WHAT’S IN A NAME:  Stapleton:   In 1832 William J. Staples, in partnership with Minthorne Tompkins, the son of the Vice President to James Monroe, Daniel D. Tompkins, acquired land from the Vanderbilts and laid out the streets.  They started a ferry service from the neighborhood waterfront to Manhattan and began advertising their new village in 1836.

From this Station’s above-grade platform you catch a glimpse of Manhattan.

 

The town dates from the 1830s.  Bay Street, a block from the Station, is a commercial area with many older homes and the Paramount Theatre, which opened in 1935.  The Theatre interior has been gutted but the lobby and exterior are still impressive.  In the background, Stapleton Heights clusters along Ward Hill.

 

To the south is a dramatic vista of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and parts of Brooklyn.

MTA Staten Island Railway Station 3 of 22

Looking south from the Station platform

toward Clifton.

Looking north from the Station platform

toward Tompkinsville.

Two views of Stapleton with views of Stapleton Heights on Ward Hill in the background.

Looking toward Bay Street from the platform.  The empty lot in the foreground, a former municipal parking lot, is slated for residential development.

Many stations have dance studios nearby.

The Paramount Theatre building

is a huge presence.