Rezoning proposed to prevent attached homes in area settled by freed slaves in 1827. On February 3, 2010, the City Council approved State Senator Andrew J. Lanza’s rezoning proposal for the Sandy Ground neighborhood of Staten Island. Sandy Ground, also known as Rossville, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as one of the country’s oldest communities established by freed slaves. The rezoning impacts 35 blocks generally bounded by the West Shore Expressway to the north and west, Ramona Avenue to the south, and Lenevar and Alverson Avenues to the east.
The area is characterized predominantly by detached and semidetached homes, but over the past several years Sandy Ground has experienced an increase in the development of attached townhouses and multi-family buildings. The rezoning aims to prevent out-of-scale development by down-zoning the area from R3-2 to R3-1, a district that does not permit attached homes. (more…)
- Rossville AME Zion Church at 584 Bloomingdale Road in Staten Island. Image : LPC.
Four 19th century buildings in Staten Island’s Sandy Ground, one of the first communities settled by freed slaves, considered. On August 10, 2010, Landmarks heard testimony on the potential designations of four buildings located in Staten Island’s Sandy Ground community, one of the country’s oldest communities settled by freed slaves. The buildings date to the 19th century and include the Rossville AME Zion Church located at 584 Bloomingdale Road, two cottages at 565 and 569 Bloomingdale Road, and the Coleman House located at 1482 Woodrow Road.
Located on Staten Island’s south shore, freedmen settled Sandy Ground after New York abolished slavery in 1827. Soon after, free blacks from the Chesapeake Bay region traveled to the community to pursue their trade as oystermen in a place where they could own and captain their own boats. The community persisted after the oyster beds were closed due to pollution in 1916, and descendants of the original settlers reside in the area to this day. The City recently rezoned the area, and the Rossville AME church’s leadership opposed the action due to concerns that it would prevent the church’s planned senior citizen housing project. 7 CityLand 5 (Feb. 15, 2010).
In 1897, Andrew Adams built the vernacular Rossville AME Zion Church for a congregation that had incorporated in 1850. Virginia-born clergyman William H. Pitts purchased the property, and served as the church’s first pastor. (more…)
