Celebrating Tottenville's waterfront in
Conference House Park.

Kayaking.

Live music on the
Russell Pavilion.

Conference House tours.

Arts and craft demonstrations.

Puppet shows.

NY/NJ BAYKEEPER

On April 10, Tottenville celebrated Little League Opening Day with a parade along Amboy Road to the South Shore Little League fields led by the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Champions.  Play ball!

On Saturday, March 13, a major coastal storm swept across Tottenville with 60 mph winds and several inches of rain causing power outages, downed trees, and massive flooding.  Another storm on March 30 with wind-driven heavy rains shut down the Staten Island Railway for several hours due to flooding.

Theodore F. and Elizabeth J. DeHart House, 134 Main St., 2006 - 2010

During the week of March 22, 2010, the Theodore F. and Elizabeth J. DeHart House, a NYC designated landmark, was grossly altered with the removal of original clapboards, eyebrow windows, and other original features.  This is not a landmarking issue. The horrific alteration of the house has more to do with abiding by the law and the lack of enforcement.

Since 1965, there has been a NYC law protecting buildings and places that have been designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The owners of these properties have to accept and respect that law, the same way we are all required to abide by the zoning laws, building codes and environmental protection laws that exist today.

The Enforcement Department of the Landmarks Preservation Commission is “responsible for ensuring compliance with the Landmarks Law.” They are compelled by their own regulations to do so, and yet disfigurement and neglect continue without penalty or consequence. An example is the Abraham Manee House in Princes Bay. This is inexcusable.

The landmarking process in NYC under the current administration has been dubbed “Mike’s Folly," and unless something is done to help the Landmarks Preservation Commission do the job they are mandated to do by law, the “Big Apple” will continue to rot and crumble around us.

Tottenville Historical Society