Grant City, Staten Island

Grant City is the name of a neighborhood located on the East Shore of Staten Island, New York, USA. The island comprises one of the five boroughs of New York City.

Originally known as Frenchtown, the community was renamed in honor of Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant soon after the conflict began, despite the fact that the war itself was so unpopular on Staten Island that the island was the scene of anti-draft riots in July of 1863. Many of the streets are named after historical figures such as Lincoln Ave (after President Abraham Lincoln), Fremont Ave (after General John C. Fremont who was the first Republican candidate for President in 1856), Adams Avenue (after President John Adams), and Greeley Ave (after newspaper editor Horace Greeley).

The Grant City station on the Staten Island Railway serves the community, and the station immediately to the north is located at and named Jefferson Avenue, this street generally regarded as the boundary between Grant City and neighboring Dongan Hills. To the east of Grant City lies Midland Beach, and a high cliff to the west of Richmond Road separates Grant City from Todt Hill. New Dorp is situated immediately south of Grant City.

Many small, one-family homes were built in Grant City in the 1950s, with a stronger growth spurt occurring after the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in November of 1964 made access to the island from Brooklyn much easier. Today the neighborhood's population is heavily Italian-American by ethnicity and Roman Catholic by religion, and many of its residents were born in Brooklyn. Grant City and the neighborhoods surrounding it are also very conservative politically, with the Republican Party candidates for virtually all elected offices routinely carrying these neighborhoods by large majorities although popular democratic candiates have been gaining ground.

description and reputation

Grant City Staten Island is clean suburb with a stop on the SIRT (Staten Island Rapid Transit (Train), the town itself may feel a little bit more urban near mid-rise condos on Lincoln Ave. Much of this community is safe, with beautiful colonials running up and down tree lined streets. One notorious incedent took place in 1990 as a F0 tornado made it way north along freemont Ave. in Grant City, toppling 100+ year old trees and causing wide spread damage.