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Staten Island

St. George

Where the free ferry lands: grandmothers in the kitchen, a 1929 movie palace, and steaks over the harbor.

Photo: Jeffry Surianto / Pexels

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St. George is the first thing most visitors see of Staten Island, and for many the only thing: the orange ferry docks, they look around the terminal, and they get back on. Stay. The neighborhood climbs the hill on the island's northeastern tip, where the Kill Van Kull meets the Upper Bay, and it is the borough's civic center — Borough Hall and the county courthouse face the ferry terminal across Richmond Terrace, and the Staten Island Railway starts here too.

Within ten minutes' walk of the boat you can eat a three-course meal cooked by somebody's grandmother, a cast-iron-seared steak with lower Manhattan in the window, tapas before a show at the St. George Theatre, or a taco the size of a sandwich at a Victory Boulevard counter. A library-themed tavern from the chef behind several of these rooms opened in 2025 on Schuyler Street.

Go on a Friday or Saturday: take an early ferry to see the Statue of Liberty in daylight, eat, check what is on at the theatre, and ride back after dark, when lower Manhattan is lit across the harbor. The ferry runs around the clock and costs nothing.

The free ferry, with lower Manhattan across the water

Borough Hall's 1930s murals of Staten Island history

A 1929 movie palace on Hyatt Street

Grandmothers cooking on Hyatt Street, tacos on Victory Boulevard

Local notes

St. George Theatre

Built for Staten Island theater operator Solomon Brill and opened on December 4, 1929, the picture palace at 35 Hyatt Street originally held about 2,800 seats and now seats around 1,900 for concerts, comedy and family shows. Several of the neighborhood's restaurants fill up before curtain, so book early on show nights.

Borough Hall's murals

Directly across from the ferry terminal, Carrère and Hastings's 1906 Borough Hall holds thirteen WPA murals painted by Staten Islander Frederick Charles Stahr in the late 1930s, running from Verrazzano's arrival in 1524 to the construction of the Bayonne Bridge. It is a working office building, so visit on a weekday.

Postcards

On the North Shore waterfront just beside the terminal, Masayuki Sono's 2004 memorial honors the 274 Staten Island residents killed on September 11, 2001, and in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. It looks out over the harbor toward lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.

Through the lens

Shoot the skyline and the statue from the ferry's open decks, and from the waterfront beside the terminal at dusk, when lower Manhattan lights up across the harbor. Borough Hall's clock tower and brick facade catch warm afternoon light from Richmond Terrace. Ask before photographing inside restaurants.

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

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