THIS photo comes from a recent jaunt down Forest Avenue in Staten Island, a lengthy route that runs from Victory Boulevard to the Goethals Bridge. I only got halfway, only as far as Richmond Avenue, which is a good five miles. Perhaps someday soon I’ll do the other half and maybe add a walk all the way over the new Goethals, which (as of 2021) was opened just a couple of years ago.
A number of streets as well as drugstore awnings bear the name of Randall. They don’t honor Tony Randall, who played hundreds of roles over decades in showbiz but is perhaps remembered best for playing fussy photographer Felix Unger on TV’s “The Odd Couple,” but a fellow named Robert Richard Randall. This drugstore can be found on the corner of Forest and Walbrooke Avenues in New Brighton, south of Randall Manor, where you can find Sailors’ Snug Harbor.
Sailors’ Snug Harbor, an 83-acre National Historic Landmarked District facing Richmond Terrace between Tysen Street and Snug Harbor Road, was founded in the Washington Square area of Manhattan by Robert Richard Randall when he specified that his fortune be left to the care of retired seamen without other means of support. Randall was the bachelor son of a privateer and knew well the toll a life at sea can take on the body and psyche. After Randall’s death in 1801, over twenty years was spent in adjudicating claims to Randall’s fortune, and by 1821, lower Manhattan had grown considerably and land for the sort of retreat Randall had had in mind was unavailable. Snug Harbor trustees purchased Isaac Housman’s farm in then-rural Richmond County in the 1830s. Architect Minard Lefever was commissioned to build Snug Harbor’s magnificent Greek Revival edifices, only some of which remain today. At its peak Snug Harbor was home to over 1000 seamen; by 1976 operations had relocated to North Carolina. The buildings were allowed to deteriorate for awhile, and some were demolished, but seven have been landmarked and Snug Harbor is in the process of becoming a premier cultural center in NYC. The institute includes Staten Island Botanical Garden and Children’s Museum, which all occupy the same space. Consult snug-harbor.org for hours.
Walking through Snug Harbor is a strange yet calming experience; a trip through an old folks home, where all the old folks were Popeye. I haven’t been back for several years; the time may be ripe.
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12/9/21