What's Wrong With St George,Staten Island ? (Victor, Hope: real estate, apartments)
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So ,I went on an excursion yesterday afternoon,part of an ongoing thing I'm trying to do with exploring outer borough neighborhoods I'm not intimately familiar with.I decided to go to St George because, although I have been on the ferry many times, I never actually got off there and poked around.My excursions include an hour or two of walking around and finding a place to get something to eat.So that's what I did.
There is a really nice residential neighborhood called the St George historic district that is only a few blocks from the ferry.It's hilly with really nice victorian houses,many with spectacular views of the harbor and the lower Manhattan Skyline and quite a few typical NYC red and white brick apartment buildings sprinkled in.Actually reminded more of parts of San Francisco than any other neighborhood in NYC.
When I got home I looked on a few real estate sights to check out the prices of apartments,both rental and sales.The newer buildings right by the ferry with panoramic harbor and city views can be up close to 1/2 a million but the bulk of workhorse type NY older co op buildings have 2 bedroom apartment for under $200,000 and rent in the 1,500 range.Some of them even have some, though not panoramic,harbor views.
It's 20 minutes from Manhattan on the ferry and the ferry is free.
So,why are the prices so low and why don't more people consider living there? Is it just because it's Staten Island and has a kind of schmaltzy rep ? Like The Bx has a bad rep ? Is it just so uncool that nobody can bear to consider it ? Or is there some other reason ? I think if I worked in Manhattan,especially lower Manhattan,I'd give it very serious consideration but nobody ever seems to.
Found a nice little friendly neighborhood bar called Steiny's where we had beers and burgers.
I grew up on SI near St George. Much of the area near the ferry is unsavory and there isn't a whole lot in the way of things to do or services in the immediate area (this may change with the building of the wheel and outlet mall). Mass transit is limited to buses which are usually timed to the ferry schedule; this makes car ownership a necessity. Being beholden to the ferry's schedule is a huge inconvenience if you plan to go to Manhattan outside of rush hour.
The property values reflect the things I mentioned. If the MTA ever decides to extend the subway to St George then the area will gentrify in a heartbeat.
I grew up on SI near St George. Much of the area near the ferry is unsavory and there isn't a whole lot in the way of things to do or services in the immediate area (this may change with the building of the wheel and outlet mall). Mass transit is limited to buses which are usually timed to the ferry schedule; this makes car ownership a necessity. Being beholden to the ferry's schedule is a huge inconvenience if you plan to go to Manhattan outside of rush hour.
The property values reflect the things I mentioned. If the MTA ever decides to extend the subway to St George then the area will gentrify in a heartbeat.
It seemed to me that there was a somewhat "unsavory" part of St George to the East and Southeast of Borough Hall but I'm really referring to the neighborhood to the West and Northwest of it.They seemed like totally different areas they were so different, though I know it's all considered St George.It's like there is a bad side of town and a good side of town but honestly,after living in NYC for 30 plus years and living in places like the lower East side and the seedy part of Williamsburg long before there was such a thing as gentrification and now in The Bronx,I found even the "unsavory" side of St George quite tame.Seems to me one could easily live on the good side of the neighborhood.
There were a couple of shopping/restaurant areas right behind the borough hall,courthouse that looked like they had at least as many or more "services" than many other outer borough neighborhoods.
You might not appreciate it because you grew up there but the prices in that area are cheaper than even most bad neighborhoods in The Bronx or Brooklyn that are a 40 minute subway ride.That's what I'm comparing it too.
Also,I looked at the ferry schedule and even on Sundays and evenings it seems to run every 30 minutes.At least they seem to run very punctually,like clockwork.Seems to me that if you lived within 10 or 15 minute let's say of the ferry,you could learn to time it quite well.
I wouldn't bother with a car or busses,I don't think,if I lived there.I think the little shopping area behind the borough hall/courthouse would be ok for most times and just get everything else in Manhattan.LOL,I have friends in very pricey Williamsburg who still do their grocery shopping in Manhattan and lug it on the subway.
The neighborhood would never work for me because I work in The Bronx but if I worked in lower Manhattan I think I'd rather live in St George( the nice part) than places like Jersey City or deep into Brooklyn or a lot of places in Queens or The Bx.
I am not calling the area dangerous (although there are parts that are the farther you venture from the terminal itself).
The ferry seemed "punctual" to you because you've never suffered through the once an hour run on Saturday night (check the schedule from 7 pm on on Saturday and Sunday), the one where you miss the ferry by a few minutes because the unreliable bus system was running late, wait an hour, then have them announce that the next ferry is cancelled and you have to wait another hour. Suddenly you've just lost 2 hours, which is something people in the other 4 boroughs don't have to deal with because the subways run more often.
Mass transit on SI is slow and unreliable. Almost everyone owns a car, and many families have 2 or 3.
Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against living on SI (other than the tolls), but to suggest that it's just as convenient to Manhattan as the other 4 boroughs is a stretch. Cheaper? Absolutely, but it's that way for a reason and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
I am not calling the area dangerous (although there are parts that are the farther you venture from the terminal itself).
The ferry seemed "punctual" to you because you've never suffered through the once an hour run on Saturday night (check the schedule from 7 pm on on Saturday and Sunday), the one where you miss the ferry by a few minutes because the unreliable bus system was running late, wait an hour, then have them announce that the next ferry is cancelled and you have to wait another hour. Suddenly you've just lost 2 hours, which is something people in the other 4 boroughs don't have to deal with because the subways run more often.
Mass transit on SI is slow and unreliable. Almost everyone owns a car, and many families have 2 or 3.
Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against living on SI (other than the tolls), but to suggest that it's just as convenient to Manhattan as the other 4 boroughs is a stretch. Cheaper? Absolutely, but it's that way for a reason and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
I do appreciate your insight but I am not suggesting that all of Staten Island is just as convenient to Manhattan.Only suggesting that that one neighborhood that is a 10 minute walk from the ferry might be as or more convenient to lower Manhattan than much of the rest of the city is.I am of course mindful that if you had to rely on a bus or some other way to get to the ferry itself, it would change everything.And I never thought of them canceling ferries and losing a whole hour because of that.Does that happen frequently ? Certainly something to consider.
St George has some bad parts, real bad. No Staten Islander would move there on purpose.
Not far from Jersey Street, which you don't want to be caught anywhere near!
I had gone to "Beso", ( I do recommend it highly) a great Spanish restaurant around there, so I took my partner to walk around the neighborhood, as he had never been. The NY harbor views are spectacular, there are old Victorian homes scattered, but there is still that remaining sketchyness that the area is notorious for. I can see it, I know what to look for.
A good friend of mine lived on Layton Ave, back in the 80's which is off Jersey Street, and like the poster above said, Jersey Street is not the place to be. Not good. It looks crappy because it is crappy.
Then there are nice high rise apartment buildings here and there.....as well as houses, but the general area of St George, other than right near the ferry, is not great.
The St George theater is something to be seen, it really is spectacular as well. But then you walk down the block and you can feel the sketch..................just sayin'
Yes it is very sketchy and at night its worse. It has a lot of potential to be a great enclave neighborhood. Jersey Street to the west is a definite "no go" zone, which is a definite detriment. There is a large NYCHA development and it is not at all pleasant.
Back in 2003/04 my wife and I looked at several victorians in the area. One was across from Curtis HS, one on St. Marks Place and one on the otherside of Jersey Street and up the hill (can't recall the street but its a dead end). All were beautiful turn of the century homes. However the big turn off was the area (surrounding) and the lack of amenities and transit options. The area hasn't changed much since then. Hopefully in the next decade that will change.
I can see the "sketchiness" you guys talk about, but if I was a young guy I would consider living there because I work by Chambers Street. Affordable and the city is right there. But bad? Nahh. There's areas in Staten that are much worse. To me when I used to go out there...you could definitely tell when you were getting into the hood but it still didnt feel anywhere as bad as lets say, Park Hill or Stapleton. Richmond Terrace projects looked pretty rough too. But around the ferry didn't look so bad. Can somebody give some blocks in St. George that aren't desirable? I admittedly haven't been to Staten in a few years, aside from the mall.
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
Some of the streets in that area look pretty run down. Some boarded up houses. Lots of litter on the streets. If fixed up would look pretty nice though. Some nice older houses.
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