Silver Lake - Staten Island, NY

Before refrigerators were made available to people in the United States, ice harvesting was a thriving business during the winter. In the 1860s, an icehouse was built on Silver Lake, located in the neighborhood bearing the same name. This icehouse lasted until around 1911, when refrigerators were introduced. A few years later, the lake was drained to be used as a reservoir.

Be sure to check out the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum in nearby Rosebank, and learn about the real inventor of the telephone. The annual Staten Island Golf Association Day is held at Silver Lake Golf Course, and other nonprofits, such as the YMCA, also hold annual golf events on the course.

Restaurants serving Spanish, Italian, Caribbean and American food exist throughout the neighborhood. For Cuban cuisine that can't be beat, stop by Beso on Schuyler Street. The restaurant serves up lunch and dinner specials that include a wide variety of tapas. Locals rave about the seafood dishes and lamb chop. Pair your meal with Beso's renowned sangria.

Marie's Gourmet offers an eclectic selection of comfort food and serves breakfast all day. If you can't get enough of breakfast food, try the breakfast pizza. You also won't be disappointed with an Italian classic like chicken saltimboca. Be sure to save room for dessert, especially for the waffle sundae with two waffles piled high with ice cream, walnuts, chocolate chips, bananas, and maple and chocolate syrup. The staff provides friendly and attentive service, and the restaurant has outside seating in the summertime.

Locals go to nearby neighborhoods to enjoy the nightlife, patronizing places such as Hashtag Bar in Stapleton. This venue features open-mic nights on Mondays and live music on the weekends.

Liberty Tavern in West Brighton has a strong sports-bar vibe and offers beer and wings specials during football games. During the week, the tavern features happy hour specials that include buy-one-get-one-free drinks, trivia night on Tuesdays and live music on the weekends.

Driving is the most common way to get around the neighborhood, but Silver Lake is served by the S48, S61, S62, S66, S91, S92 and S98 local buses and the X30 express bus which goes to midtown Manhattan. The Staten Island Ferry Terminal at St. George takes passengers to Manhattan free of charge. The Staten Island Railway, a hybrid of a railroad and a subway line, runs 24 hours synchronized to the ferry schedule.

Quite a few car and taxi services can be called for a ride, but they tend to be pricey. Uber is typically a more affordable option. Drivers commuting into Manhattan can access the Bayonne Bridge just west of Silver Lake and take the New Jersey Turnpike to the Holland Tunnel or the Staten Island Expressway to the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel or Brooklyn/Manhattan Bridges.

Like most suburbs, free parking can be found in retail shopping lots. Silver Lake itself is pedestrian- and biker-friendly; however, the north shore has a somewhat elevated crime rate compared to the rest of Staten Island, so exercise caution if out at night.

Originally created as Staten Island’s response to Manhattan’s Central Park and Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, Silver Lake Park's 209 acres provides abundant recreational activities with plenty of trails and open space. Complete with an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, sports fields, playgrounds, bathrooms and spray showers, the park has something for everyone. The natural centerpiece of the park is the lake, which has gone through many transformations over the past 150 years. Adults, kids and dogs enjoy this park that is in easy walking distance from the residential homes.

Every year, the Richmond Rockets Halloween Costume Run takes place in the park as well as the Have A Heart Foundation's annual 5k run.

Once considered a resort community, Silver Lake now offers a variety of residences, including many privately owned apartment buildings. The average rental cost for the area for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,228. The cost of living of living in the area is 6.2 percent below the average for New York City as a whole.

Getting to Manhattan on the ferry is free, and local buses only cost $2.50. Express bus service into Manhattan costs $6 each way. The gas prices in New York City are generally 11.5 percent higher than the national average. Grabbing a beer at one of the local bars around Silver Lake costs about $4.

The small area of Silver Lake does not have much in the way of shopping; however, the nearby communities of Tompkinsville and Tottenville offer a variety of shopping opportunities. The Staten Island Mall is about a 15-minute drive away. You can also travel there via the S61 bus that runs along Victory Boulevard.

Everything Goes Book Cafe & Neighborhood Stage in Tompkinsville provides the area with more than just Staten Island's biggest used-book store — it provides a sense of community. In addition to books, it sells records, CDs, local art and DVDs. An art gallery and cafe are part of the store, and live music and other events, such as drum circles, happen on the weekends. If you like antiquing, the place to go is Antique Raiders and Traders in Tottenville. In addition to an abundance of unique treasures and jewelry pieces, the shop holds live auctions and provides consignment services.

Locals shop for groceries in Silver Lake at Key Food Marketplace on Forest Avenue, and they supplement their food supplies with a visit to the St. George Greenmarket on St. Mark's Place and Hyatt Street in St. George.