Mariners' Harbor is a station on the abandoned

North Shore Branch The North Shore Branch is an abandoned branch of the Staten Island Railway in New York City, which operated along Staten Island's North Shore, Staten Island, North Shore from St. George, Staten Island, Saint George to Port Ivory, Staten Island, ...

of the

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 ...

. It had two tracks (currently a single, abandoned and overgrown track) and one

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

. It is located in an open cut in the

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 ...

neighborhood of Mariners Harbor at Van Pelt Avenue, about from the

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, ...

History

The station opened in summer 1886, as Erastina as part of an extension of the North Shore Branch west to Arlington. Buffalo Bill Cody named Erastina after

Erastus Wiman Erastus Wiman (21 April 1834 – 9 February 1904) was a Canadian journalist and businessman who later moved to the United States. He is best known as a developer in the New York City borough of Staten Island. Biography Wiman was born in Churc ...

, who helped consolidate Staten Island's rail lines, and helped build Saint George Terminal, the

, and 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 ...

. The nearby street Erastina Place retains this name today. Vacant land nearby was used for staging

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...

’s “Wild West Show”, generating over 10,000 additional passengers from the St. George Ferry Terminal over the line. The neighborhood was renamed when he fell out of public favor due to scandal and bankruptcy.Rides and Rambles on Staten Island 1889
/ref> During the 1930s the station was depressed from grade-level into the current open cut, rebuilt with a concrete island platform with a metal canopy extending across the platform's length. A switch between the two tracks was located east of the station. The station was abandoned on March 31, 1953, along with the South Beach Branch and the rest of the North Shore Branch. It is the westernmost station along the North Shore line which still stands as of 2010, although in unusable condition. The open-cut is overgrown, while the only remnants of the canopy are its support beams. There is a closed gate to the station at Linden Avenue between Van Pelt Avenue and Maple Parkway. Mariner's Harbor is one of the stations to be returned to operation under the proposals for reactivation of the North Shore branch for rapid transit, light rail, or

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

service.

Station layout

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20150108175705/http://stationreporter.net/nshore.htm * http://gretschviking.net/GOSIRTNorthShore.htm {{Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority North Shore Branch stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1886 Railway stations closed in 1953 1886 establishments in New York (state) 1953 disestablishments in New York (state) Mariners Harbor, Staten Island