Willowbrook, Staten Island
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Willowbrook is a neighborhood in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. It is located in the region of the island usually referred to as Mid-Island, immediately to the south of Port Richmond, to the west of Meiers Corners and Westerleigh, to the north of New Springville, and to the east of Bulls Head.
History
Named for a brook that flowed through the area's farmland, Willowbrook once lay at the heart of the island's agricultural zone, and first saw other significant development when a military hospital opened there during World War II. After the war ended the property became the site of Willowbrook State School, a state-run institution for intellectually disabled children that became the scene of a national scandal in the 1970s when it was revealed that the children housed there were the victims of widespread abuse and neglect. The facility was forced to close by 1987, and six years later a campus of the College of Staten Island opened at the site. Willowbrook Park, a large city park, borders the college on the west. It was also home to the Seaview Hospital tuberculosis sanatorium, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.[1]
The neighborhood was also drastically transformed with the opening of the
The 2010s saw a great influx to the Jewish community in Willowbrook, because of the housing crisis in Brooklyn.[2]
Demographics
Young Israel of Staten Island — an
Education
School
Willowbrook is the location of P.S. 54, an
Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL)'s Todt Hill-Westerleigh branch is located at 2550 Victory Boulevard on the border between Willowbrook and Westerleigh. The three-story branch opened in 1991.[3]
Transportation
Willowbrook is served by the
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ "Priced Out of Williamsburg, Orthodox Jewish Community Eyes Staten Island Neighborhoods". TWC News. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "About the Todt Hill-Westerleigh Library". The New York Public Library. April 18, 1991. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ^ "Staten Island Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. January 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.