If we asked you what the five boroughs of New York were, what would the answers be? The first answer from many would be Manhattan, and then maybe Brooklyn. Eventually one might sputter out the Bronx and Queens. Then after about a minute someone else might remember to add Staten Island to the list. The fact that Staten Island is always the last one to be mentioned truly makes it the ‘Forgotten Borough.’ That is why it was so imperative that we students of the Macaulay Honors College at CSI attempt to learn about the borough that we inhabit.
In addition to being the forgotten borough, there is another forgotten aspect of Staten Island. That forgotten aspect is the waterfront, more specifically, what it does for us, and how it has effected the population of Staten Island in general. Thus, we have taken this semester of our freshman year to study certain waterfront locations on Staten Island. This includes fieldwork, research and presentation. Our class was split up into five groups and each group was assigned a specific area of Staten Island to study. These areas include Tottenville, Midland Beach, Stapleton, St. George and Port Richmond.
Our project started out with us exploring our areas and observing the area around us, either through drawings or photos. Then we visited an archive respective to each of our location in order to find out more about its history and statistics. Through our research and fieldwork, we came across many pieces of information that helped us understand more about the location. The research got interesting as we began to find out what these locations were like prior to being altered by the inhabitants.
Now we are designing a website, that will function as a source of information about the Staten Island waterfront and its important locations. We hope to provide all the basic information related to our research through the website, so that it can function as the basic ground of knowledge about the Staten Island Waterfront and its Waterfront location.
So please enjoy our information of the Forgotten Borough!
