A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT. Staten Island’s Lemon Creek

A creek? In the streets of New York City? You better believe it.

In fact, there are more than one in Staten Island, until recently the last frontier of New York City.

 

Although rapidly developing right now, the neighborhoods of Woodrow and Pleasant Plains were mostly woods and creeks until the late 1970s.

 

The blue line on the map at left roughly traces the path of Lemon Creek and its tributary creeks as they run on street level and in underground conduits. See below for views of one of the remaining ground level creeks in New York City!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEFT: Lemon Creek is seen here just north of Hylan Boulevard. The Lemon Creek Bridge carries Hylan Boulevard over the creek just north of where it empties into Raritan Bay.

2nd: A very old bridge carries Bayview Avenue over Lemon Creek in Pleasant Plains. “Excelsior” is the motto of New York State.

3rd: Lemon Creek at Edgegrove and Marcy Avenues. Unfortunately, Lemon Creek is occasionally treated as a garbage dump by some people in the neighborhood.

4th: Lemon Creek enters an underground conduit under Rossville Avenue north of Woodrow Road.

Arbutus and Lemon Creeks as seen from Amboy Road

Forgotten Fan Drew Moschella has an excellent view of the creek from his backyard on Bayview Avenue.

4/10/99