page_title: Staten Island
section_title: Consolidation with New York City
hierarchical_section_title: Staten Island / History / Consolidation with New York City
caption_attribution_description: English: STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (May 28, 2007) - From left, guided-missile frigate USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG 29), guided-missile cruisers USS Hue City (CG 66) and USS San Jacinto (CG 56), and guided-missile destroyers USS Oscar Austin (DDG 79) and USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) are moored as part of Fleet Week. The 20th annual Fleet Week New York City provides an opportunity for citizens of New York City and the surrounding Tri-State area to meet more than 3,000 Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, May 23-31. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kenneth R. Hendrix (RELEASED)
context_page_description: Staten Island is a borough of New York City, coterminous with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the southwest portion of the city, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull and from the rest of New York by New York Bay. With an estimated population of 476,143 in 2019, Staten Island is the least-populated of the boroughs but is the third-largest in land area at 58.5 sq mi. The borough also contains the southern-most point in the state, South Point. If each borough were ranked as a city, Staten Island would rank as the 39th most-populous in the U.S.
  Staten Island joined New York City in 1898, and was referred to as the Borough of Richmond until 1975. Staten Island has sometimes been called "the forgotten borough" by inhabitants who feel neglected by the city government.
  The North Shore—especially the neighborhoods of St. George, Tompkinsville, Clifton, and Stapleton—is the most urban part of the island; it contains the designated St. George Historic District and the St. Paul's Avenue-Stapleton Heights Historic District, which feature large Victorian houses. The East Shore is home to the 2.5-mile F.D.R.
context_section_description: The towns of Staten Island were dissolved in 1898 with the consolidation of the City of Greater New York, as Richmond County became one of the five boroughs of the expanded city. Although consolidated into the City of Greater New York in 1898, the county sheriff of Staten Island maintained control of the jail system, unlike the other boroughs which had gradually transferred control of the jails to the Department of Correction. The jail system was not transferred until January 1, 1942. Staten Island is the only borough without a New York City Department of Correction major detention center.
  The construction of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, along with the other three major Staten Island bridges, created a new way for commuters and tourists to travel from New Jersey to Brooklyn, Manhattan, and areas farther east on Long Island. The network of highways running between the bridges has effectively carved up many of Staten Island's old neighborhoods. The bridge opened many areas of the borough to residential and commercial development, especially in the central and southern parts of the borough, which had been largely undeveloped. Staten Island's population doubled from about 221,000 in 1960 to about 443,000 in 2000. Nevertheless, Staten Island remained less developed than the rest of the city. A New York Times article in 1972 stated that despite the borough having 333,000 residents, parts of the island still maintained a bucolic atmosphere with woods and marshes.
  Throughout the 1980s, a movement to secede from the city steadily grew in popularity, notably championed by longtime New York state senator and former Republican Party mayoral nominee John J. Marchi. The campaign reached its peak during the mayoral term of David Dinkins (1990–1993), after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the New York City Board of Estimate which had given equal representation to the five boroughs. Dinkins and the city government opposed a non-binding secession referendum, contending that the vote should not be permitted by the state unless the city issued a home rule message supporting it, which the city would not. Governor Mario Cuomo disagreed, and the vote went forward in 1993. Ultimately, 65% of Staten island residents voted to secede, through the approval of a new city charter making Staten Island an independent city, but implementation was blocked in the State Assembly.
  In the 1980s, the United States Navy had a base on Staten Island called Naval Station New York. It had two sections: a Strategic Homeport in Stapleton and a larger section near Fort Wadsworth, where the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge enters the island. The base was closed in 1994 through the Base Realignment and Closure process because of its small size and the expense of basing personnel there.
  Fresh Kills and its tributaries are part of the largest tidal wetland ecosystem in the region. Its creeks and wetlands have been designated a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Opened along Fresh Kills as a "temporary landfill" in 1947, the Fresh Kills Landfill was a repository of trash for the city of New York. The landfill, once the world's largest man-made structure, was closed in 2001, but was briefly re-opened for the debris from Ground Zero following the September 11 attacks in 2001. It is being converted into a 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.
caption: US Navy ships tied up at the home port pier during Fleet Week in 2007
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