Grant City, Staten Island
Encyclopedia
Grant City is the name of a neighborhood located on the East Shore
East Shore, Staten Island
The term East Shore is frequently applied to a series of neighborhoods along the Lower New York Bay and the Raritan Bay and within New York City's borough of Staten Island....

 of Staten Island, New York, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The island comprises one of the five boroughs of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

History

Originally known as Frenchtown, the community was renamed in honor of Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 General Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

 soon after the conflict began, despite the fact that the war itself was so unpopular on Staten Island that the island was the scene of anti-draft riots in July 1863. Many of the streets are named after historical figures such as Lincoln Ave (after President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

), Fremont Ave (after General John C. Fremont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...

 who was the first Republican candidate for President, as well as a Staten Island resident, in 1856), Adams Avenue (after President John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

), and Greeley Ave (after newspaper editor Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...

).

The Grant City station
Grant City (Staten Island Railway station)
Grant City is a Staten Island Railway station in the neighborhood of Grant City, Staten Island, New York. It is located on an open cut at Lincoln Avenue and Railroad Avenue on the main line. It has two side platforms and aqua green walls. There are two exits; the main exit at the south end leads to...

 on the Staten Island Railway
Staten Island Railway
The Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority, publicly known as MTA Staten Island Railway or SIR, is the operator of the lone rapid transit line in the borough of Staten Island, New York City, USA...

 serves the community, and the station immediately to the north is located at and named Jefferson Avenue, this street generally regarded as the boundary between Grant City and neighboring Dongan Hills
Dongan Hills, Staten Island
Dongan Hills is a neighborhood located within New York City, USA's borough of Staten Island. It is on the Island's East Shore.The neighborhood was originally known by two separate names, the western half being called Hillside Park and the eastern half Linden Park...

. To the east of Grant City lies Midland Beach
Midland Beach, Staten Island
Midland Beach is a Staten Island neighborhood. It lies along the east-central coast of the island, in the area known locally as the "Mid-Island, Staten Island," or, according to some, the "East Shore." To its immediate west is Grant City, south lies New Dorp Beach with Graham Beach and South Beach...

, and a high cliff to the west of Richmond Road separates Grant City from Todt Hill
Todt Hill
Todt Hill [elevation 410 ft ] is a hill formed of serpentine rock on Staten Island, New York. It is the highest natural point in the five boroughs of New York City and the highest elevation on the entire Atlantic Coastal Plain from Florida to Cape Cod., The summit of the ridge is largely covered...

. New Dorp
New Dorp, Staten Island
New Dorp – an anglicization of Nieuwe Dorp, Dutch for New Village – is a neighborhood in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, United States. The community lies near the foot of Todt Hill, with Grant City immediately to its north, Oakwood bordering to the south, and...

 is situated immediately south of Grant City.

Many small, one-family homes were built in Grant City in the 1950s, with a stronger growth spurt occurring after the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge that connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City at the Narrows, the reach connecting the relatively protected upper bay with the larger lower bay....

 in November 1964 made access to the island from Brooklyn much easier. Today the neighborhood's population is heavily Italian-American by ethnicity and Roman Catholic by religion, and many of its residents were born in Brooklyn. Grant City and the neighborhoods surrounding it are also very conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

 politically, with Republican Party candidates for most elected offices.

Description and reputation

Grant City, Staten Island, is a modest suburb with a stop on the Staten Island Railway. The town itself becomes a bit more urban near mid-rise condos on Lincoln Ave. Much of this community is safe, with colonials on tree-lined streets. In August 1990 an F0
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...

tornado made its way north along Fremont Ave. in Grant City, toppling 100-plus year old trees and causing widespread damage.

Transportation

Grant City is served by the S51/S81 along Midland Avenue, the S74/S76/S84/S86 along Richmond Road, the S78/S79 along Hylan Blvd, and numerous express buses along Hylan Blvd.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK