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The Skyline |
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Adventure starts by boarding the Staten Island Ferry. NY skyline, though truncated, never looks the same... just pick the right place and moment... The picture is worth seeing enlarged. As well as a couple of my other pictures, it is available in a (computer) wallpaper quality and resolution, too. |
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1To get a quick tour of Staten Island, take Victory BLVD, some 15 km long street that changes its face as you pass by... During the first, ascending part, stop for a while to look back and enjoy Manhattan's skyline. Surprisingly enough, you'll find lakes on top of the ascent. |
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Silver Lake |
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The first one is Silver Lake. Clear water, quiet place. A couple of pleasant overlooks. And you can overlook not only the lake; beyond the far edge of trees, there is Newark dowtown and airport to be seen (hardly visible in the thumbnail beside). |
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Clove Lake(s) |
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After a couple of minutes of riding, a bit more crowded Clove Lake turns up. You can ride a boat there or enjoy a very friendly and tame waterfowl. I have never been so close to a (wild) heron.
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| Green color is said to have a soothing, calming effect. Can you find any shade of green that this picture doesn't have? |
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If you follow on along the Victory BLVD, you'll pass city-like area with malls, shops, restaurants and private housing. After a while the city turns into outlands. The road gets pot-holed, vehicles disappear. At the very end of the BLVD, you'll get to Arthur Kill (river?). A really frightening spot. Your are facing NJ side with a port or chemical plant, gigantic cargos anchor here. On your left, there is Island of Meadow (bird sanctuary) and behind, a hill with a flat fenced top. It is the WTC burial site and be careful, you are standing just by a restricted area. Driven mostly by accident, my biggest SI adventure and story refers to that area. Understandably, that's all I can tell here. 2To explore almost deserted part of the Staten Island without getting into troubles, take Richmond Terrace running along the north coast of the island. You will pass by Kill Van Kull (presumably river), a scary industrial port with huge cargo ships on Bayonne (NJ) side. As you pass under the Bayonne bridge, another gigantic structure, traffic vanishes and you find yourself in outlands. |
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Mariners Marsh Conservancy (to be finished) |
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This trash photo shows that wildlife on Staten Island isn't sometimes as wild as it may seem. Read the message written on guardrails of the Chelsea RD bridge over the Sawmill creek. |
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| The southernmost tip of the Staten Island. and fishermen nearby... |  |
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| Fireworks on Coney Island |  |
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| And even if you don't intend to get yourself involved in any kind of waterfowl, you have to be prepared. As soon as you lie down on grass, three ducks will come to see what you have for them. If you take out your camera, they'll start to pose. So don't take a picture! |
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 Tibor Marcinek |
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