New-York tribune., 1919-12-28
By Calvin D. Van Name
president Of the Borough Of Rich
7aOrd.


mond.
The prospects of a great real estate
market next spring in this Borough of
Richmond could not be better. Every-
thing points to a great demand, not
only for acreage development, but for
single plots.
This year has witnessed a larger
amount of building of small cottaees
al over Staten Island than ever before
ne great development of the many in
dustries on the shore will be spoken of
later in this article.
FIRST we will talk Of the cottage and
bungalow They are popular every
where; in the towns as we'll as on the
beaches.
The motor bus on pneumatic tires is
the coming means of sportation,
and this convenience soon will be
found IN every part of the island.
Staten Island has the best of roads.
Many of them are perfect Some are
famous. such as the Amboy Road, Rich
mond Avenue, Willowbrook Road and
Flngerhoard Road. Others are planned
TO be made perfect in the near future.
There are thousands of bungalows
at South Beach, Midland Beach, Oak
wood, New Dorp, Great Kills. Elting-
vile and Tottenville. The DEVELOPMENT
of the island is not confined to the
beach resorts. 1t is marked on Rich
mond Avenue, Port Richmond, Castle
ton Avenue, West New Brighton, Bay
street, Stapleton, Amboy Road, Totten-
Vile and other localities.
Five Links to Mainland
A year ago there was strike on the
NJ hot toy, far Il
a Staten Islander to read that he was
marooned. 1t did not appear to be un-
derstool by the newspaper people that.
besides the ferry to Manhattan. Staten
lsland has five other steamboat ferries.
namely Bay Ridge, Bergen Point. Eliza
bethport, Carteret and Amboy.
Neither does Staten Island depend
upon Manhattan. Tradesmen of Brook
lyn, Bayonne, Elizabeth Railway and
Perth Amboy deliver their goods to all
parts of Richmond Borough, and their
oellVery wagons, with their trade
names are more familiar than those Of
Manhattan.
Strikes may come, and strikes NAV
go, but Staten Island will not he my na.
fooned Large numbers of its inhabi-
tants lind daily employment in those
VhrlVlng New Jersey towns They are
the most progressive towns in the coun-
try, and the city would do we'll to con-
meet with them by bridges or tunnels.
None OF the ferries is longer than
two minutes. The streams. though
deep, are very narrow.
IN respect to the amount of com
merce borne upon their waters. the
arthur XIII, and XIII van Kull. are
the greatest in America.
Berkshires of Greater Civ
IN the area. the Borough of Rich
moqd is the third in me greater cjtv.
It being larger than Manhattan or The
bronx, but smaller than BROOKLYN or
Queens. In it's hills one is reminded
OF the berkshires. 1t has the highest
land on the coast. There are three
large and prosperous towns. Stapte.
ton, on the east shore. and West VaS.
Brighton and Port Richmond. on the
north shore, with theaters, banks and
department stores. On the east shore
the long piers and the big warehouses
are important, and on the north shore
the shipYards and other industries
were important aids to the government
IN ne winning Of the war
The interior is remarkably beautiful
1t IS largely park. There are hum
dreds of acres OF the finest trees that
nave been growing for centuries
Scores of miles Of the finest macads .eo, ~,
highways pass through wild hedges.
and the borough government, forbi ds
the trimming or cutting, of these hedges
which are really beautiful, and Of a
rarity unknown elsewhere in a large
city.
There are valleys, rivers, inlets and
bays. There is much high land in the
interior, and there is high land at the
edge OF the water. The hills at Fort
Wadsworth are the last land Of ihe
city passed by tourists when leaving
port, and the hills of the island are the