Although most first-time visitors spend the majority of their time in Manhattan, New York City has four other boroughs to explore: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Each borough has a wealth of neighborhoods with world-class museums, restaurants, cultural institutions and attractions. If you miss them, you’re missing four-fifths of the Big Apple!
It has to be the world’s most phenomenal travel bargain, as well as one of the all-time great travel experiences: the round-trip ferry ride from lower Manhattan to Staten Island, New York City’s answer to suburbia. The Staten Island Ferry takes riders - both workday commuters and out-of-town visitors - into the open waters of New York Harbor, surrounded by unsurpassed views.
Even in cold weather, people stand out on deck, jockeying for picture-taking position as the towers of Manhattan rise up in bulk and the Statue of Liberty passes so near you can observe the folds of her dress. White seagulls escort the ferry as it plows through the harbor on its twice-an-hour journey.
But all too many visitors, upon reaching Staten Island, just turn around and come back, which is a pity. There is much to entertain the visitor.
Be sure to check out the Staten Island ferry collection, a display of memorabilia located right at the St. George Ferry Terminal. A short walk from the ferry landing is the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, a small, inviting museum which draws on its collection of more than 2 million artifacts to mount changing exhibitions related to Staten Island’s art, natural science and history. Recent shows included one of advertising art and a collection of women’s handbags and purses dating back to pre-Victorian times.
The Snug Harbor cultural center, located two miles west of the Staten Island Ferry landing and easily reached by the S-40 bus, is certainly worth an afternoon. Snug Harbor is a visual and performing arts center located at an historic 19th century site, once a retirement home for aged sailors. Among its assets are 28 historic buildings that are fine examples of Greek Revival, Italianate, Second Empire and Beaux Arts architecture, and 83 sylvan acres of parklands. Snug Harbor attracts about a quarter of a million visitors a year to concerts, art exhibitions and various educational programs, and is home to the Staten Island Children’s Museum and the Staten Island Botanical Gardens.
Snug Harbor embarked on an extensive renovation program, including repair of its dock to accommodate regular ferry service between Snug Harbor and Manhattan, and beginning restoration of a 19th century 850-seat Music Hall, once a vaudeville theater. Built in 1882, it is the second oldest theater in New York City only Carnegie Hall is older.
Another lovely outing is to the Alice Austen House, a 15-minute ride on the S-51 bus to Hylan Boulevard. It is a storybook Victorian cottage with a shaded veranda, wide lawn, and unparalleled skyline view, once occupied by one of America’s pioneering women photographers. The house documents the life and times of Alice Austen, who lived at Clear Comfort for 80 years. The house and garden have been restored to their appearance in the 1890s with the aid of Austen’s remarkable photographic record. Her pictures of the early days of tennis, bicycling and motoring, as well as of immigrant peddlers, shoeshine boys and news girls are on display.
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