Staten Island
The Rodney Dangerfield of the boroughs, Staten Island gets no respect. To a New Yorker, the island was something like Australia — hard to get to, left to its own devices, and populated by people who were similar but, well, different in some way. Staten Island's inclusion as part of the city came as a prize in a sailing contest in 1687, when the Duke of York gave the island to Manhattan. Residents of the borough today, in response to being the fifth wheel, sometimes talk of separating from the rest of New York City. In fact, in 1993 they voted to do so, but it never happened.
Even native New Yorkers don't know that Staten Island has an exceptionally child-friendly zoo. It's small, but that's what makes it so charming. You'll find a South American rain forest, a reptile house with one of the world's finest collections, an aquarium, and a children's center. For more information, call the zoo at 718-442-3100 or visit its Web site at
While it remains part of New York City, Staten Island is a suburban, sprawling setting, rich with its own ethnic and cultural diversity. The island is an enjoyable twenty-five-minute ferry ride from Manhattan. Less densely settled than the other boroughs, it has several large open spaces, including the Greenbelt, La Tourette Park, Willowbrook Park, and the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge.
