What is Tottenville like? (Springville, Russia: houses, catholic schools, living)

[Hannah5555]

Originally Posted by Airborneguy

I'm really mad. I typed up two well-thought out responses in this thread and lost both. Very frustrating.

I wish there was a way we could save drafts but I don't think there is. Very frustrating.

[pierrepont7731]

This website needs to be redone. Same old dated platform...

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by l1995

So is all of South shore/Mid Island kind of the same in terms of development?



How has the population changed?

Generally, yes; few to no single family homes are being built besides tacky "Soprano McMansions"; everything else is townhouses or other semi or fully attached.


For Tottenville it is same as elsewhere; when developers cannot get empty land, they buy and tear down single family homes on good sized lots.


On example:


SI Montessori School on the move | SILive.com


Butler Manor demolished in Tottenville | SILive.com




https://www.nypl.org/blog/2010/09/13/house-elmer-built



This is what you get a lot of out there as new construction: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4...79745551_zpid/


Or this: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6...99223650_zpid/

[SanMan2k5]

Tottenville used to be a nice quiet little town. It's pretty much Brooklyn now especially on weekends. Traffic everywhere, double parking, who youse lookin at, mind youse own bizness etc Population exploded without fixing the infrastructure first(that could go for the entirety of Staten Island for that matter) They keep building "stuff" in the area including Richmond Valley without the proper space for parking etc. Page ave is goddamn mess. I avoid that like the plague in the middle of the day.

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by NewToUES

When I went to Tottenville HS (not actually in Tottenville) in the mid 90s' a fellow student told me this was the first time she had a class with anybody who wasn't white. Her family lived in Tottenville for generations which is rare in Staten Island especially on the South Shore since most of the area was built 70's and on.

The neighborhood is walk able but I would say its not very common to have strangers just walking around just because there isn't much to see. Other then The Conference House it will be like walking though any other suburban neighborhood.

The South Shore SIRR stations are mostly along Amboy Rd where you will find little shopping areas at the stops. They will get noticeably less populated as you get to the end of the line.

One, no it isn't rare to have (or had) four, five, or more generations living on SI. I grew up with and or went to school with kids whose families had been on SI since the 1700's or 1800's. That and or teachers, principles and other "adults" at school came from families like Braisted, Holtermann, and so forth.


Next, yes, until rather recently there were nil to no blacks or any darker people out on much of the South Shore and that includes Tottenville.


Until they changed zoning laws for NYC high schools populations at Tottenville, and New Dorp, HS reflected the local area which was mostly white. Private/Catholic schools out there were same.


You can look at Monsignor Farrell HS yearbooks online; it is only rather recently you see anyone who wasn't Italian, German, Irish, or other White/European background.

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by SanMan2k5

Tottenville used to be a nice quiet little town. It's pretty much Brooklyn now especially on weekends. Traffic everywhere, double parking, who youse lookin at, mind youse own bizness etc Population exploded without fixing the infrastructure first(that could go for the entirety of Staten Island for that matter) They keep building "stuff" in the area including Richmond Valley without the proper space for parking etc. Page ave is goddamn mess. I avoid that like the plague in the middle of the day.

Once SI Hospital moved to "Ocean Breeze" all bets about living/building south of Hylan Blvd were off, and that extended all way down to Tottenville.


Everyone had to have their taste (included the Catholic Church) and so were eager to sell of their land so developers could build. Hylan Blvd has never been the same.


Can remember when going from Fingerboard Road and Hylan taking it down to Tottenville or New Dorp was a nice drive. Now it's a CF of traffic and takes ages, especially during day or much of weekends.

[itshim]

very small townish/suffolk county like feel to it.


I did some work down there a few years back...and it's a very insulated/everyone who lives here was born here kind of....full of SI FDNY/EMS/NYPD/sanitation employees with a ton of Italian-American blue collar construction, plumbers, masonry folks.


And I have met quite a few people there who haven't been to Manhattan in years....as a matter of fact, people down there go to Jersey more often than they do the rest of the city.

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by itshim

very small townish/suffolk county like feel to it.


I did some work down there a few years back...and it's a very insulated/everyone who lives here was born here kind of....full of SI FDNY/EMS/NYPD/sanitation employees with a ton of Italian-American blue collar construction, plumbers, masonry folks.


And I have met quite a few people there who haven't been to Manhattan in years....as a matter of fact, people down there go to Jersey more often than they do the rest of the city.

Yes they do!


Well they would, as 440/Outerbridge is right there; in fact know and have known people whose entire lives basically are route 1-9, 440, and the Outerbridge


But then again for many Staten Islanders it's always been about New Jersey. Growing up my family like everyone else went to the Jersey Shore.


As for going to "the city" (Manhattan), no many don't often unless it is for work. Everything else they needed was either out there or across bridge in NJ.


Back in the day you had Hylan Plaza which along with other smaller stores/shops or whatever pretty much took care of what local residents needed or wanted. Again what you couldn't get/find there, there was always NJ, or maybe you drove further west up Hylan.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylan_Plaza


http://www.silive.com/eastshore/inde...ng_to_the.html

[Airborneguy]

I hate going to Manhattan. I pretty much hate leaving Staten Island unless I’m going north or south of the city!

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by Airborneguy

I hate going to Manhattan. I pretty much hate leaving Staten Island unless I’m going north or south of the city!

Yeabut the traffic on Outerbridge (especially on weekends) is getting ridiculous. Sometimes better to go up north a bit and take the Goethals.