I’ve lived in Staten Island my whole life. I’ve been to almost every part of the island in my 18 years here, including Port Richmond. However, there is so much I didn’t know about this historic place that’s only 10 minutes away from where I live. Between my basketball games and my brother’s I have been to the Port Richmond area countless times and yet I didn’t know anything about it. As I walked through Port Richmond through the guided tour set up by Wagner College, I learned about the history, the food, and the challenges of the area. Historically, one of the highlights was the Dutch church and graveyard that was one of the first built on Staten Island. A second highlight was the large arrow that pointed to water, that in faded writing read the word “Ferry.”

The food side of Port Richmond was also very interesting. Almost 20 restaurants line the streets of Port Richmond Avenue. Among these restaurants there were many Spanish and Chinese cuisine restaurants. There was even an Irish Pub. One of the restaurants was something quite uncommon, a bakery that also serves many different types of dinner dishes. In the shop there is not only cake, ice cream, but also chicken entrees and pizza pies! Although this may seem unconventional, it is quite interesting.

Another one of the restaurants we stopped into was a newly opened one, which specialized in tamales, it’s decorations actually made me want to eat there more. It’s amazing how many different elements can go into a “where should we eat” decision. The idea that a restaurant being nicely or culturally decorated can make a person want to eat there is very interesting to me.

A lack of restaurants is definitely not a problem for the area. Along the way we stopped into two markets that provided fresh fruits and vegetables. Seeing these places made me very happy because I know that these fresh foods are available to people that live so close to an area that lacks fresh food, Arlington. Arlington has not yet been declared an official food desert, but it is on the road to becoming one, something that the community and those in charge can hopefully change.

In these markets I also saw a lot of spices hanging on the walls. These made me think of how spices have impacted history and the age of exploration. Some of the spices hanging up I had never even heard of, I guess I need to expand my spice knowledge! Even though Port Richmond did have these markets with fresh foods, they did recently lose one. A fire took away one of the supermarkets and I don’t believe there are plans to have it replaced. Another problem with the area would be the arsenic and lead within the soil at Veterans Park. Even though this issue is under control, there are still other problems facing the area, such as the garbage littering the streets, but the community is working hard to change that. Port Richmond is a rich community with a lot of history and day by day it will grow stronger and better.