The Clifton station is a

Staten Island Railway The Staten Island Railway (SIR) is a rapid transit line in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Staten Island. It is owned by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority (SIRTOA), a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Trans ...

station in the neighborhood of

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. This station was the original terminal of the Staten Island Railway from 1860 until 1886. The station was known as Vanderbilt's Landing, and was used as a transfer point for passengers going to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

via

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

to South Ferry.

History

This station was originally known as Vanderbilt's Landing and opened on April 23, 1860 with the opening of the Staten Island Railway, and was the northern terminal for the line. The line extended from Vanderbilt's Landing to Eltingville. The station was also once known as Vanderbilt Avenue. It also included a ferry port with ferries to Stapleton, Tompkinsville, and South Ferry in

. The port was replaced by

Saint George Terminal St. George Terminal is a ferry, railway, bus, and park and ride transit center in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City. It is located at the intersection of Richmond Terrace and Bay Street, near Staten Island Borough Hall, ...

on March 7, 1886, which was also the day before Clifton became the northern terminus of the

South Beach Branch The South Beach Branch, also called the East Shore Sub-Division, is an abandoned branch of the Staten Island Railway in New York City, which operated along Staten Island's East Shore from Clifton to Wentworth Avenue. This double-tracked branch ...

, a status it maintained until 1953. In 2019, the MTA announced that this station would become

ADA-accessible The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...

as part of the agency's 2020–2024 Capital Program.

Station layout

Clifton station is located at Norwood Avenue and Bay Street on the main line. It is located on an embankment with

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

s and beige canopies. The SIR's

Clifton Yard The New York City Transit Authority operates a total of 24 rail yards for the New York City Subway system, and one for the Staten Island Railway. There are 10 active A Division yards and 11 active B Division yards, two of which are shared betw ...

is next to the northbound track, with yard leads and signals north of Clifton station. South of the station are the remains of the

turnout and a dismantled bridge. To the south, a spur on a pair of I-beams on concrete pillars is the location of an old coal, concrete, and lumber business. South of this station, the SIR main line turns southwest to Tottenville, and no longer runs along the harbor front. Due to the wide space from trains caused by the platform's curvature, the last car for St. George-bound trains do not open here.

Exits

The north end has exits on both platforms that lead to Bay Street. The southbound platform has winding stairs to Townsend Avenue while the northbound platform has stairs under the right-of-way to Norwood Avenue. The northbound platform also has a second staircase on Bay and Edgewater Streets, which is not present on the southbound side. On Bay Street (sidewalk level) and facing the platform above, are remains of the original steps up to the old station platform, which became inaccessible when the platforms were extended in the 1990s. On the southbound side there is a station house on the outside, but only a shelter on the platform. Some of the boarded up windows and layout of the brick shelter suggest that it was originally a station house.

References

External links

Staten Island Railway station listVanderbilt Avenue Staten Island Railway Station Postcard (New York Public Library Digital Collections)

Bay Street and Townsend Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View

Bay Street and Greenfield Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street ViewPlatforms from Google Maps Street View
{{Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority Staten Island Railway stations 1860 establishments in New York (state) Railway stations in the United States opened in 1860