Although it’s one of New York’s city boroughs, Staten Island remains a mystery to many visitors and city residents alike. A former beach resort for the Vanderbilts and other wealthy families who built spacious 19th c. “cottages” or summered in its columned beachfront hotels, the island is a hilly tree-filled gem of unexpected cultural treasures.
I moved to the island ten years ago to rendezvous with a towering sculptor and icon painter I’d met in Greece. After being shown a series of shoebox apa...
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