Travis, Staten Island

Oceanic H&L Co.No.1 INC is a volunteer fire department located in the Travis neighborhood of Staten Island in New York City. It works in cooperation with the New York City Fire Department. Oceanic was formed April 17, 1881. The firehouse was moved by horse from its original location at 29 Meredith Avenue in 1902 to its current location at 4010 Victory Boulevard.Typically the department responds in addition to the initial assignment dispatched by the FDNY. The department is fully trained and operational with the apparatus and equipment they have. Therefore, when they arrive on a scene first, or when needed, they will implement their operations alongside FDNY as applicable. Oceanic currently operates three pieces of apparatus, Engine 1, a 1997 Seagrave (formerly FDNY Engine 40), and the Brush Unit, a 1959 Dodge M37/1975 Scat. Brush Unit, a 1993 M35A3WW (with winch) AM General.Eastern Surplus modified the apparatus by shortening the chassis and removing one of the rear axles, converting the unit to four wheel-drive. It is equipped with a skid with a 24-ton winch, 75 GPM pump, 300-gallon water tank and 12-gallon foam tank. This Brush truck was part of a 100,000.00 grant 50,000.00(truck) and 50,000.00 (building maintenance) provided by Assemblyman Michael Cusick. Oceanic is the oldest of the two currently existing volunteer fire companies in the county. Richmond Engine Co. 1 was founded in 1903. They are dispatched by the FDNY Staten Island Communications Office and operate on the FDNY Staten Island frequency. Oceanic has a roster of 38 Active members headed by Captain James Wakie. Metropolitan Fire Explorer Company was founded in 1976. They are located on the grounds of Seaview Hospital in Willowbrook. While Metro Fire operates two fire engines, they respond primarily to rescue calls, search and rescue, event standbys, and perform fire patrols.

Mid-Island is frequently applied to a series of neighborhoods within the New York City borough of Staten Island. Under the definition most commonly adhered to, Mid-Island comprises all of the communities whose ZIP Code is 10314, plus Sunnyside within ZIP Code 10301, along with the western slope of Todt Hill. Mid-Island communities thus include Graniteville, Bulls Head, Willowbrook, and New Springville, Sometimes the localities situated along the Arthur Kill between the Staten Island Expressway and the Fresh Kills — Bloomfield, Chelsea and Travis — are said to be on the island's West Shore; otherwise they too would fall within Mid-Island as their ZIP Code is 10314. Like all of Staten Island except for the North Shore, farms dominated the Mid-Island region until the 1960s, when new home construction began to rise sharply. The opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in 1964 did much to stimulate this construction, but the effects of this phenomenon were first seen most profoundly on the East Shore, not spreading inland until nearly the end of the decade. In addition to starting somewhat later, the population boom experienced in Mid-Island also exhibited some important demographic differences from that which took place to the east, as in Mid-Island Jewish transplants (from Queens as well as Brooklyn) tended to predominate, in contrast to the heavily Italian-American influx experienced on the East Shore. These demographic differences are not present today with mostly Italian-Americans dominating the area. The ZIP Code 10314, which covers much of the Mid-Island area has the largest percentage of Asians of any ZIP Code on Staten Island, at 13.3% Non-hispanic Asian.The Mid-Island region's character was transformed dramatically in 1973, when the Staten Island Mall opened in New Springville, on a site that was originally used as an airport. This led to the Richmond Avenue corridor, from New Springville to Graniteville, becoming the island's liveliest commercial strip, spawning much traffic congestion in the area; even during midday hours on weekdays, traffic is typically moderate to heavy along Richmond Avenue and Victory Boulevard, which intersects Richmond Avenue in Bulls Head. Besides the Staten Island Mall, other prominent landmarks found within Mid-Island include the former Willowbrook State School (now a campus of the City University of New York), St. Francis Seminary (on the property of which the highest point on Staten Island is located), and the former New York City Farm Colony adjacent to Sea View Hospital and Home, a city-run nursing home. Most of Mid-Island lies within the NYPD's 122nd Precinct, headquartered in the East Shore community of New Dorp, a considerable distance away; however, in 2005 the city approved plans to build a fourth police precinct on the island (which presently has three), with the new precinct's station house to be built at 974 Richmond Avenue, near Forest Avenue and the Baron Hirsh Cemetery. The MTA has the Yukon Avenue Bus Depot in New Springville.

Chelsea is a small neighborhood located on the West Shore of Staten Island in New York City. It is bordered on the north by South Avenue, on the east by the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge, on the south by Meredith Avenue, and on the west by the Arthur Kill.The area was originally named Pralltown after a family that was granted land there in 1675. During the Revolutionary period it was called Peanutville due to the storage there of quantities of peanuts for the passengers using the ferries to travel between New York and New Brunswick. In the 1950s, there were plans for Consolidated Edison to build a massive electric plant on 100 acres (40 ha) of land that it owned in Chelsea.Chelsea is mostly open marsh and is relatively undeveloped, although there are some businesses and one-family houses. It borders on the Teleport and is the site of Staten Island's West Shore Plaza and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Meredith Avenue Bus Depot. Chelsea is served by the S46, S96, S62 and S92 local buses and the SIM32 express bus.

Freshkills Park is a public park being built atop a former landfill on Staten Island. At about 2,200 acres (8.9 km2), it will be the largest park developed in New York City since the 19th century. Its construction began in October 2008 and is slated to continue in phases for at least 30 years. When fully developed by 2035–37, Freshkills Park will be the second-largest park in New York City, after Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, and almost three times the size of Central Park in Manhattan. The park is envisioned as a regional destination that integrates 2,200 acres of open grasslands, waterways and engineered structures into one cohesive and dynamic unit that will host a variety of public spaces and facilities for social, cultural and physical activity, learning and play. Sections of the park will be connected by a circulation system for vehicles and a network of paths for bicyclists and pedestrians. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) is managing the project with the New York City Department of Sanitation.

The William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge (WTDWR) is an 814-acre (3.29 km2) wildlife refuge straddling the New Springville and Travis sections of Staten Island. The park was named in honor of Staten Island native William T. Davis, a renowned naturalist and entomologist who along with the Audubon Society started the refuge with an original acquisition of 52 acres (210,000 m2). Additional acreage was acquired in increments and the park is today 814 acres (3.29 km2). Beginning in 2010, the adjacent 223-acre (0.90 km2) North Park section of Freshkills Park (the redevelopment of the Fresh Kills Landfill) has undergone preparation to serve as an expansion of the wildlife refuge. This refuge is the sixth largest park in New York City out of a total of 1,700 parks; it is only 30 acres (120,000 m2) smaller than Central Park. The United for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center is located at the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge near the intersection of Travis and Richmond Avenues. The center seeks “to care for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife and return them to the wild.” The center is sponsored by the New York City Parks Department and serves as a holding facility for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Injured animals convalesce at the facility and are eventually returned to the wild. The refuge is at the confluence of Main and Springville Creeks, two tributaries of Freshkill Creek, a tidal creek which is connected to the Arthur Kill. Within the refuge there are expansive salt marshes with low marsh bordering the creeks and flooding twice daily with the high tide and a more expansive area of high marsh which floods occasionally during exceptionally high tide. In the low marsh, saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) is the dominant species while saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens) is found in the high marsh. There are degraded areas of the marsh in which the common reed (Phragmites australis), an invasive species, has supplanted the native cordgrass; this generally occurs in the high marsh zone where the soil is saturated but infrequently inundated. In addition to the salt marshes there are forested uplands and a swamp forest and small spring-fed ponds. Marine life: The marine life present in the refuge includes the fiddler crab (Uca pugnax), ribbed mussel (Geukensia demissa), clam and oyster. Bird species: Over 117 bird species have been recorded at the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge, including sharp-tailed sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus), and wood duck (Aix sponsa). Among the species of raptors which frequent the park are red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) red-shouldered (Buteo lineatus), and rough-legged (Buteo lagopus) hawks and osprey. There are also various species of owl such as Barn (Tyto alba), great horned (Bubo virginianus), and short-eared (Asio flammeus). The Great blue heron hunts fish along the tidal marshes. Mammals: Muskrats (Ondatra zibethica) live along the marshes; there are also raccoons, eastern grey squirrel, chipmunk, and a few species of field mouse.In addition to the invasive common reed, some sections of the refuge especially along Travis Ave. are overrun by Japanese knotweed. The fresh-water New Springville Creek, which originates in the Greenbelt, flows into the park. The creek is subterranean for most of its length, having been enclosed in pipe.In the east of the refuge was the burial site for six people murdered and dismembered by the Bonanno crime family associate Thomas "Tommy Karate" Pitera, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1992.

West Shore refers to the section of the New York City borough of Staten Island that borders the Arthur Kill, between the Staten Island Expressway and the Fresh Kills. The Arthur Kill shoreline north of the expressway—most commonly called Port Ivory—is considered part of the North Shore, while the land along the Arthur Kill south of Fresh Kills is generally included within the South Shore. While only one residential neighborhood—Travis—can actually be found on the West Shore, other place names are used to identify locations to the north of Travis, chief among them Bloomfield and Chelsea. A study by the New York City Department of City Planning also identified Howland Hook/Arlington, Rossville, Woodrow, Charleston and Tottenville as being part of the West Shore, along with Fresh Kills Park.The West Shore Expressway, which connects the Staten Island Expressway with the Richmond Parkway at the Staten Island terminus of the Outerbridge Crossing, is the area's principal north-south thoroughfare, while the western end of Victory Boulevard, in Travis, is its main east-west road. Through the late 20th century, land use in the West Shore was dominated by industrial activities (Travis was once named "Linoleumville" as a consequence of a linoleum factory having once been built there), most notably oil refining and construction; in the latter example, much property in the region is devoted to the storage of heavy equipment, such as cement mixers. These have led to some incidents, such as the 1973 Staten Island gas explosion, which killed 40 people. In addition, a few horse stables and riding academies exist in the area, which is the least densely populated section of Staten Island. Many species of migratory birds can be found in the area, especially on nearby Prall's Island. In the 1980s, a string of large office complexes were built along South Avenue, which begins in Mariners Harbor on the North Shore, and ends in Travis; other businesses arrived later, including several hotels, Hilton Garden Inn in 2001, Hampton Inn & Suites in 2007, Comfort Inn and Holiday Inn Express in 2010. A large Con Edison electrical plant stands at the site of the former linoleum factory in Travis, which is also the home of the Teleport, a high-tech industrial park built in the early 1980s, mostly to house companies engaged in the communications industry. In Fall of 2018 the Matrix Global Logistics Park opened in Bloomfield, which is distribution center for companies such as Amazon and Ikea, bringing more than 2,000 jobs and development to the West Shore. In January, 2020 Amazon announced it will expand its footprint on Staten Island, leasing a 450,000 square foot warehouse next to its existing 855,000 sq. ft. fulfillment center.The West Shore's vast expanses of unused land has made it the focus of many ambitious and controversial development proposals at the start of the 21st century. The most prominent of these involves the possible building of a NASCAR racetrack there — a plan that has engendered spirited debate in Staten Island political circles. A 2004 proposal included a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) oval track that would be constructed on a largely unused 440-acre (1.8 km2) site.

The Teleport is a suburban-style 100-acre business park east of New York State Route 440 and west of the Bulls Head neighborhood of Staten Island in New York City. It includes five Class A office and specialized buildings totaling 700,000 square feet, as well as additional development-ready sites.The Teleport was developed in the mid-1980s by the government of New York City and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), which manages it under contract to the city, focusing on new technologies and offering high-speed voice, data and video services via satellite and fiber optic connectivity.In 2001 AT&T, the Teleport's biggest tenant, moved 4,000 employees out of two office buildings on the site. They were sold in 2009 to the Nicotra Group, LLC and renamed Corporate Commons, with a major tenant being the St Paul's School of Nursing.The New York City Economic Development Corporation and the PANYNJ retain control over the available development acreage.The campus was expanded with additional office and medical space and a rooftop farm in 2017.

The Fresh Kills Landfill was a landfill covering 2,200 acres (890 ha) in the New York City borough of Staten Island in the United States. The name comes from the landfill's location along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in western Staten Island.The landfill opened in 1948 as a temporary landfill, but by 1955 it had become the largest landfill in the world, and it remained so until its closure in 2001. At the peak of its operation, in 1986, Fresh Kills received 29,000 short tons (26,000 t) of residential waste per day, playing a key part in the New York City waste management system. From 1991 until its closing it was the only landfill to accept New York City's residential waste. It consists of four mounds which range in height from 90 to about 225 feet (30 to about 70 m) and hold about 150 million short tons (140×10^6 t) of solid waste. The archaeologist Martin Jones characterizes it as "among the largest man-made structures in the history of the world."In October 2008, reclamation of the site began for a multi-phase, 30-year site redevelopment. The landfill has been developed into Freshkills Park.

Fresh Kills (from the Middle Dutch word kille, meaning "riverbed" or "water channel") is a stream and freshwater estuary in the western portion of the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is the site of the Fresh Kills Landfill, formerly New York City's principal landfill. The watershed (basin) of the Fresh Kills drains much of the wet lowlands of the western portion of the island and flows into the Arthur Kill around the Isle of Meadows. Its co-tributaries include the Rahway River, Morses Creek (New Jersey), Piles Creek, and, via Newark Bay, the Passaic River and the Hackensack River. The channel around the north end of the Isle of Meadows is sometimes called Little Fresh Kill and the southern channel is called Great Fresh Kill. The stream has two major branches. The north branch is Main Creek. The south branch is Richmond Creek, which drains much of the central part of the island, with its headwaters near Historic Richmond Town, on the southern end of the terminal moraine of the island. The system of streams provides recreational kayaking and wildlife viewing in the preserved wetlands. Since 2006, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation has been implementing the master plan developed by landscape architecture firm Field Operations to transform Fresh Kills Landfill into Fresh Kills Park. Covering 2,200 acres (8.9 km2), nearly three times the size of Central Park, Fresh Kills Park will offer a variety of public spaces and facilities for varied activities including nature trails, mountain biking, community events, outdoor dining, sports fields, kayaking and canoeing. In addition, the park's design, ecological restoration and cultural and educational programming will emphasize environmental sustainability and a renewed public concern for our human impact on earth. Renewable energy is planned both for use in capital projects and for large-scale demonstration and public benefit. Photovoltaic cells, wind turbines and geothermal heating and cooling are components of current capital projects. While the full build-out will continue in phases for the next 30 years, the first sections of parkland to be developed opened in early 2010, and the park is expected to be complete by the 2030s.

Bloomfield is the name of a neighborhood on the West Shore of the New York City borough of Staten Island. It lies immediately to the north of Travis-Chelsea and to the west of Bulls Head. Prall's Island is situated in the Arthur Kill off its coast. Originally named Daniell's Neck when first settled in the 17th century, it was later called Merrell Town after a local farmer. Its present name first appeared on a local map in 1874.

Prall's Island is an uninhabited island in the Arthur Kill between Staten Island, New York, and Linden, New Jersey, in the United States. The 89-acre (0.36 km2) island is one of the minor islands that are part of the borough of Staten Island in New York City. The island is named for a descendant or descendants of early Staten Island settler Arendt Jansen Prall Van Naarden (c. 1647–1725) (in Dutch, Praal), probably his grandson Abraham Prall (1706–1775), a local farmer. It was originally known as Dongan's Island, after New York Governor Thomas Dongan (1634–1715), who took the office in 1688. The name was later corrupted to Duncan's Island. Prall's Island did not take hold until the late 19th century. Around 1910, the water between Staten Island and the island was known as Prall's River but was eventually returned to Arthur Kill. The island is now owned by the City of New York and is maintained by New York City Department of Parks and Recreation as a bird sanctuary.

Richmond Avenue is a major north-south thoroughfare on Staten Island, New York. Measuring approximately 7.0 miles (11.3 km), the road runs from the South Shore community of Eltingville to the North Shore community of Graniteville.