Staten Island’s Crown Jewel (Sailors’ Snug Harbor)
Sailors’ Snug Harbor (or Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden) has been called “Staten Island’s crown jewel” on its Wikipedia entry. There are landmarked 19th-century buildings in its “Temple Row.” Snug Harbor was once a home for aged sailors, but is now an 83-acre city park. “The Snug Harbor Cultural Center is its (Staten Island’s—ed.) crown jewel” was cited in print in the New York (NY) Times in 2007.
The New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden is sometimes said to be the “crown jewel.” “The crown jewel of the Staten Island Botanical Garden, the Scholar’s Garden was created by 40 artisans from China ” was cited in print in 2005.
Wikipedia: Sailors’ Snug Harbor
Sailors’ Snug Harbor, also known as Sailors Snug Harbor or Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden or, informally, Snug Harbor, is a collection of architecturally significant 19th-century buildings set in a park along the Kill Van Kull on the north shore of Staten Island in New York City, United States. It was once a home for aged sailors and is now an 83-acre (34 ha) city park. Some of the buildings and the grounds are used by arts organizations under the umbrella of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden. Sailors’ Snug Harbor includes 26 Greek Revival, Beaux Arts, Italianate and Victorian style buildings. The site is considered Staten Island’s “crown jewel” and “an incomparable remnant of New York’s 19th-century seafaring past.” It is a National Historic Landmark District.
History
Snug Harbor was founded through the 1801 bequest of New York tycoon Captain Robert Richard Randall, namesake of the nearby neighborhood of Randall Manor. Randall left his country estate in Manhattan, bounded by Fifth Avenue and Broadway and Eighth and 10th Streets, to build an institution to care for “aged, decrepit and worn-out” seamen. Randall’s disappointed heirs contested the will extensively, delaying the opening of the sailors’ home for decades.
Sailors’ Snug Harbor finally opened in 1833, the country’s first home for retired merchant seamen. It began with a single building, now the centerpiece in the row of five Greek Revival temple-like buildings on the New Brighton waterfront.
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Staten Island Botanical Garden
The Staten Island Botanical Garden maintains extensive gardens including The White Garden, inspired by Vita Sackville-West’s famous garden at Sissinghurst; Connie Gretz’s Secret Garden, complete with a castle, a maze and walled secret garden; and The New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden, an authentic, walled, Chinese garden in the style of the famous gardens of Suzhou.
What To Do In Staten Island
Sailors’ Snug Harbor
Sailors’ Snug Harbor was built in 1831 and opened its doors in 1833. Its formal name is the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, but many New Yorkers just call it Snug Harbor. Nicknamed as Staten Island’s crown jewel, Snug Harbor is a park of several establishments ideal for New York visitors:
•Staten Island Botanical Garden — exhibiting several smaller gardens
•Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art — 15,000 square feet of art galleries
•Noble Maritime Collection — works by sailor John Noble
•Staten Island Children’s Museum — interactive museum suited for children
•Staten Island Museum — general interest museum with history, science, and art
•Art Lab — school of applied and fine art
•Music Hall — 850 seat auditorium and second oldest music hall of New York
Google Books
The New York Times Guide to New York City, 2005
By John W. Wright
New York, NY: New York Times
2005
Pg. 178:
You could spend a whole day at Snug Harbor, which offers an escape for every taste and age. If nature is what you crave, amble into the Chinese Scholar’s Garden to be instantly transported to China’s Suzhou Province, and maybe to serenity. The crown jewel of the Staten Island Botanical Garden, the Scholar’s Garden was created by 40 artisans from China and is the only garden of its kind in the United States.
Google Books
US-China Review
Volume 30
2006
Pg. 9:
Chinese Scholar’s Garden
By Alfred Abati, New York City Chapter
The New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden is the jewel of Staten Island.
New York (NY) Times
Weekend in New York | Staten Island
Getting Beyond the Ferry
By SETH KUGEL
Published: November 11, 2007
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Staten Island specializes in the same things the city specializes in: culture and food. The Snug Harbor Cultural Center is its crown jewel. Originally an 18th-century home for “aged, decrepit and worn-out sailors,” it now houses the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, the Staten Island Children’s Museum and the Staten Island Botanical Garden, where November is orchid and chrysanthemum month, and every month is New York Chinese Scholars Garden month. Just reading the names of the parts of the garden, which was designed and mostly prefabricated in China, is soothing: Wandering-in-Bamboo Courtyard, Moon Embracing Pool, Gurgling Rock Bridge.
SILive.com
Keep Staten Island’s crown jewel safe
Staten Island Advance Editorial By Staten Island Advance Editorial
on June 17, 2012 at 3:43 AM
Surrounded by its historic iron fence, Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden is a beautiful landmark. It’s set on 83 bucolic acres in Livingston.
Outside the front fence, a short way from cherished buildings and gardens, things aren’t so calm.
Nearly half a mile of Richmond Terrace has become a dangerous speedway.