Two weeks ago the Staten Island hidden gems walk went through the Greenbelt and the borough’s southern forests. Today’s route goes to the other end of the island — north and east, through St. George and the St. George Historic District, along the Kill Van Kull waterfront, and into the neighborhoods of Tompkinsville and Stapleton that are in the middle of a significant transformation that most people across the bay haven’t noticed yet.
This walk starts at the Staten Island Ferry terminal — which most visitors treat as a turnaround point — and asks you to actually get off the boat and go exploring. Everything on this route is within a 20-minute walk of the ferry. You do not need a car. You do not need a plan beyond comfortable shoes and a few hours.
The Route: St. George to Stapleton
Stop 1: St. George Terminal and the Waterfront Esplanade
The Staten Island Ferry terminal at St. George is free — the ferry is free — and the waterfront esplanade on the terminal’s north side offers one of the best unobstructed views of Lower Manhattan in the city. Most ferry riders look at the view from the boat and then head straight back. If you walk north from the terminal along the waterfront esplanade instead, you’ll reach the St. George Waterfront, a stretch of refurbished shoreline with direct views of the Bayonne Bridge, the Kill Van Kull shipping channel, and the New Jersey shore. On a clear May morning, the light on the Manhattan skyline from the esplanade hits at a completely different angle than it does from Brooklyn or Queens.
Stop 2: Staten Island Children’s Museum and Snug Harbor Cultural Center, 1000 Richmond Terrace
Walk west along Richmond Terrace for about 15 minutes to reach Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden — 83 acres of parkland, gardens, and 19th-century Greek Revival buildings that were originally built as a retirement home for sailors in 1833. The complex includes the Staten Island Museum, the Staten Island Chinese Scholar’s Garden (one of only two authentic Chinese Scholar’s Gardens in the United States), a New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden that took 40 artisans from Suzhou, China three years to build, a teaching greenhouse, and the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art. The grounds are free to walk; individual attractions charge modest admission fees. The grounds alone — particularly in May, when the botanical plantings are active — are worth the trip.
Stop 3: The St. George Historic District
Back toward the ferry, the blocks directly uphill from the terminal constitute the St. George Historic District — a concentration of late-Victorian and Edwardian commercial and residential buildings that were the center of the borough’s civic life from the 1890s through the mid-20th century. The St. George Theatre (35 Hyatt Street), a Baroque Revival performance space built in 1929 and restored in the 2000s, is one of the finest surviving theaters of its era in the metro area. It hosts concerts, comedy shows, and films regularly — check the calendar at stgeorgetheatre.com. The surrounding blocks have seen new restaurants and small businesses open over the past several years, part of a slow but real revival of the St. George commercial corridor.
Stop 4: Tompkinsville Park and the Evolving Commercial Strip
Head south from the ferry terminal on Bay Street into Tompkinsville, which has been one of the most active areas of new business development on the North Shore for the past several years. The neighborhood is home to a large Sri Lankan community — the largest Sri Lankan community in the United States, by some accounts — and Bay Street between Victory Boulevard and Broad Street has a dense concentration of Sri Lankan restaurants, tea shops, and grocery stores. The Lakruwana Restaurant (668 Bay Street) is among the most celebrated Sri Lankan restaurants in the country and has received national press attention. Walk the strip slowly; it’s a genuine immigrant commercial neighborhood, not a curated food hall.
Stop 5: Stapleton and the North Shore Esplanade
Continue south to Stapleton, where the recently completed North Shore Esplanade — a waterfront greenway along the Upper New York Bay — connects a series of small parks between the ferry terminal and Old Town. The esplanade includes public art installations, seating areas, and direct water access for fishing. Stapleton’s main commercial street, Canal Street (not to be confused with Manhattan’s), has seen a cluster of independent businesses open over the past few years, including a roastery, a wine shop, and several art studios in converted industrial space. The Stapleton neighborhood is in the middle of a rezoning process that will significantly reshape the waterfront — what you see walking it now may look quite different in five years.
The North Shore in Context
Staten Island’s North Shore corridor — from St. George south through Tompkinsville, Stapleton, and into St. Paul’s Avenue-Stapleton Historic District — has been designated as a focus area for borough investment and is receiving city attention to transit, public space, and economic development. The combination of ferry access, historic building stock, and lower commercial rents has made it one of the more interesting areas in the city for independent business formation, even if it remains below the radar for most Manhattanites and Brooklynites. The view walking back toward the ferry terminal, with the Manhattan skyline visible across the water the whole way, makes the return trip as good as the outbound one.
Getting There and Around
Take the Staten Island Ferry from the Whitehall Street terminal in Lower Manhattan — it’s free in both directions and runs every 30 minutes on weekends. From the St. George terminal, everything on this route is walkable. The Staten Island Railway also runs from St. George south to Stapleton and beyond if you want to extend the walk further. No car needed; no subway fare needed beyond getting to the Whitehall terminal.
What You Need to Know
- Staten Island Ferry is free, runs every 30 minutes on weekends from Whitehall Street in Manhattan.
- Snug Harbor Cultural Center (1000 Richmond Terrace) — grounds are free; individual museum and garden admissions vary.
- Chinese Scholar’s Garden at Snug Harbor is one of only two authentic examples in the U.S.; check snug-harbor.org for hours.
- St. George Theatre (35 Hyatt Street) hosts regular shows; check stgeorgetheatre.com for the current calendar.
- Lakruwana Restaurant (668 Bay Street) is often cited as the best Sri Lankan restaurant in the country; reservations recommended on weekends.
- The North Shore Esplanade connects the ferry terminal to Stapleton on foot along the water.
- Budget 3–4 hours; add another 90 minutes if you spend real time at Snug Harbor.
For more on what’s happening on Staten Island this weekend, our Staten Island Weekend Preview for May 2–3 covers the full calendar. And for a look at how city policy is reshaping North Shore development, see our Staten Island Policy Watch on City of Yes.
