Viewing NYC Articles in Staten Island

[WATCH] Can You Swim In NYC's Rivers?

2026-04-19T12:00:00-04:00

The video explores the long-held belief among New Yorkers that swimming in the East River is dangerous and unhealthy. The host, Jack Coyne, investigates the historical context of New York Harbor's pollution, detailing how, after colonization, overharvesting of oysters and the dumping of human waste and industrial refuse rendered the waters lifeless by the mid-1900s. While the Clean Water Act of the 1970s led to improvements, a significant sewage problem persists due to the city's combined sewer system, which overflows untreated sewage and stormwater into the harbor during heavy rain. Coyne joins the Billion Oyster Project, an organization working to restore a billion oysters to New York Harbor to naturally filter its waters, to conduct water quality tests, showing that the water can be clean on clear days but becomes unsafe after rainfall. He also meets with Urban Swim, which organizes safe open-water swimming events, demonstrating that with proper precautions and support, swimming in these waters is possible and is becoming a powerful form of environmental advocacy.

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[REPOST] [WATCH] How Oyster Beds Can Rebuild New York Harbor

2026-03-20T12:00:00-04:00

New York Harbor was a haven of incredible underwater biodiversity—until centuries of pollution turned it into a cesspool. Today, an alliance of architects, restaurateurs, scientists, and high school students is working to restore the harbor and protect the city from climate change. At the heart of the effort is a tiny creature with an outsized talent for cleanup: the extraordinary oyster.

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[VIDEO] Learn All About Staten Island's Lighthouse Hill Neighborhood in this Short Video

2026-02-08T12:00:00-05:00

In this short video from video producer Jan Somma-Hammel for the Staten Island Advance, learn all about the history and origin of the Staten Island neighborhood of Lighthouse Hill.

Lighthouse Hill took its current name when the Staten Island Range Light was built there in 1912.

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[VIDEO] World's Largest Landfill Is Now A Massive Park | New York City's Freshkills

2026-01-14T12:00:00-05:00

Staten Island's Freshkills Park, once the world's largest landfill, has been remarkably transformed into one of New York City's largest wildland areas. For decades this was the world’s largest landfill, where 150 million tons of garbage was dumped along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in New York City’s Staten Island. But today these 200-foot tall mounds of trash have been transformed into a wildland recreation area nearly three times the size of Central Park. To see it first hand, my friends at Open House New York organized a sunset group walk with Mark Murphy, President of this impressive project, and Field Educator Jen Gallo. Discover the innovative landfill waste management techniques that led to this environmental sustainability success story on Staten Island, New York. Witness the ongoing ecological restoration efforts that are bringing new life to this urban green space.

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[VIDEO] NYC’s Abandoned Island of Yachts and Warships

2025-12-23T12:00:00-05:00

Just off the coast of Staten Island lies a forgotten island that once played a surprising role in global history. Shooters Island started as a Revolutionary War spy base and evolved into a powerful shipyard, launching vessels for the U.S. military and even crafting a royal yacht for Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II. In this episode, we explore how this overlooked patch of land helped build warships, hosted presidents and royalty, and then disappeared into obscurity. Today, it’s off-limits, overgrown, and littered with the remains of a once-glorious past.

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[VIDEO] NYC Revealed: Where New York City's 14 Million Tons of Trash Go

2025-12-06T12:00:00-05:00

Many things come to mind when thinking about New York City, but how the city deals with its garbage is usually not one of them. New Yorkers produce over 14 million tons of trash each year — and a combination of city agencies and private companies work daily to haul away what New Yorkers don't want.

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[BOOKS] Check Out Jeffrey Milstein's "LA NY: Aerial Photographs of Los Angeles and New York"

2025-12-04T12:00:00-05:00

A unique dual aerial portrait of Los Angeles and New York, in a stunning case of compare and contrast from a bird’s-eye point of view

LA NY is a dazzling visual tale of two cities, Los Angeles and New York, as seen from the air. Photographed straight down at a ninety-degree angle to emphasize the particular patterns of place, how the urban grid adapts to local topography, and how the topography itself adapts to human purposes, these two cities are revealed as never before in astonishing detail. Photographer Jeffrey Milstein explores residential and commercial neighborhoods, parks and recreation spots, as well as industrial districts and the infrastructure of transportation. Iconic buildings and landmarks are easy to spot, alongside suburban housing developments, apartment complexes, commercial hubs, entertainment and financial centers, and airports and shipping terminals. Milstein’s work deftly combines architecture, science, and art.

Using high-resolution cameras mounted to a stabilizing gyro, Milstein leaned out of helicopters over Los Angeles where he grew up and over New York where he now lives, looking for shapes and patterns of culture from above, continually awed by the difference an aerial view makes. In addition to the urban topography, events and activities have also been captured, such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and outings at the beach.

LA NY: Aerial Photographs of Los Angeles and New York is available for just $29.95 on Amazon.

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[WATCH] The Oldest Photos of New York City You've Never Seen

2025-11-03T12:00:00-05:00

Explore fascinating and nearly forgotten images of New York captured at the peak of its history! Discover incredible portraits of streets, people, and moments that reveal a city completely different from what we know today. A unique journey through extremely rare photos showing New York as you've never seen it before!

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[VIDEO] What if New York City Hosted The Olympics?

2025-10-10T12:00:00-04:00

New York City is one of the most iconic and sports-obsessed cities in the world—but it's never hosted the Olympic Games. After narrowly missing out on the 2012 bid, the city hasn’t tried again... but I believe they have the pieces to give it another try.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:38 The Events
1:26 Lower Manhattan
2:37 Flushing
3:02 Upper Manhattan/The Bronx
3:27 Brooklyn
3:43 Staten Island
4:04 New Jersey
4:19 Nassau County
5:05 Jamaica Bay
5:50 Remote
7:12 Outro

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[VIDEO] Staten Island's Map, Explained

2025-10-03T12:00:00-04:00

00:00 Intro
02:28 Why is Staten Island Part of New York?
04:23 Headspace
05:47 The Dutch Impact
09:54 The English Takeover
14:06 The Revolutionary War
15:51 Why is it Part of NYC?
20:21 Why is it 'Forgotten'?
28:19 Conclusion
30:04 Fun Fact

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