Arrochar (
ritish merican
''Merican'' is an EP by the American punk rock band the Descendents, released February 10, 2004. It was the band's first release for Fat Wreck Chords and served as a pre-release to their sixth studio album ''Cool to Be You'', released the follo ...
is a neighborhood in northeastern
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. It is located directly inland of
Fort Wadsworth
Fort Wadsworth is a former United States military installation on Staten Island in New York City, situated on The Narrows which divide New York Bay into Upper and Lower halves, a natural point for defense of the Upper Bay and Manhattan beyon ...
and
South Beach
South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard.
This area was the ...
, on the east side of
Hylan Boulevard
Hylan Boulevard is a major northeast-southwest boulevard in the New York City borough of Staten Island, and the longest street in the city. It is approximately long, and runs from the North Shore neighborhood of Rosebank, then along the enti ...
south of the
Staten Island Expressway; the community of
Grasmere borders it on the west. It is today primarily a neighborhood of one- and two-family homes and small businesses.
History
Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the late 17th century to Staten Island, the area was the site of a
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...
encampment. The name "Arrochar" comes from the estate of William Wallace MacFarland in the 1840s, who named it for his hometown of
Arrochar in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, the seat of the ancient chiefs of the Clan MacFarlane.
At the beginning of the 20th century the neighborhood became a fashionable gateway to the resort communities of South Beach and
Midland Beach. The house of the MacFarland estate is now part of the grounds of
St. Joseph Hill Academy, a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
girls school. Across Landis Avenue from St. Joseph Hill Academy sits
St. John Villa Academy, a now-defunct all-girls Catholic high school. Throughout the 20th century it became a residential neighborhood for various ethnic groups,
Italian-Americans being chief among them. Arrochar today is still inhabited by many Italians and has a growing
Chinese-American
Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from m ...
community as well.
Education
Arrochar is served by the elementary school P.S.39 and St. Joseph Hill Academy (which is both elementary and high school).
Transportation
Arrochar once had
its own train station, on the South Beach Branch of the
Staten Island Railway
The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a rapid transit line in the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, ...
. The station was located at Major Avenue.
This station was abandoned when the SIRT discontinued passenger service on the
South Beach Branch
The South Beach Branch, also called the East Shore Sub-Division, is an abandoned branch of the Staten Island Railway in New York City, which operated along Staten Island's East Shore from Clifton to Wentworth Avenue. This double-tracked branch ...
to
Wentworth Avenue at midnight on March 31, 1953 because of city-operated bus competition.
The tracks of the South Beach line have been removed and homes now stand on its former right-of-way.
Due to its proximity to the Verrazanno-Narrows Bridge, Arrochar is served by the express buses to and from Manhattan; the buses to and from Brooklyn; and the intra-borough buses.
See also
*
List of Staten Island neighborhoods
References
Neighborhoods in Staten Island
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