STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Great Kills sits tight between Bay Terrace to the east and Elltingville to the west, from the Atlantic Ocean to Arthur Kill Road.
At the waterfront, the highlight of the town is the Gateway National Recreation Area, which opened to the public as Great Kills Park in 1949, then in 1973, as part of the Great Kills National Recreation Area. It includes a beach, Nichols Marina with 250 new boat slips, a playground, walking and jogging paths. A special section way out on the end called Crookes Point was named in 1860 for John J. Crooke, who owned it and then sold it to NYC in 1929. Today, fishing is still allowed here by permit.
I can imagine when the land was clear and many streams were running from the hills of Great Kills to the shores of the ocean. In the early 1600s, many Dutch settled in Great Kills. "Kill" is an old Dutch word which means, "creek" or "channel," and yes, there are a great number of waterways that run through the town. Being so close to the water, locals harvested oysters, which were plentiful during the 19th Century.
Cairedon was the name of the eastern part of the town before 1865. The western part was called Newton. Later, both were called Giffords after a local engineer, according to Wikipedia. Today, Giffords Lane remains.
From the waterfront row of lovely restaurants and private marinas to above the main street, Hylan Boulevard, you will find many one-family homes of all shapes and sizes as the landscape climbs uphill.
Families flocked here in the 1960s. This little neighborhood has its own train station, which created a town center, where many businesses have come and gone. The corner of Amboy Road and Nelson Avenue was called "The Village" by locals in its heyday.
A clock shop has been in Great kills for nearly 30 years. The owner, Lou Ecole of R&L Clocks on Giffords Lane, rattles off a list of old businesses: "Old-timers will remember Trunz, Benedict's supermarket, Harry's Department Store, Farrell Lumber, Larsen's Jewelers and, perhaps, Gregory Dance Studio."
Newcomers, such as Justine Lordo of The Right Touch hair salon says, "It's a great town to work in, and people keep coming, even from the North Shore."
The town is also known for its super Little League complex that sits next to the Great Kills Swim Club, which was the site of the recent movie, "Staten Island Summer," produced by SNL's Colin Jost. Other stars of Great Kills include actor Rick Schroeder, who lived here as a child, as did actress Alyssa Milano, comedian Bob Levy and "SNL" star Pete Davidson.
The hope of business owners and residents here is that the unsettled business strip along Amboy Road will once again be the bustling hub it once was.
