TOTTENVILLE

Community voices from Staten Island's neighborhoods

Before I begin, I'd like to thank the Yofiore/Yogurberry staff for being so kind to me after the release of my previous post.

Also, I want to respond back to a response by poster justama. He or she was correct in saying that I missed the target somewhat when I gave a sampling of the current Eltingville eateries. I regrettably overlooked Kiku Sushi, Giovanni's Restaurant (with the outdoor dining), and Pastosa Ravioli Italian market, among others. The strip of stores along that stretch of Richmond Avenue also includes Delco Drugs and Lenny's Laundromat, with classic signage you don't see very often anymore. It has the only convenience store with flowers on display outside (something I normally associate with the other boroughs), and a cigar shop too. All in about three short blocks. Isn't that something?
Thanks again justama for the reality check, as well as all the other posters who support my writing and have such nice things to say.

Now, to the topic of the day.

Everyone, get excited. I'm serious, something big has come to Eltingville.

We here on the South Shore all know Eltingville. If there's a neighborhood that at all resembles New York City in this forgotten corner of the Island, Eltingville is it. Yet it still maintains it's old hometown charm. All the stores are locally owned and non-franchised, and they cater to this area's needs quite well.

There is even a light dusting of good places to eat. There's Perkins, Country Donuts, Joyce's Tavern, and Nove (formerly 101 Restaurant), to name a few. In my opinion, this area has the most potential to become a truly cosmopolitan district, with the ever-present S.I. character of course.

Ladies and gentlemen, that day is coming. Please welcome Yofiore.

Sorry I've been gone for a while. Busy with school and such...

Lately, I've been trying to search out some different ways of getting home from C.S.I. to, you know, keep life interesting and get around a bit more. Often times I will pass through Rossville since it is near the Korean War Vets Parkway and in also not to far from Tottenville.

Let's talk about Clay Pit Road. Plain and simple, it is too congested and busy for what it is, which is a minor artery with lots of one- and two-family, detached or semi-attached homes. The reason that it is so congested is because, like so many places on the South Shore, many roads in its vicinity were never completed, thereby leaving Clay Pit alone to handle all the traffic moving to and from the nearby ramps off and on the West Shore Expressway. Classic island situation. So what can be done?

Residents of Tottenville and neighboring Charleston, speak up!

As most of you readers out there know, this blog is often published in the South Shore section of the Thursday Advance, with a selection of your responses printed as well. In this blog, your responses are the feature. I'm here to present to you a new development planned within the retail/construction boom of Charleston that may very well change this end of the Island for good.

I am a young driver (18, almost 19) and I love driving ...but driving on Staten Island takes talent, and everyone who lives here knows that. Seeing as most of us are less-than-perfect drivers, it couldn't hurt to at least have some safe main avenues and boulevards on which to drive.

Try telling that to Richmond Avenue.

But wait a sec, I'm not talking about all of Richmond Avenue. No. We all know as well as I do, that up by the mall, we have four lanes in each direction, and two turning lanes at each intersection. Now that's good management. But, dare to travel south of Arthur Kill Road, and you had better be prepared. That's where they forgot to care, Where they never widened it to its full width or put in any turning lanes whatsoever, and boy, is that where we need 'em.

I'm playing Zagat today, because I want to tell everyone about a restaurant at the foot of Seguine Avenue, an unassuming building with light blue siding, some tables and chairs outside, and a few neon signs in the windows... that may be one of Prince's Bay's best kept secrets.

The Wild Boar Inn, at the very end of Seguine Avenue, past Hylan Boulevard and S.I. University Hospital, is a quiet but friendly eatery only steps away from the docks and shoreline of Lemon Creek Park.

So....I'm a little upset right now. All I've been hearing lately is constant ups and downs regarding the North Shore rail line and West Shore light rail. Me, I really want to see these two rail corridors materialize, because the connections they'd create, the convenience they'd give us, the economic upturn we can expect following their opening....well, I can't quite see a problem. Too bad nice things cost nice amounts of money.

It feels like a less publicized and more localized incarnation of the New World Trade Center folly, something else I'd love to see become reality. Truthfully though, if it weren't for the failure of Bloomberg's congesting pricing, things might be very different right now. Here's a link to a recent article to give us a reality check on the rail lines, something that seems in vogue at the moment....what with the (also recent) sudden announcements that the WTC might be years behind schedule, and billions over-budget.

You all should read that article, but I want to talk about some much more, in my opinion, doable things related to the Staten Island Railway that we've yet to see happen.

In my travels this summer on Staten Island (with the help of a bicycle ;-D), I've learned a lot about the different looks of the many different areas and centers that combine to create the patchwork of an island that we call home.

The greatest neighborhoods here have many great assets ...but among them, there is one that they all have in common. A central place to gather and not worship our consumer culture, but instead a culture of leisure, of wonderful rest and relaxation. Every great neighborhood on Staten Island has a great local park to call their own.

I know it may seem like I'm taking a much different tone than some of my earlier posts, where I spoke out about how preserving every tree and shrub on this island, can sometimes stand in the way of positive development. However, I do feel that every neighborhood needs that one place to hold community activities in the summer, to send the kids after school and not worry, to get a break from the daily schedules that can make life so repetetive, to just take in some fresh air.