New Dorp ( ) is a neighborhood on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York City, United States. New Dorp is bounded by Mill Road on the southeast, Tysens Lane on the southwest, Amboy and Richmond Roads on the northwest, and Bancroft Avenue on the northeast. It is adjacent to Oakwood to the southwest, Todt Hill to the northwest, Dongan Hills and Grant City, and Midland Beach and Miller Field to the southeast. New Dorp Beach, bordering to the east, is often listed on maps as a separate neighborhood from Mill Road to the shore of Lower New York Bay, but is generally considered to be a part of New Dorp.
One of the earliest European settlements in the New York City area, New Dorp was founded by Dutch settlers from the New Netherland colony, and the name is an anglicization of , meaning "New Village" in Dutch. It was historically one of the most important towns on Staten Island, becoming a part of New York City in 1898 as part of the Borough of Richmond. In the 1960s New Dorp ceased to be a distinct town during New York City's suburbanization, where rapid housing development on Staten Island saw the town added to the city conurbation. Despite this, today New Dorp remains one of the main commercial and transport centers on Staten Island.
New Dorp is often associated with the Vanderbilt family, who had a notable presence in the area and many of whom are buried in the neighborhood at the Moravian Cemetery, the largest and oldest active cemetery on Staten Island.
New Dorp is part of Staten Island Community District 2 and its ZIP Code is 10306. New Dorp is patrolled by the 122nd Precinct of the New York City Police Department.
History
New Dorp was the location of the first county seat of Richmond County. Called Stony Brook, it was located approximately where Amboy Road experiences a sharp bend between the New Dorp and Oakwood train stations.Morris, Ira. Morris's Memorial History of Staten Island, New York, Volume 1. 1898, page 40
In 1667, at the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the Dutch Republic ceded their colony of New Netherland to England as a condition of the Treaty of Breda. The colony had been occupied by the English since 1664, and was re-branded as the Province of New York when it was granted as a proprietary colony to James, Duke of York. The areas of New Netherland already settled by the Dutch included the primary settlement of New Amsterdam (now renamed New York City) located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, and numerous additional lands around the city and along the Hudson River. This included Staaten Eylandt, later anglicized as "Staten Island", a sparsely populated island south-west of New York across Upper New York Bay. In 1670, the local Native Americans, mainly Raritans and other subgroups of the Lenape tribe, ceded all claims to Staten Island to the English in a deed to Governor Francis Lovelace.
New Dorp was founded in 1671 following the English resurveying the pre-existing Dutch settlement of (now Old Town) and expanded the lots along the South Shore, which were then settled primarily by Dutch families. The new lots became known as (meaning "New Village" in the Dutch language), in contrast with (meaning "Old Village"), and later became anglicized as New Dorp. The new village developed into one of the largest and most important settlements on Staten Island, and during the American Revolution it became a center of activity when it was occupied by British forces in preparation to attack the American-occupied New York City. The Rose and Crown Tavern in New Dorp, owned by the uncle of Cornelius Vanderbilt, temporarily served as the local British military headquarters.
In the late 19th century, New Dorp became the home to members of the prominent Vanderbilt family, many of whom are buried in the Moravian Cemetery, the largest and oldest active cemetery on Staten Island. On January 1, 1898, New Dorp was consolidated as part of New York City along with the entirety of Staten Island as the Borough of Richmond. The Vanderbilt farm was later used by the U.S. Army as Miller Air Field, and in the 1970s became part of Gateway National Recreation Area. New Dorp continued to be one of the primary settlements on Staten Island until the 1960s, when the suburbanization of New York City began to expand into the island. The largely rural character of Staten Island was replaced with the massive development of suburban housing, causing separate towns such as New Dorp to be absorbed into New York City's conurbation and become one of many contiguous neighborhoods. New Dorp retained its distinct character as a town, and is one of the most thriving commercial centers on the Island which in the 1960s spread along Hylan Boulevard from New Dorp Lane and led to the construction of five shopping centers, anchored by supermarkets and department stores, with the largest being Hylan Plaza which opened in 1966.
The 1960 New York mid-air collision, where 134 people were killed and held the highest death toll for a commercial aviation accident until 1968, occurred over New Dorp.
Government and politics
Demographics
For census purposes, the New York City Department of City Planning classifies New Dorp as part of a larger Neighborhood Tabulation Area called New Dorp-Midland Beach SI0202. This designated neighborhood had 29,083 inhabitants based on data from the 2020 United States Census. This was an increase of 1,460 persons (5.3%) from the 27,623 counted in 2010. The neighborhood had a population density of 20.4 inhabitants per acre (14,500/sq mi; 5,600/km2).
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 65.8% (19,149) White (Non-Hispanic), 1.5% (432) Black (Non-Hispanic), 15.5% (4,507) Asian, and 2.7% (774) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.5% (4,221) of the population.
According to the 2020 United States Census, this area has many cultural communities of over 1,000 inhabitants. This include residents who identify as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Albanian, German, Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian, and Chinese.
The largest age group was people 50-64 years old, which made up 22.6% of the residents. 72.6% of the households had at least one family present. Out of the 10,148 households, 51.6% had a married couple (20.6% with a child under 18), 5.2% had a cohabiting couple (1.9% with a child under 18), 17.1% had a single male (1.2% with a child under 18), and 26.1% had a single female (3.9% with a child under 18). 31.8% of households had children under 18. In this neighborhood, 70.2% of non-vacant housing units are renter-occupied.
The entirety of Community District 2, which comprises New Dorp and other Mid-Island neighborhoods, had 134,657 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 81.2 years. This is the same as the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are youth and middle-aged adults: 20% are between the ages of between 0–17, 25% between 25 and 44, and 29% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 8% and 18% respectively.
As of 2017, the median household income in Community District 2 was $81,487, though the median income in South Beach individually was $80,412. In 2018, an estimated 14% of New Dorp and Mid-Island residents lived in poverty, compared to 17% in all of Staten Island and 20% in all of New York City. One in sixteen residents (6%) were unemployed, compared to 6% in Staten Island and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 52% in New Dorp and Mid-Island, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 49% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , New Dorp and Mid-Island are considered high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.
Staten Island Chinatown Emerging In 2024, some reports came out that there has been an increasing influx of Chinese homeowners moving into the neighborhood particularly New Dorp Lane and some even calling this the Staten Island Chinatown. There has been an increasing influx of authentic Chinese owned businesses opening up from professional and educational services, food stores, eateries, pharmacies, and H&L Supermarket opened up on Hylan Boulevard as a large Chinese supermarket to cater to the growing Chinese population.
Entertainment The Lane Theater in New Dorp opened on February 10, 1938, playing One Hundred Men and a Girl as its first feature film. Charles, Lewis and Elias Moses, who operated theaters on Staten Island under the name "Isle Theatrical" had John Eberson design an "atmospheric theater" using lighting, projecting images, and an impressive painted ceiling. The facility cost about $100,000 to build, had seating for 600 people, the latest RCA sound system, and was cooled by refrigeration.
The structure was remodeled in 1977 with a new seating capacity of 550. Attendance dropped with the opening of UA Movies of Staten Island in Travis in 1987, which boasted 10 screens showing the latest new releases, and it closed a year later. In 1988 a landmark designation report was submitted describing the Lane Theater as "one of the last surviving pre-World War II movie theater interiors on Staten Island, and one of the few known largely intact examples of the Depression-era, Art Moderne style theater interior in New York City." The theater's interior was landmarked in November 1988. Starting in 1998, several concerts were hosted including one by a young Eminem. "The EleMent" nightclub opened and eventually closed in 2001 in the building.
In the summer of 2009 renovations were performed and Uncle Vinnies Comedy Club opened. The club closed in April 2011. In 2012 the building became the home of the Crossroads Church.
Police and crime New Dorp and Mid-Island are patrolled by the 122nd Precinct of the NYPD, located at 2320 Hylan Boulevard. The 122nd Precinct ranked 2nd safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010, behind only the 123rd Precinct on Staten Island's South Shore. , with a non-fatal assault rate of 40 per 100,000 people, New Dorp and Mid-Island's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 253 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.
The 122nd Precinct has a substantially lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 88.3% between 1990 and 2022. The precinct reported one murder, eight rapes, 63 robberies, 128 felony assaults, 91 burglaries, 373 grand larcenies, and 136 grand larcenies auto in 2022.
Fire safety New Dorp is served by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)'s Engine Company 165/Ladder Company 85, located at 3067 Richmond Road. Engine Company 165 is the only Engine Company in Staten Island that has clothing to deal with hazardous materials, and it also has extra hazmat training.
Health , preterm births and births to teenage mothers are less common in New Dorp and Mid-Island than in other places citywide. In New Dorp and Mid-Island, there were 80 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 6.8 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). New Dorp and Mid-Island have a low population of residents who are uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 4%, less than the citywide rate of 12%, though this was based on a small sample size.