard nativities. At one house on Forest Avenue visitors to the front door must duck under an enormous lit wisemen procession to enter. We put up a lone animatronic deer on our second floor tower balcony which cast a fine antler shadow and could be seen from blocks away. However, we were shamed by Staten Island holiday light creativity so we'll have to do better next year.

2006-10-28T12:57:00.000-07:00

One day while at home in our little castle on Staten Island I heard a ding dong sound similar to an icecream truck. I looked out my window and I saw a bright, lipstick red, truck with knives and blades carefully painted on it. I thought, "What the hell is this??!!" I tried to get a photo but the truck took off around the corner. The next time it came by my husband went out to investigate. It was a knife sharpening truck. How many neighborhoods can boast having one of these? Recently, I spoke to the truck owner, an elderly Italian fellow, and told him that my husband surely had some knives to be sharpened if he came by on the weekend. He promised to come by on a Saturday sometime before Thanksgiving. Keep your ears peeled!

Our Lovely, Livable Island

2006-10-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

Photo: Victorian Mansion on St. Pauls Ave.
It seems like the New York press are starting to recognize our lovely little island. First, last week New York Magazine (October 2, 2006 issue, page 46 and 47) listed Staten Island as a "Neighborhood Value" in their cover feature "How To Navigate The Finally Turning, But Wacky & Confusing, (Upside Down) Real-Estate Market". Our stomping ground, the North Shore, is finally getting its due. This week New York Magazine asks why there are no plans for a first-class museum going up in Staten Island (see the blog post below this one). Today, Time Out NY, ranks two of our favorite Staten Island blocks as "The Top 50 Best Blocks in New York." Stapleton received the same score as St. George in the transportation category which we disagree with. St. George is closer to the ferry terminal and that was the clincher for us in choosing St. George over Stapleton, but we love both neighborhoods.
New York Magazine:

Staten Island
First-time homebuyers have helped to keep the low end active, while the recent end of tax abatements has made buying new high-end construction a less attractive option than it was a year ago. As a result, the borough's more suburban South Shore - where the bulk of pricey houses have gone up - is due for a slump. The island's North Shore, with its more diverse, urban stock, is better suited to weather the storm. Best Buy: The St. George neighborhood around the ferry terminal is just starting to be discovered. you can even find artist lofts, and we'll take the S.I. Yankees' waterfront stadium over the Cyclones' any day.

Time Out NY:

#17, St. Pauls Avenue between Beach and Clinton Streets, Stapleton, Staten Island
Those rambling Victorian homes definitely give St. Pauls Avenue and this historic district a lot of style. And when you want some decent alternatives to the tranquility, nearby Van Duzer Street offers plenty of good food, drink and live music.

Time Out NY:

#41, St. Marks Place between Hyatt Street and Victory Boulevard, St. George, Staten Island
St. Marks Place is conviently close to the ferry, but a farmers' market on your doorstep and a fabulous array of perfectly kept homes make for pristine departure from downtown Staten Island.

Photo: Victorian House on St. Marks Ave.

At Least They're Thinking of Us...

2006-10-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

New York Magazine asks the question nobody else would: Why no big budget museum expension for Staten Island? It's so audacious I wouldn't even think of asking it myself. Somehow, SI has added itself to the real estate zeitgeist (to the extent one can argue New York is a reflection of reality). We were already shocked when the mag recently listed St. George as one of the last places in NYC to find a real estate deal. Wait a minute, could it be that New York's publisher Larry Burstein now owns some property here or something?

The fact that they used the words "Forgotten" and "Staten Island" in the same sentence tells me that Kevin Walsh's top-secret subliminal messaging plan to make everyone aware of the forgotten borough (NY's words, not mine) may actually be working. It's worked on us, at any rate.

openhousenewyork: This Weekend

2006-10-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

Photo: Seguine Mansion
openhousenewyork hosts year-round educational programs celebrating New York City’s built-environment, culminating in America’s largest architecture and design event, the Annual openhousenewyork Weekend. Check out their website to see what is still available to view today. Some of Prodigal Borough's picks are the cellphone tour of the High Line in the Meatpacking District, Seguine Mansion, Gowanus Canal Canoe Tour, Horse Trails to Subway Rails, Ellis Island's South Side, Governor's Island, Last Exit to Brooklyn: Red Hook, and Tom Otterness's art studio.
Photo: Alice Austen House
On Staten Island you can visit:

The Attic at the Staten Island Museum, which boasts one of the largest collection of cicadas in North America, artifacts of the first Staten Islanders, birds, preserved frogs and more.

The Alice Austen House Museum, where visitors can see an exhibit of more than 40 Dutch 17th-century paintings, furniture and household objects, in addition to the biographical artifacts of Alice Austen.

Jacob Crocheron House, considered the finest Federal-period architecture of the lower Hudson Valley, in prototypical American "Dutch Colonial" form incorporating precise Georgian symmetry. The house was moved to Historic Richmond Town in 1987 and is being restored.

Moravian Cemetery, which was founded in 1740. It has two freshwater lakes on 114 acres, and serves as an outdoor museum for sculpture.

The Noble Maritime Collection, a maritime museum focusing on the work of American lithographer John A. Noble, featuring his houseboat studio and the history of Sailor's Snug Harbor, with re-creations of the original features of the sailors' retirement home.

St. George Theatre, which originally opened in 1929 as a showcase for vaudeville and motion pictures. The interior of the theater is a combination of Spanish and Italian baroque design and features ornate windows, grand staircases and oversized paintings.

The Seguine Mansion, a Greek Revival structure that faces Prince's Bay. It was built in 1838 by Joseph H. Seguine.

For more information on OHNY, visit http://www.ohny.org or call 212-991-OHNY.

History + Architecture = Staten Island

2006-10-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Photo: New York Magazine
Especially now that the temperature is dropping and the leaves are falling from the numerous trees around town, we've started to see some architecture we'd forgotten about over the summer. Our friend Kevin Walsh, of Forgotten New York fame pointed out this rustic and beautiful 18th century home to me the other day -- you can read all about it in this recent New York Magazine article. We've seen this house a hundred times while going past on a somewhat industrial part of Richmond Terrace, and had no idea it was such a gem.Photo: New York Magazine

And speaking of Kevin Walsh, I was thrilled to finally get my pre-ordered Amazon copy of Kevin's book, Forgotten New York: Views of a Lost Metropolis in the mail the other day. It's a beautiful book, and the ultimate guide for tourists of history. Since meeting Kevin, I've already witnessed the destruction of a few of my favorite New York places -- most recently a row of beautiful but neglected townhouses on 45th Street that used to house my favorite lunch place. Three were flattened this week to make room for a eurochic super-hotel, surely the answer to a question that nobody asked.

Extended: Making Sense of the Universe: Paintings by Staten Island Artist, Timothy Mutzel

2006-09-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

This exhibit has been extended. There is an opening reception on Thursday, September 7th from 6-8PM and there will be Saturday visiting hours from 1-6PM.

Prodigal House For Sale Pick - $999,000 (St. George)

2006-09-01T23:13:00.000-07:00

I found this stately, historic district 1865 victorian, two family mansion on Craig's List. It certainly looks appealing in the pictures on the owner's website. The house features a three car garage, water view, glass winterized solarium, and has a new roof. The mansard roof, stone fence, and front door make me want to view the interior. There are some pictures of the foyer which is quite beautiful but I'd like to see the interior rooms. The price is a bit high for this neighborhood but it is a very large two family so half the house could be rented out to help pay the mortgage. If you view the interior, please report back and post to let us know what you think. Contact: Mr. Iliev, 718-784-9528 (sold by owner).

Prodigal House For Sale Pick - $560,000 (St. George)

2006-09-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

Do you want to be our neighbor? Yes, this Prodigal Pick is on our street, believe it or not. Fort Hill Circle is among the prettiest streets in Saint George; it circles a hill which was a British fort before and during the Revolutionary war. The house is a charming tudor, pleasingly set back from the street and surrounded by greenery. We took a tour recently and can confirm that, although some parts need work, it has cozy tudor details, a charming front office/library nook, and a brick fireplace in the entrance den that are rather inviting. The kitchen looks relatively new as well. The house is surrounded by a pleasant backyard with a big old tree, and flanked by 2 decent-sized side yards. An ample and verdant front yard sits over the garage, although it's looked upon by the kitchen window of the house next door. There is an underground batcave-like tunnel entrance to the basement we thought could be fun. It is going to need a new roof soon, and the gutters had weeds growing out of them, but this is an excellent buy for a unique house on what is arguably one of St. George's best blocks. Contact: Norma Sue at Gateway Arms, 718-273-3800.