Well, it was bound to happen eventually, and today I finally went to Staten Island. Before I describe my day I suppose I should address a couple things I've heard heard about Staten. Most of it is not kind, but the general consensus is that Staten's Borough status doesn't make a lot of sense to New Yorkers. In truth, Staten Island is actually closer to New Jersey than any of the other boroughs. I prefer to look at it a different way. As strange or divergent as it may seem, I believe that Staten adds to the dynamism of New York's landscape which I'm always preaching about.
Staten Island is perhaps best known for the Staten Island Ferry. This is ironic because, as my friend Jeff pointed out, it is the thing that takes you away from the island. The ferry is operated by the NYCDOT and is free. The ride lasts about 25 minutes and offers some positively majestic views of lower Manhattan. This is probably my second favorite way to see the City next to the Brooklyn Bridge, of course. It's difficult to describe, but I'll give it a shot. as you stand on the outer deck, the plating beneath your feet rumbles as the ships massive engines propel the ship away from its Manhattan dock. The Financial Buildings tower above you but slowly shrink as more of the skyline comes into view. The the boat's massive, white wake streams behind tracing your route as you steam away from the island.Even as the city seems to shrink it continues to grow as the visual scope expands. The East River Bridges appear, and then Brooklyn. It's truly amazing.
In a way, it's also nostalgic. It wasn't until the Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883 that people had the ability to drive into Manhattan (from Brooklyn at least). Ferry's were the only way to get from one island to another. On top of that it is a reminder of New York's commercial past. New Amsterdam was a dutch trading outpost, and with the later development of the Erie Canal, New York relied on nautical traffic to function. To this day, cargo ships can be found on either side of the Ferry's path in the five mile stretch between the two islands. On top of that, for those of us who had ancestors who immigrated to the United States back in the day, you can get a sense of what it was like to sail into New York for the first time as you drift past the statue of Liberty.
Let me back up for a second. As soon as I rolled my bike into the Ferry I was flagged down by the security guard who directed me to another guard. This one had a dog who came and sniffed for drugs (I assume) in my bag. Having found nothing I was then directed to a special bicycle waiting area. This is outside the terminal in front of the landing areas. When the boat had offloaded and was ready for new passengers the security guards waved me on first.
Once on the island, I headed down one of the few bike lanes in the borough. My initial impressions were hard to really put into words. The north eastern end of the island is interesting. While it seems somewhat suburban This is still a connection to the rest of the city in the Manhattan 
skyline and the Verrazanno Bridge. The first location which peaked my interest was Von Breisen Park. Its winedy paths up a slight incline obscure a culdesac with a magnificent view of the Bridge. From this vantage point I noticed a castle-like fort right at the base of the bridge's west tower. This peaked my curiosity. I headed to Fort Wadsworth. Apparently this wall was obsolete before that last stone was laid, as new artillery was able to breach the wall. Still it is pretty impressive. The actual wall is known as Battery Weed. Since the British left after the revolution, no one has tried to invade New York Harbor. The fort is now controlled by the National Park Service and is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area.
From there I continued south along the shoreline. As I mentioned earlier my goal was to stick to as many bike lanes as possible. There is a class 1 greenway that runs for about 2 miles down the eastern coast. This greenway is a boardwalk, though there is a paved path that runs straight next to it. I followed it to its end, but had to then stop and fix my rear wheel which had gone flat. Up to this point I could see the Verrazano Bridge. I still had a sense of urban infrastructure. and was fully aware of my location. As I learned from my mentor, however, I should never underestimate the academic value of getting lost while exploring the urban environment. As I was about to discover, this lesson could not have been better facilitated anywhere else. I turned and headed west towards the center of the island. There were two other Sites of interest on the map which I wanted to visit.
As soon as I left the coastline, however, I was awestruck by the contrast. The physical environment shifted into the suburban spectrum in the wink of an eye. depicted right is the first street that I encountered on my westbound journey. Even the homes I had seen in eastern queens didn't have this much space! I hardly saw any cars parked on the streets, and even sidewalks were scarce in some areas. The houses themselves weren't cheap either. I even passed whole neighborhoods of mansion sized homes!
As I got deeper into the island I became more and more lost. Roads that the map indicated were through streets came to dead ends, and my location became more and more difficult to trace on the map. Some of the dead end streets stopped at full woodland areas with vast nature trails [depicted left]. Don't get me wrong, I love trees and camping and the forest, but when I come to New York, that's not exactly what I expect. I knew I was in trouble when I came to a road which the lighthouse was supposed to be on and I found no lighthouse. 
I continued weaving up and down all the streets in the area, many of which had some nasty hills. In my search for the landmarks I somehow wound up in a rehab facility [depicted right]. Silly me thought this was the museum I was looking for. As I sat at the entrance to the rehab facility looking at my map an elderly gentleman drove up next to me and asked if I need help. He gave me some very vague directions up a ridiculously steep hill. I headed up the hill, with a renewed sense of direction. Then, once again, the streets on the map started to get confusing. After more searching, I stumbled across my first landmark.
The Jacques Marchais museum of Tibetan art. It holds the largest collection of Tibetan art anywhere in the world outside of Tibet. Now I'm no enthusiast, but given the difficulty I had finding the place and then the final revelation of what was inside, I was not particularly impressed. The gardens outside were kind of cool but again it's nothing I would want to bike 20 some miles and get lost while searching for. My next stop which I expected to be a lot more interesting was the Staten Island Lighthouse. According to the bike map it was literally one street over. So I biked up and around. I swept the entire block and could not find it. I must have missed it. I went around again (remember these aren't short city blocks). No lighthouse. I then searched all of the peripheral streets, and still no lighthouse. Finally I came back to the original street which I thought it would be on. I saw some people outside working and asked them where it was. 
In a thick Russian accent the man pointed down the street I had already been on several times and said it was in the middle of the block. Confused, I thanked him and headed his advice. I kept scanning for the lighthouse, wondering if I had passed it. Then, all of the sudden I saw it. No wonder I had missed it both times. It is literally in someone's back yard [depicted right]! I didn't want to walk up to it, because I would have had to walk down that person's neighbor's driveway and then turn into the backyard. It was just a weird situation. I did a little research afterwards to contextualize the structure. It began operating in 1912 as an oil lamp amplified by a prism. An electric lamp was introduced in 1939. It was dedicated as a city landmark in 1969. From 1992 to 2001 the lighthouse was maintained by a private citizen named Joe Espisito. Because of budget Cust, though the Coast Gaurd is responsible for it, they do not maintain it.
I had sworn that I would turn around and head back to Manhattan after I found these two landmarks, partially because I was so frustrated. After these two anticlimactic experience, however, I just couldn't end my day like that. I headed South and eventually ate lunch at a decent Chinese joint. On my way down two things caught my eye. First, I saw this house [depicted left] that cracked me up (in the context of NYC). The other thing was Historic Richmond. Outside of the New York Historical Society I would never expect to see remnants of the colonial period still attached to the landscape. 
This, however, is a "living history" village. I didn't stay long because I wanted to keep going, but I did walk up to Christopher House which is a restored, 18th century farmhouse.I continued south until I arrived at Wolfe's Pond Park. I stopped here, because this is the site of one of three mountain bike trails in the city. Given what I had observed of Staten the rest of the day, I decided that this may not be the best example of a true urban mountain bike trail. It was still neat though. I don't pretend to be a dedicated mountain bike rider.
In fact, tend not to unless I need to. My tires are hybrids, meaning that they can be used on road and some off-road terrain, so I road around a bit. These definitely were not the most intense trails I have ever been on. I would describe it more as a leisure set of trails than challenging. There are a few obstacles, but none that are too dangerous. I had one last stop to make before I went home. That stop was the southern most point in the city: The south pole. On my way down I saw some guy standing on in a bike lane taking a picture of someone's house. I wondered what could be so interesting, so I slowed down and took a look. There was a deer grazing in someone's back yard! At that point I had to verbally remind myself "yes, I am still in New York City."I headed all the way to the bottom of the island.
There, on the beach is a red, wooden post which reads "South Pole" [depicted right]. As I walked around the side of it, I got a kick out of some of the graffiti. It said "F@#king liar, there's no snow here." Aside from being hysterical, I think it is actually an interesting commentary on Staten Island as a whole. If you were actually going to the south pole, you would expect snow. At the same time if you go to New York you expect... something. While yes I have been preaching about New York's "infinite diversity" and multiplicity of perception, there is something about New York's inherent urbanity that residents and, more so, visitors expect. You will not find that in Staten Island. Do not misunderstand me. I'm not saying this is a bad thing (though many do). In my mind it adds to the wonder that is New York City. New York is probably one of the most quintessentially urban places on the planet, and yet cabins, wide streets, whole forests, and deer can roam free. Some would argue that were Staten Island to succeed from the city it wouldn't make a difference in terms of identity, yet I think that uncertainty and (I suppose wonder really isn't the right word) oddity is a distinct part of New York. Different, yes, but New York all the same.
I had a decision to make. How should I go home? I didn't mind the idea of riding back, but I couldn't think of anything I wanted to see. I was very close to the final stop on the Staten Island Railroad, so I took it. This was an experience in of itself. I just rolled right onto the station platform there were no turnstiles or anything like that. I sat at the back of the front car. There was only one other person on the train on a Saturday evening (last stop or not)! after a 15 minute wait the train finally lurched forward on its 42 minute northward journey. When I arrived at the final stop, I headed for the service gate. As I thanked the MTA employee holding it open, she yelled at me: "Hey where's your metro card? You gotta pay!" I've decided that this place is literally backward. I went through the same procedure at the ferry. This time, however, when I got on the boat the crew insisted that I leave my bike in the designated area, so I did not get to hang out on the deck as we approached Manhattan. All in all I found it a very strange experience. I could only see myself living in the northern quarter of the island, no further than five minutes from the ferry terminal. Otherwise... I don't really have much else to say.
