Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Posted By:
Jennifer Keeney Sendrow
Photo:
Scott Sendrow
Night Gallery
Staten Island has a lot of unremarkable neighborhood bars. Why remark on this one? The Saturday night bartender is a sweet local lady who serves up ten drinks in rapid succession without dropping a swizzle stick. They have two things I can't get enough of: a jukebox with hits of ‘80s and ‘90s AND a Photo Hunt machine (check out the top scores—"Dorp or Die" forever!). Plus, they decorate the joint for the holidays, they have a Superbowl pool, and they have trips to Atlantic City—all signs of geniune community that are becoming rare among today's boozehounds. If that's not something special, I didn’t know what special means anymore.
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Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Posted By:
Jennifer Keeney Sendrow
Photo:
Scott Sendrow
Many residents of Staten Island seem to have small children. Enter Safari Amusement Park. The thing is, on a sunny, warm Saturday afternoon, there are no small children to be seen. The kiddie rides like the Himalaya and the bumper cars sit silent. The go-carts are going nowhere. The battered, safari-themed mini-golf course is empty, with a zebra toppled over near a giant skull. Only the batting cages were active, with pairs of burly men in their 20’s showing off for one another, whacking the softballs thrown the “fast” machine. Go figure.
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Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Posted By:
Jennifer Keeney Sendrow
Photo:
Scott Sendrow
Fresh Kills
What do you do with an infamous 2,200-acre landfill when you’re all done dumping trash there? New York City plans to make it a vast public park with athletic and recreational facilities, paved bike paths, an event venue, and a waterway that will link up with the Arthur Kill. Although the Fresh Kills Park Project is scheduled to take 30 years to complete, things are already looking green. The Parks Department’s Urban Park Rangers lead minibus tours to view the five landscapes now underway and explain the restoration process. You will see the Manhattan skyline quite nicely from atop “The Mound,” a pile of trash that has poetically become the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard.
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Monday, September 25, 2006
Posted By:
Jennifer Keeney Sendrow
Photo:
Scott Sendrow
St George Theatre
Just two blocks from the Staten Island Ferry, behind a resolutely blank façade, the St. George Theatre awaits your attention. It opened in the 1920s as a 3,000-seat vaudeville playhouse replete with gaudy trimmings like watercolor murals and faux-Spanish architectural details. Live performances soon gave way to motion pictures, and the theater eventually lost out to multiplex competitors, surviving in incarnations as an antiques market, a night club, and even a roller skating rink. The St. George turned off the house lights in the 1970s; but thanks to the efforts of current owner Rosemary Cappozalo, that wasn’t the last act. Over the past few years, she and her family gave the St. George a substantial renovation and restoration. Officially a cultural center and events space, it’s now open for visits from curious wanderers seven days a week. Take in a preview by renting School of Rock—the battle scene was filmed in the theater.
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Monday, September 11, 2006
Posted By:
Jennifer Keeney Sendrow
Photo:
Scott Sendrow
When on Staten Island, do as the natives do. No, don’t do that. I only meant to suggest that you waddle as fast you can to Ralph’s (preferably after chowing down on a large pie from Denino’s across the street). The Silvestro family has been slinging slush since 1928, way back when grandpa Ralph arrived from Italy with only recipes and a dream. Now they’ve got franchises in four states selling all things cold and sweet—ices, ice cream, sundaes, milkshakes—in dozens of flavors. Do yourself a favor and order a cream ice: all the light refreshment of a classic ice with the richness of ice cream. A small cup with two different flavors will only set you back a buck and a quarter. As if you needed an excuse to buy an extra one “for your friend who’s waiting in the car.”
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