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Staten Island

Dongan Hills

Clam pies by the railway, chocolate bread on Hylan, and a ridge named for a colonial governor.

Photo: Mitchazenia · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Dongan Hills is mid-Staten Island in its most typical form: one-family houses on quiet streets, the Staten Island Railway cutting through the middle, Hylan Boulevard's strip of bakeries, delis and pizzerias on one side and Richmond Road climbing toward Todt Hill on the other. It takes its name from Thomas Dongan, the Irish-born colonial governor of New York, and the 'hills' are the eastern ridge of Todt Hill, at about 400 feet the highest natural point in the five boroughs. The area used to be called Garretson's, after a family that farmed here from the late 1600s.

Much of what you see went up after World War II, and the neighborhood filled further once the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge opened in 1964 and families came over from Brooklyn. That Brooklyn-to-Staten-Island migration is still the key to the food: Italian-American, generous and loyal to its institutions.

Start at the Dongan Hills station, where a family-run tavern has been turning out thin bar pies since around 1940. Walk or drive up Hylan to the Old Town end for an Italian bakery with a viral chocolate loaf, and finish on Richmond Road at a family dining room whose calendar is fuller than a theater's.

Thin, crisp clam pies at a tavern by the Dongan Hills station

Italian bakeries and hero shops along Hylan Boulevard

Richmond Road climbing toward Todt Hill

Postwar one-family houses on quiet side streets

Local notes

Billiou-Stillwell-Perine House

At 1476 Richmond Road, this farmhouse dates in part to about 1662 and was enlarged in stages through 1830. A city landmark since 1967 and on the National Register since 1976, it is owned by Historic Richmond Town and opens to the public only occasionally — otherwise, view it from the street.

The Staten Island Railway

The Dongan Hills and Old Town stations put the neighborhood about 20 minutes from the St. George ferry terminal. Trains run around the clock, and the railway is the easiest car-free way to reach the South Shore's food.

Lee's Tavern

A Hancock Street bar by the Dongan Hills station since around 1940, run by the Palemine family since 1969. The clam pie — white, garlicky, covered in chopped clams — is the one Staten Islanders argue over.

Through the lens

Hylan Boulevard's storefront signs photograph best in late afternoon light from across the street; the side streets near the station are quiet enough to frame the railway embankment and the houses together. Inside the restaurants and bakeries, ask before shooting staff or customers.

Editorial draft — core details last reviewed October 19, 2026. Confirm practical details with the official site before you go.

Where to eat & drink