STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Sunday morning's drive through Grymes Hill found homes decked out in harvest and Halloween-themed displays, and big-sky vistas that brought Brooklyn and the distant New Jersey shore into high-definition focus from the heights of Howard Avenue and Signal Hill Road.
The autumn chill lingered past noon and perhaps explained the lack of activity along the neighborhood's well-groomed residential streets -- not even dog-walkers were out and about.
Starlight Road, Grymes Hill. Oct. 19, 2014. (Staten Island Advance/Virginia N. Sherry)
It was a time to enjoy sculpture on the grounds of Casa Belvedere; the play of shadows on Mediterranean-style tile roofs of pale green and bright terra-cotta; the burst of late-blooming pink roses on the campus of St. John's University and a charming aqua-blue front door and shutters on romantic Starlight Road.
Click here for some historic facts about Grymes Hill that you may not know.