Great Kills is a neighborhood within the borough of Staten Island, New York City. It is located on the island’s South Shore, and according to many local geographers, it is the South Shore’s northernmost community. Richmondtown borders it to the north, Bay Terrace to the east, Eltingville to the west, and Great Kills Harbor to the south. Kill is an archaic Dutch word with various popular translations, including “creek” and “channel.” Indeed, many small streams dot the neighborhood, and the name can be interpreted as meaning that many such streams can be found there.
As of 2021, the neighborhood is represented in the New York State Senate by Great Kills resident Andrew Lanza, in the New York State Assembly by Michael Reilly and Michael Tannousis, and the New York City Council by Joseph Borelli. All four are members of the Republican Party.
The eastern half of what has been known since 1865 as Great Kills was originally named Clarendon after a British colonial governor and the western half was named Newtown. Both were known as Giffords, after Daniel Gifford, a local commissioner and surveyor. The name survives in Giffords Lane and Giffords Glen, which are adjacent to the Great Kills train station that was formerly named Giffords, and also in the Gifford School, P.S. 32. The term “Great Kills” traces back informally at least to 1664, the final year of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam when French settler Jacques Guyon called the area “La Grand Kills.” From the 1680s, when the English colonial government was organized, until 1898, when Staten Island consolidated into New York City, eastern Great Kills was officially part of the town of Southfield, Richmond County, New York, and western Great Kills was officially part of Westfield. Great Kills and Staten Island’s other East Shore neighborhoods were mostly rural. They dotted with shoreline resorts until the 1950s, after which the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge brought heavy residential growth from Brooklyn.
The 17th-century Poillon-Seguine-Britton House near Great Kills Harbor was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 but was burned in 1989 and demolished in 1996. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics selected what is now Great Kills Park as a “Historic Aerospace Site” in 2006 to commemorate a pioneering rocket launch in 1933. H&A Power Washing Staten Island
Recreation
The neighborhood is home to the Great Kills Little League, one of eight Little Leagues on Staten Island and the winner of the state baseball championship in 2011. Another thousand neighborhood children participate in sports teams organized through St. Clare’s Church, and its spin-off Great Kills Soccer Club. St. Clare’s cheerleading squad won a Northeast divisional championship in 2016.
Restaurants Nearby
- Reggianos II is located at 4126 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island, NY
- Petrizia’s of Staten Island is located at 4255 Amboy Rd, Staten Island, NY
- Andrew’s Diner is located at 4160 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island, NY
Check out different neighborhoods like New Springville