Staten Island

Staten Island is one of the five boroughs of New York City. The island, much smaller in population than Manhattan, is also much more residential than commercial. It is located directly south of Manhattan Island and southwest of Brooklyn. Staten Island is connected to Manhattan by ferries, to Brooklyn by the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, and to New Jersey by three bridges. Staten Island is the only borough of New York City not to be connected to the city's extensive subway system and instead relies on buses and its own "Staten Island Railway" system, both managed by the same Transit Authority as the subway. Staten Island is coterminous with Richmond County. It is a relatively conservative borough compared to the rest of New York and went to John McCain 52%-47% in the 2008 Presidential election. In the 1990s there was an effort to have Staten Island become part of New Jersey, though it didn't gain much ground.

Further reading

• Jackson, Kenneth, ed. The Encyclopedia of New York City (1995), excerpt and text search