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| 1943 post card showing the Outerbridge Crossing, which connects Staten Island to Perth Amboy, NJ. Image from Metuchen Edison History. |
And now you will finally learn why the title of this series is misspelled.
Two days before I was due to leave for the trip to Staten Island, my dad sent an email to me. Concerned for my health and safety, it ended with, "Be careful on your trip to Statin Island."
His message was so sweet, but I just couldn't stop laughing. My father is rather famous in the family for his creative spelling. Later that evening, my stepmother wrote in response (just to me, of course), "Don't you just love it? Sounds like a place where people with high cholesterol live!"
Well, as I discovered, the folks of SI do love their cooking. We passed a wonderful assortment of restaurants and markets on our way to and from the Midland Beach neighborhood on Monday and Tuesday. I noted that the Island's residents have an intense focus on cooking that comes from the old world. I saw more family-centered ethnic eateries than chain restaurants and grocery stores.
Roger Branstiter, a member of our St. Paul's crew, had his own observation about the forgotten borough of New York. "Basically, you need a passport to get on and off Staten Island."
It's different. In fact, it reminds me so very much of my home town of Endicott, New York, back in the 1970's: heavily populated by Italian and Polish (or in this case, Russian) immigrants who are hard working, proud and mostly Catholic. Except for our little Lutheran enclave, of course. I really like the fact that the Island doesn't seem to have been homogenized by world events and popular culture over the past 35 years.
At any rate, Roger is right. Staten Island is a world unto itself. And before Hurricane Sandy, I suspect it was mostly happy to be the forgotten borough.
Previous posts: Greetings from Statin [sic] Island, Part One, Part Two, Part Three
Final posts: Epilogue and Post Script.
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