Hidden Staten Island: See what’s inside those Silver Lake Reservoir gatehouses

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – If you visit Silver Lake Park to jog, walk your dog, fish, or to just enjoy the great outdoors, you’ve likely walked across the reservoir bridge too many times to count. And you’ve passed those cool gatehouses on either side of the bridge. I know I have.

Spooky visit to decrepit ‘Doctors Row’ building at old Bayley Seton site

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Under the auspices of the Salvation Army, buildings on the what was once Bayley Seton Hospital property in Clifton are being demolished to make way for a new and badly needed recreation center. But some of the historic structures on the old hospital site are still standing, even if they are in deteriorating condition.

Staten Odd-land: Eerie vacant funeral home, and a strange shack in the North Shore woods

The Tudor Funeral Home on Victory Boulevard has been for sale for a while now. Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com At night I’ve been drawn to the almost spectral orange glow from the lighting inside the building. Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com I snapped this photo through the front door window one night.

Staten OLD-land: Vintage shots show quirky stores, majestic homes of a bygone era

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The New York City Municipal Archives has digitized more than 720,000 photos of properties in the five boroughs taken between 1939 and 1941. Organized by block-and-lot numbers, the photos are an amazing treasure trove of spectacular homes, quirky stores and other long-vanished structures.

The Wanderer: Check out these cool 1980s photos of stores and businesses on Hylan Boulevard

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – When I did my 13-mile trek down Hylan Boulevard recently, it stirred memories for a lot of people. There was nostalgia for businesses along the roadway. So I checked the vintage block-and-lot photos at the NYC Municipal Archive to see what I could find.

Strange shacks, old abandoned trucks make for a creepy scene in South Shore woods

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – When I was in junior high school back in the late 1970s, me and two of my friends would swim in the water off a beach area at the end of Arbutus Avenue in Huguenot.

Staten Odd-land: Strange fishing shacks and a hidden auto graveyard on the North Shore waterfront

STATEN ISLAND, N,Y. – I’ve been on Bank Street in New Brighton a bunch of times in recent months, looking at an abandoned building and keeping track of the demolition of the old U.S. Gypsum plant. I thought I’d seen everything there was to see in the area, but you never know what you’ll find if you keep looking.

Staten Odd-land: The vacant and abandoned, including your favorite late-night drunk eatery

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – If you want to find quirky spots on Staten Island, get out of your car and walk. Or if you drive, keep your eyes open. There are plenty of roadside attractions in the borough if you pay attention.

Staten Odd-land: The mysterious silos of Mariners Harbor (commentary)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – I first noticed them while on assignment on a nearby street in Mariners Harbor: Towering gray silos that had the look of a castle from the Middle Ages. Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com You can catch a glimpse of them when you drive or walk by on Union Avenue.

Staten Odd-land: Vistas of destruction as U.S. Gypsum building is demolished (commentary)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Buildings on the sprawling site in New Brighton that once housed the U.S. Gypsum Plant continue to come down. I visited the site a number of times while some recent demolition was going on. Each visit revealed a new vista of destruction amid ever-increasing piles of discarded industrial debris and gigantic machine parts.