Stayed

With Laura and Abe, who enabled my first trip to Staten Island.  They were complete strangers and read the article in the New York Times.  I met them on the Upper West Side on Sunday (where Abe grew up) and we drove back to their home in Midland Beach.  And it is a home.  I had my own room and bed and there are three levels.  The cats Dex and Pearl kept me company as well.  Here’s Pearl.

Ate

Some excellent home cooked meals, including a Mother’s day meal.  My mom ran off to Sun Valley for the occasion so I didn’t feel too bad about being elsewhere.  Laura’s family welcomed me in for a roast with Yorkshire pudding, string beans with preserved lemons, and mashed potatoes.  Laura likes to preserve things – lime, lemons, olives.  She laughs about how popular preserved lemon has become on the menus of New York restaurants because it’s so easy to make.  I also learned that sauce is referred to as gravy, trader joe’s makes a pretty good macaroon, and the fine art of cooking in slow cookers.  Since Laura and Abe have wildly different schedules, Laura usually makes a meal in the slow cooker.

I took them to the Basilio Inn, a 90 year old restaurant that has bocce courts for a nomad sponsored dinner.  Try the Penne alle Norma there.  Delicious.  We also had beers at the local beer garden.  On Sunday afternoon, we went to Denino’s Pizza.  I’d come back to Staten Island just for this pizza.  It’s located across the street from Ralph’s Italian Ice, where we went for dessert.  They have an incredible number of flavors.  I opted for a Peanut Butter Cookie dough creme ice.

Played

An xbox car racing video game.  Abe actually raced cars at an amateur level.  He has the wheel with the pedals and was coaching me on the game.  Let’s just say Abe wouldn’t get in a car on a race track with me any time soon.

Learned

A lot about Staten Island.  The forgotten borough is indeed forgotten.  I thought they still dumped all the trash here. Laura is a great resource if you want know to learn things about Staten Island.  She is passionate about the community and has lived here for quite a while.  Abe has been here for a few years and also seems to feel ownership over the community.  He has a very interesting perspective in that he grew up in Manhattan, but now lives in Staten Island.

Commuted

With the express buses.  I took the X1, X5 and X7 during my stay in Midland Beach.  It’s amazing how easy the buses are during rush hour.  It took me just about an hour door to door from Staten Island to SoHo.  The buses are clean and the bus lanes are dedicated bus lanes so you don’t have to worry about horrible traffic.

Missed

A lot – check out the incredible map Laura made here.  I really would like to spend more time in Staten Island, especially the southern shore of the island.  There is great pizza to be had, its the greenest borough, and it just has such a different feel than the rest of New York City.

Related articles

• Cult Hero Dances His Way Across Staten Island (newyork.cbslocal.com)
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• NYC Looking At Staten Island Windmill Proposal (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• May 28th, Start of Beach Season (insidejourneys.com)
• Staten Island’s Secret Oasis (cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com)