An ode to Staten Island and its ponds
Admittedly, we sometimes underestimate Staten Island. But charms it has a-plenty, especially as a change of scenery from the rest of the city. Take its ponds, which dot the borough and make the island so much greener and more of a respite than so many other spots in NYC. (Why take on the traffic-y drive to Cape Cod when we have ponds right here? Yes, ocean, we know, but still.) According to the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, some, like Bunker Pond, were leftovers from glaciers melting and sculpting the landscape thousands of years ago.
Behold:
The Staten Island Advance has amazing vintage photos of these gems that harken back to the 1910s and bear witness to the fact that some of them haven't changed much at all.
Check them out and, even better, see the ponds in person. (For starters, you can find them tucked in preserves like the fantastic Clay Pit Ponds State Park.) We hear there's a holiday weekend right around the corner perfect for some pond-hopping.
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