Anthony Licciardello | April 27, 2026
Staten Island
By Anthony Licciardello, The Prodigy Team · April 26, 2026
NYS/NJ Licensed Broker · The Prodigy TeamThe Pattern
Staten Island gets discussed in big buckets. North Shore versus South Shore. Hill sections versus the flats. Pre-Verrazzano stock versus post-bridge sprawl. Those buckets are useful — but they bury the most interesting pockets of the borough's housing stock.
The five neighborhoods featured in our latest Above the Streets episode all share one thing: they sit inside more famous neighborhoods and get absorbed into the larger name on Zillow, Redfin, and StreetEasy. Buyers typing "St. George" don't see Fort Hill Circle. Buyers searching "Silver Lake" miss Silver Lake Court. The micro-name doesn't show up on the search bar — but the housing stock is genuinely different from the surrounding zip code.
That gap between how a neighborhood prices and how it actually feels on the ground is where the opportunity sits in 2026.
Rank #5
Fort Hill Circle is exactly what its name suggests — a circle of large private houses set on the high ground above the St. George Ferry terminal. From the bottom of the hill to the top is a five-minute climb. From the top, you can see New York Harbor and Lower Manhattan over the rooftops.
The architectural mix is what catches you on the drone shots. Brick colonials sit next to Tudors. A Spanish-castle-style house anchors one corner. Mid-century homes built directly into the slope take advantage of the elevation in ways that newer construction can't replicate. Some homes here predate 1900; many are well-tended Victorians, Tudors, and Art Deco examples that have stayed in the same families for decades.
What makes Fort Hill Circle different from the broader St. George neighborhood is the privacy. The Circle's geography — winding streets that loop back on themselves, no through-traffic, dense tree canopy — creates a residential pocket that feels nothing like the ferry terminal a few blocks away.
Rank #4
Drop south along Bay Street, past Stapleton and Rosebank, and you arrive at one of Staten Island's most quietly held coastal pockets. Shore Acres sits between Rosebank and Fort Wadsworth, hugging the shoreline of Upper New York Bay with the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge as its visual anchor.
The architectural vocabulary here is different from the rest of the borough. The neighborhood was developed in the 1930s by Cornelius G. Floff, and the resulting stock includes Mediterranean-influenced homes with terracotta roofs and stucco exteriors, brick colonials, and Cape Cod cottages set on generous lots with mature trees. The streets — Nautilus, St. Marys, Bay Street Landing — wind along the contours of the hillside rather than running on a grid.
Two things give Shore Acres its retreat-like feel. First, the Staten Island Expressway forms its southern boundary, which buffers the neighborhood from through-traffic. Second, Arthur Von Briesen Park and Fort Wadsworth at its eastern edge mean the neighborhood ends at protected waterfront, not at another residential grid. You get harbor breezes, low through-traffic, and Verrazzano sightlines without leaving for the South Shore.
Rank #3
Sunset Hill sits on a ridge bounded by Forest Avenue to the north, Clove Road to the southwest, and Silver Lake Park to the southeast. The elevation gives it the namesake views — the western horizon catches the light as it fades over the Kill Van Kull and Newark Bay. That golden-hour show is what put the name on local maps in the late 19th century.
The housing stock is the more interesting story for buyers. Sunset Hill matured into its current form in the early 20th century as a refined suburban district for Staten Island professionals and merchants. Hart Boulevard, Davis Avenue, and Crescent Avenue are lined with Colonial Revivals, Tudors, and large Victorians — many with the wraparound porches, leaded-glass windows, and intact original woodwork that you cannot reproduce in new construction at any price.
The borrowing-from-the-park advantage matters too. Silver Lake Park's 209 acres — golf course, tennis courts, dog run, walking paths — sits effectively at the bottom of the hill. Clove Lakes Park sits to the southwest. Sunset Hill homeowners get a green-space buffer most NYC buyers would pay a premium for elsewhere.
Rank #2
On the north side of Silver Lake reservoir, on the other side of the golf course, sits a small cluster of dead-end streets that comprise the Silver Lake Park Association — Lakewood Road, Park Court, Edstone Drive, Rose Court, and Silver Court. About 88 homes total. This is the area buyers in the know mean when they say "Silver Lake Court."
The streetscape is unmistakable. Broad avenues with green grassy medians down the middle. Federal-style homes alongside large Tudor mansions, some with stone accents and arched entries. Smaller historic cottages tucked behind mature plantings. The streets follow the natural topography rather than imposing a grid, which means every block has a slightly different character.
What separates this section from the broader Silver Lake neighborhood is the integration with the park itself. Homes back directly to walking trails. The reservoir is visible from upper-floor windows on multiple streets. There are no condo buildings here, no through-traffic. It functions like a private park district that happens to have houses inside it.
Rank #1
Randall Manor takes the top spot for one reason: the scale of the housing stock. While other North Shore enclaves have a few standout homes, Randall Manor has block after block of grand Victorians, Tudor estates, oversized Colonial Revivals, and Craftsman houses on lots the rest of NYC simply does not produce anymore.
The neighborhood is bounded by Bard Avenue on the west, Henderson Avenue on the north, Forest Avenue on the south, and Lafayette Avenue on the east — a clean rectangle pressed up against Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden. That adjacency is the second reason Randall Manor stands out. Snug Harbor's expansive grounds — historic Greek Revival buildings, formal gardens, museums, and music hall — function as the neighborhood's front yard. Allison Pond Park, a nine-acre water-feature park, sits inside the neighborhood itself.
The third reason is preservation. Most of Randall Manor's development was complete by the time the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge opened in 1964 — meaning the neighborhood largely missed the post-bridge construction wave that reshaped much of the borough. The streets you see today are nearly identical to the streets that existed a century ago. Harbor views are available from select streets near the northern edge, where the topography rises toward the Kill Van Kull.
The Common Thread
The reason these five neighborhoods feel different from new-construction Staten Island isn't subjective. It's structural. These homes were built when materials were cheaper than labor, which is the inverse of today's economics. That single fact explains the wood-burning fireplaces, the arched stone entryways, the stained glass panels, the mahogany staircases, and the original millwork that buyers walk into in 2026.
What's been added is the modern half of the equation. Gourmet kitchens. Spa-inspired primary baths. Updated mechanicals, smart-home systems, restored slate roofs. The combination of original craftsmanship and contemporary livability is what makes this housing stock — across all five neighborhoods — increasingly rare in the NYC metro.
Market Takeaway
The micro-neighborhood thesis is straightforward: pricing inefficiency exists where buyers search by big neighborhood names. Most of the marketing apparatus around Staten Island real estate operates at the zip-code or borough-section level. The five neighborhoods featured in this episode operate at a tighter scale than that — and the search engines reflect the bigger neighborhood pricing.
The practical implication is that you can't find these homes by searching the way most NYC buyers search. A Zillow filter for "Silver Lake" will surface dozens of condos that have nothing in common with a Tudor mansion on Park Court. A "St. George" search will bury Fort Hill Circle inside a list of co-ops near the ferry. The MLS does not always tag the micro-name. You need an agent who knows the streets, or you need to drive them yourself.
If you're searching the MLS or Zillow for any of these neighborhoods, run your search by the broader name (Silver Lake, St. George, Rosebank, West Brighton, New Brighton) and then filter by the specific streets named in the section above. The micro-neighborhood tag is rarely populated. The street name is.
Across all five neighborhoods, turnover is low. Owners stay for decades. Inventory comes and goes quickly when it does come. The right way to buy here is to be ready when a listing surfaces, not to wait for a wave of new product.
FAQ
Where exactly is Randall Manor on Staten Island?
Randall Manor sits on Staten Island's North Shore, between New Brighton to the east and West Brighton to the west, directly south of Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden. It is bounded by Bard Avenue, Henderson Avenue, Forest Avenue, and Lafayette Avenue. The St. George Ferry terminal is roughly two miles east.
What is the difference between Silver Lake and Silver Lake Court?
Silver Lake is the broader Staten Island neighborhood surrounding the reservoir and Silver Lake Park. Silver Lake Court refers to a smaller cluster of about 88 homes on dead-end streets — Lakewood Road, Park Court, Edstone Drive, Rose Court, and Silver Court — that make up the Silver Lake Park Association on the north side of the reservoir. The architecture and feel of Silver Lake Court are notably different from the rest of the broader Silver Lake neighborhood, which includes apartment buildings and a mix of housing types.
Which of these Staten Island neighborhoods are walkable to the ferry?
Fort Hill Circle is the most walkable to the St. George Ferry terminal — most of the Circle is within a five-to-ten-minute walk down the hill. Sunset Hill, Silver Lake Court, and Randall Manor are short bus rides or drives to the ferry, generally 10 to 15 minutes. Shore Acres is closer to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge than the ferry, and most residents drive or take an express bus to Manhattan.
Why aren't these neighborhoods better known among NYC buyers?
Two reasons. First, they sit inside more famous neighborhoods, so they get absorbed into the larger name in real estate marketing and search portals. Second, turnover is unusually low — many of these homes have been in the same families for decades, which keeps inventory thin and limits the marketing footprint of the micro-name. NYC buyers shopping by zip code or by the most-searched neighborhood names rarely surface them.
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