Staten Island, NY: Parks, Historic Sites & Waterfront Views

New York is full of very specialized museums, like the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Natural History, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But for those looking for the whole package, the Staten Island Museum is the only general interest museum in New York City. With exhibitions containing natural and manmade artifacts, works of art, and pieces of history, the Staten Island Museum is a great destination for learning not just about Staten Island, but also the world. A wide variety of traveling and rotating exhibits ensures that every visit to the Staten Island Museum will be a unique one.

Staten Island Museum, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Building A, Staten Island, NY 10301, Phone: 718-727-1135

Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, often called Sailors’ Snug Harbor, was once a charitable resting place for sailors during the 19th century. It is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC and consists of 28 historical buildings, and today contains a museum, working farm, performing arts center, artist residences, and several schools. Snug Harbor is an open campus for visitors and, with a small admission fee of $5, they can wander the beautiful grounds, explore the buildings and what they have to offer, and learn about the history of this peaceful, artistic, and historically relevant place.

1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301, Phone: 718-425-3504

At the National Lighthouse Museum, visitors can learn all about lighthouses, those iconic structures that have marked dangerous coastlines and helped sailors navigate for millennia. The museum contains models of almost two hundred real lighthouses located in the United States as well as artifacts and parts from historical lighthouses. Visitors will learn how they were lit over the years, about the purposes they served, and about the people who manned them.

200 Promenade at Lighthouse Point, Staten Island, NY 10301, Phone: 718-390-0040

Set on approximately 20 acres of peaceful nature, Seaside Wildlife Nature Park is the perfect respite from the urban jungle that is New York City. With a massive playground for kids, including a lighthouse, an explorable shipwreck, and a playground that is modeled to look like the Staten Island Ferry, this play space is inventive and fun, perfect for kids with a lot of energy and a big imagination. There are also plenty of nature trails in the park, leading cyclists, joggers, or those on a leisurely walk through trees, salt marshes, and native plants to Staten Island.

Nelson Ave, Staten Island, NY 10308, Phone: 212-639-9675

Alice Austen was one of the earliest and most impactful female photographers in America, and during the 19th and 20th centuries she took approximately 8,000 photographs. Alice Austen was a woman who broke ties from the traditional, and lived her life according to her own terms. She never married, was the first woman on all of Staten Island to own her own car, designed landscapes, mastered the game of tennis, and even today, she stands as a role model for women. Her home, Clear Comfort, is where Austen lived from the 1860s until 1945. Now a National Historic Landmark, the Alice Austen House contains a number of exhibits about her life, her work, and history during her lifetime.

Alice Austen House, 2 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10305, Phone: 718-816-4506

Recommended Activities for Families

The Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve is located on the southwest shore of Staten Island, and is home to a number of ecological habitats, including wetlands, sand barrens, and woodlands. A rich history within the 265-acre park includes evidence that it was once the home of the Lenapi Native Americans, early settlers from Europe, and the Free Blacks of Sandy Ground. Visitors to the park can explore its beautiful nature and also spend time at the Interpretive Center at Clay Pit Ponds. In the Interpretive Center, visitors can view educational exhibits about the park’s geology, ecology, and anthropological history.

83 Nielsen Ave, Staten Island, NY 10309, Phone: 718-967-1976

Conference House was built in 1680, and is named for the famous meeting that took place there in September 11, 1776, a meeting that tried and failed to end the American Revolutionary War. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge met with the British commander of forces in the colonies, Lord Howe, and tried to discuss the possibility of peace. The meeting ended with the Founding Fathers politely declining, and the war continued for another 7 years. Today, the Conference House contains exhibits about the founding of America, the immigrant narrative, and the history of the house itself.

7455 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10307, Phone: 718-984-6046

Fort Wadsworth was first built in the 17th century by the Dutch, when New York City was still called New Amsterdam. It has changed significantly in the centuries since, but its prime location has allowed it to defend the New York Harbor for centuries against potential attacks. It was closed in the 1990s, and today Fort Wadsworth is a thriving tourist attraction owned by the National Park Service. Open to the public, there are many knowledgeable rangers at Fort Wadsworth who will lead visitors on an educational tour through the grounds of the old military stronghold.

Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, NY 10305

Antonio Meucci, an inventor of Italian heritage, once lived in the house that is now the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum. Giuseppe Garibaldi, for whom the museum is also named, was a hero who unified Italy, and once also called the house a home and refuge. The museum strives to maintain and teach about the legacy that these men had, particularly for those of Italian-American heritage, and offers classes about Italian art, culture, and more. Exhibits within the museum teach about the lives of these two men as well as the impact of Italian culture on modern day America.

420 Tompkins Ave, Staten Island, NY 10305, Phone: 718-442-1608