About the town » Staten Island, Richmond County, New York, United States

Staten Island /ˌstætən ˈaɪlənd/ is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay. With a population of 468,730, Staten Island is the least populated of the boroughs but is the third-largest in area at 59 sq mi . The borough is coextensive with Richmond County, and until 1975 the borough was officially named the Borough of Richmond. Staten Island has been sometimes called "the forgotten borough" by inhabitants who feel neglected by the city government. The North Shore — especially the neighborhoods of St. George, Tompkinsville, Clifton, and Stapleton — is the most urban part of the island; it contains the officially designated St. George Historic District and the St. Paul’s Avenue-Stapleton Heights Historic District, which feature large Victorian houses. The East Shore is home to the 2.5-mile F.D.R. Boardwalk, the fourth-longest in the world. The South Shore developed rapidly beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, and is mostly suburban in character. The West Shore is the least populated and most industrial part of the island. Staten Island used to claim the largest landfill in the world. It was closed in 2001, then shortly afterward temporarily reopened to receive the debris from the September 11th attacks. The landfill is being made into what will be New York City's second largest public park. Motor traffic can reach the borough from Brooklyn via the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and from New Jersey via the Outerbridge Crossing, Goethals Bridge, and Bayonne Bridge. Staten Island has Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bus service and an MTA rapid transit line, the Staten Island Railway, which runs from the ferry terminal at St. George to Tottenville. Staten Island is the only borough that is not connected to the New York City subway system. The free Staten Island Ferry connects the borough to Manhattan and is a popular tourist attraction, providing views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Lower Manhattan. New York's five boroughs overview Jurisdiction Population Land area Borough of County of 1 July 2011 Estimates square miles squarekm Manhattan New York 1,619,090 23 59 The Bronx Bronx 1,408,473 42 109 Brooklyn Kings 2,565,635 71 183 Queens Queens 2,272,771 109 283 Staten Island Richmond 470,728 58 151 City of New York 8,336,697 303 786 State of New York 19,570,261 47,214 122,284 Source: United States Census Bureau