Stairway To Heaven

Fort Hill is the highest hill in St. George. Fort Hill Castle, on Fort Hill, is the highest house on the hill. Does that make these the highest steps in St. George?
Staten Islander Dan Icolari has launched his own blog called "Walking Is Transportation." St. George (in the North Shore) is extremely hilly and "Walking Is Transportation" explores that in his post: "The Vertical Life, or Hill-Walking on Staten Island's North Shore." Check it out by clicking HERE.

A Google Earth map of New York City
The "stairway" article got me thinking about elevation in St. George. I knew that Todt Hill on Staten Island is the highest point in all five boroughs of New York (and the highest point on the eastern seaboard of the United States south of Maine). I also knew that Fort Hill, where my house is located, is the highest point in St. George, Staten Island. My house is the tallest house on Fort Hill - might it be the highest point in St. George? And, if we are talking about Staten Island having the highest elevations in all of New York City, my house is closer to heaven than most places in New York City. I checked out the elevations on Google Earth. You can see my calculations below. The height of the houses are approximate. I will look into that and report back with actual figures.

My house (Fort Hill Castle) elevation. Ground elevation: 166 feet, Tower elevation: 35 feet approximate, Total elevation: 215 approximate

Fort Hill Park (the highest point of Fort Hill): 207 feet, House elevation: 20 feet approximate, Total elevation: 227 approximate

Todt Hill Elevation: 410 feet

227 feet - 215 feet = 12 feet

My approximate calculations show that there is one other house at a slightly higher elevation on Fort Hill, however, our house is the tallest, therefore they even out a bit. I'm guessing house heights here, but it looks like my house is only about 12 feet from being the highest in St. George, and only about 215 feet lower than the highest point in all of New York City. We have been thinking about raising the height of our tower by about 24 feet so we can get a 360 degree view of the island; currently part of our house blocks some amazing views. Our house tower always seemed kind of squat compared to the rest of the house, so a couple of years ago, I spoke with an architect who said that we would be allowed to do this given the cities rules and regulations on building height. We are already higher than our neighbors so we wouldn't be blocking any other house views. If we do this, our house will easily clear the 12 feet or so difference and would be the highest house in St. George.Before
After (stretched image)

Van Duzers Visit Van Duzer Street

This is a cute video created by two brothers, Ethan and Ryan, whose last name is Van Duzer. I have always loved to say this street name: VAN DUZER. I only wish that they had walker further down the block as the street gets cooler once you hit Martini Red, The Muddy Cup, and the antique stores. The street is a bit homely and dull closer to the ferry where they were walking. The funny thing about Staten Island is that when you are walking around you discover wonderful little pockets of coolness and beauty.

Japion Newspaper Staten Island Cover Feature

New York's top Japanese newspaper did a cover feature about St. George, Staten Island. The photos here are from their website.
-To read Tomoko Inoue's article and interviews (in Japanese) with the Staten Islanders below go HERE.

Staten Islanders: John Leo and Shawn Bishop-Leo with Tomoko Inoue.

Staten Islanders: Cynthia von Buhler (her dog Miss Jenny Poodles) and Tevah Platt in front of Cynthia's house.

SHOW gallery presents: Lost & Found, An Exploration of Earnestness in Art

Art above by unknown artists

Under-appreciated works by recently discovered masters of sincerity
Curated by Theo Dorian

OPENING FRIDAY MARCH 20, 2008, 6 to 9 pm

Exhibition and Silent Auction
March 20 to May 23, 2009

Including works on loan from the collections of Roxanne Storms, Victoria Munro, Matt Jacobs, Kathy Osborn, Ed Atkeson, Cynthia von Buhler and Philip Rosen.

SHOW
Gallery, Studio & Performance Space

156 Stuyvesant Place
St. George, Staten Island
right across the street and up the steps from the Staten Island Ferry!
718-524-0855
Open Wednesday to Sunday, Noon to Seven

In April:
Lost&Found Films
at The Movie SHOW
Saturday Nights at 7:30pm

Staten Island Barbershop Against Da' Grain Has Teamed Up With Rappers Method Man and Redman To Give Free Haircuts To Kids

Against Da' Grain is a wildly popular St. George barbershop. The atmosphere there is more like a neighborhood party than a barbershop.

From The Hip Hop Cosign (click the headline to visit their web page):

AGAINST DA’ GRAIN AND GRAMMY AWARD WINNING RAPPERS METHOD MAN & REDMAN PROVIDE LOCAL KIDS FREE HAIR CUTS
The stylish team of ADG barbers at the 821 Castleton Avenue location in the West Brighten section of Staten Island will be on hand on a first come, first served basis to provide free hair cuts to children under 12 years of age, on Saturday April 11, 2009 between the hours of 10:00am to 6:00pm. Special guest appearances by Megatron, celebrated DJ and host of 106 & Park’s “What’s Good On The Streets” segment and other talented Staten Island artists will be will be on hand speaking to kids and learning how they prepare to look their Sunday best!

“We have wonderfully loyal customers and felt this was just another way of rewarding them during these unusually hard economic times. A single mother of three boys spends a weekly average of $33.00 on their hair cuts making it difficult to keep her kids hair freshly trimmed, explained Tariq, barber at Against Da’ Grain. With Easter Sunday the following day, we felt it was the perfect time to team up with our celebrity friends and create a unique solution based on old traditional values while helping our community.”

Against Da’ Grain encourages kids to get a good night’s sleep so they can wake up early and be one of the first to get their free shape up. Parents, stop by! Bring your boys, nephews and grandsons down for a seat on the big leather chair for their fresh Easter Sunday haircut.

For more information regarding Against Da’ Grain please log into www.adgsinyc.com or call 718.981.3597.

Billy Joel Explains His Lyric "Between you and me and the Staten Island Ferry"

Maureen Seaberg, a Staten Island based writer, is working on a book about famous synesthetes. According to Seaberg, "Synesthetes are people who blend senses - such as seeing color when listening to or playing music. Billy Joel is one; so are Pharrell Williams, John Mayer, Tori Amos and even Aristotle and physicist Richard Feymann. It is tentatively titled, "Kaleidoscope Minds." Ms. Seaberg is herself a synesthete."

While interviewing Billy Joel, Seaberg asked him about his 1981 lyric from the song "Everybody Loves You Now," which says...."between you and me and the Staten Island Ferry......"

His answer was as follows:

"The lyric, 'between you and me and The Staten Island Ferry' - that was actually a colloquialism...when somebody would pull someone aside and say, 'Hey, listen, between you and me and the Staten Island Ferry.' Like between you, me and the lamp post. When I was a little kid, my grandfather took me to Staten Island on the ferry and I had heard the expression the Staten Island Ferry and I remember being on the ferry going, 'So this is the Staten Island Ferry that everybody talks about. As if it was some great secret, 'Hey, between you and me and the Staten Island Ferry.' That's where that lyric came from; it's just a colloquialism."

"I'm from an island and you know sometimes when we go to Manhattan island, people tend to look down their noses at people from other islands, which I think is hysterical because New York is actually an archipelago. There are thousands of islands in the New York Bight. It's an exploded archipelago. You've got Fire Island, Staten Island, Long Island, Manhattan island, Randall's Island, Ellis Island, Bedloe Island, Liberty Island, Block Island... There are thousands of islands. When I'm in New York sometimes if I'm at a snooty party and someone says, 'Oh, you're from Long Island," I'll say, "Well, yeh, you're from an island too, except mine's bigger!"

Forgotten NY St. George Tour

Our favorite NYC website Forgotten NY takes us on a house tour...with a little help from Prodigal Borough blogger Cynthia von Buhler. Click HERE to go to Forgotten NY to read the article.