Arden Heights is a name increasingly applied to the western part of Annadale, a neighborhood located on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York, USA. The term “Arden Heights” is found on most maps of New York City, including Hagstrom’s.
Erastus Wiman, a noted Staten Island real estate developer, coined the name “Arden Heights” in 1886; the neighborhood’s name probably refers to the hill that currently looms above the Village Greens shopping center and housing development. (The moniker does not refer to the now-shuttered Fresh Kills Landfill at the western end of Arden Avenue. The landfill did not exist until the mid-20th Century.)
Long noted for being the site of St. Michael’s Home For Children, a Roman Catholic orphanage, Arden Heights underwent a serious transformation when the Village above Greens, New York City’s first planned urban development, opened there in 1971. The ground was broken for the project by Mayor John V. Lindsay, who in the late 1960s proudly announced that travel time from the Greens to Lower Manhattan would average one hour 15 minutes – just about the same when taking a bus in 2007.
In 1982, the Saint Michael’s orphanage, situated off Arthur Kill Road, closed, with some land on which it stood being sold to developers (who have since built the Aspen Knolls development) and the remainder set aside for use as a church, named for the recently canonized St. John Neumann. The church also maintains a convent for the Presentation Sisters on the east side of the property; in 2005, a section of this land was sold off, with new home construction to follow here, too — still another sign of the continuing housing boom on Staten Island, which has gone on virtually uninterrupted since the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened in 1964.
Village Greens
The Greens feature clustered townhomes built around looped streets – one way in, one way out. Off the main thoroughfares of Arden Avenue and Arthur Kill Road, these streets – Hampton Green, Forest Green, Dover Green, Avon Green, and Carlyle Green – provides a relatively traffic-free environment, making Village Greens a unique place to live in an otherwise overdeveloped Staten Island. (Some Greens feature detached homes, which naturally fetch a higher market price than the townhomes, often clustered eight apiece.) Architectural guidelines and exterior home inspections by the Village Greens Homeowners Association have helped the community maintain its appearance. H&A Power Washing Staten Island
Another “Green” – namely Rolling Hill Green – was built on land intended for the Village Greens but was never made for reasons unknown (some conjecture that the developers ran out of cash and construction workers). These “Greens” have their recreational facilities.
Restaurants Nearby
- The district is located at 2 Sneden Ave, Staten Island, NY
- Moe’s Southwest Grill is located at 262 Arden Ave, Staten Island, NY
Check out different neighborhoods like Castleton Corners