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Staten Island Bancorp, Inc. Business Information, Profile, and History

15 Beach Street
Staten Island, New York 10304
U.S.A.

Company Perspectives:

SI Bank & Trust will continue to be a strong financial services company committed to improving shareholder value, while delivering the highest quality products and services responsive to the changing needs of our consumer and business markets. As we grow, we will consistently strive to give extraordinary service to our customers by providing our employees with the means and opportunities to make full use of their skills and capabilities. These commitments to our shareholders, customers, and employees will enable the Company to maintain a level of profitability necessary to remain independent for the benefit of the communities we serve.

History of Staten Island Bancorp, Inc.

Staten Island Bancorp, Inc. is a holding company that was created in 1997 to facilitate the conversion of the Staten Island Savings Bank from a federally chartered mutual savings bank to a federally chartered stock savings bank. For most of its history, dating back to its original charter in 1864, the Staten Island Savings Bank served a limited community. It was not until 1995 that the bank ventured beyond the shores of Staten Island to do business in Brooklyn. Staten Island Bancorp, through its subsidiary SI Bank & Trust, now operates several branches in New Jersey and looks to make further inroads into that market. The bank also has expanded into other areas of the country through the mortgage business. Its subsidiary, Ivy Mortgage, has offices in 25 states. Another subsidiary, American Construction Lending Services, Inc. (ACLS), offers residential construction loans throughout the United States. Nevertheless, Staten Island Bancorp remains committed to the community-oriented approach that made the Staten Island Savings Bank so successful.

Origins in the Early 1800s

The origins of Staten Island Bancorp reach back to the savings bank movement that began in Europe in the second half of the 18th century when small savings organizations were formed in Germany and Switzerland for the benefit of the working class, who were able to earn a higher return on their money by pooling together their small deposits. Although its depositors could withdraw money only upon reaching a certain age, making the plans akin to a pension, these early organizations became a model for British social thinkers who wanted to eradicate poverty. Rather than reward idleness through the giving of alms, the upper classes in England preferred to create savings and annuity plans that they hoped would promote the virtues of thrift, industry, and sobriety. The first self-sustaining savings bank was founded in Scotland in 1810, and the concept spread with such evangelical zeal that by 1818 there were 465 savings banks in the British Isles.

It was inevitable that the mutual savings bank movement would reach the United States. The first New York mutual began operations in 1819, again fortified by the belief that thrift among the laboring class would cure any number of social ills&mdash well as keep down taxes. By the Civil War there would be 25 mutual savings banks in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. In the beginning, mutuals were open several hours a week only, and many shared offices with insurance companies and commercial banks (where many of the mutuals deposited their funds). With the passing years, however, mutual savings banks operated less like organs of charity and more like regular businesses. Hours were expanded greatly and full-time managers were hired. Mutuals began to advertise in the newspapers, and they raised interest rates to lure away customers from their competitors. Mutual savings banks that had been created to serve workers now eagerly accepted deposits from businessmen. The Civil War only served to accelerate the transition from part-time, quasi-charitable activity to highly competitive industry.

Charter for Staten Island Savings Bank in 1864

Compared with Manhattan and Brooklyn, Staten Island was rustic, with no financial institutions of any kind. Even when it became one of the five boroughs that would be consolidated together in 1898 to form 'Greater New York,' Staten Island would for decades remain essentially a rural enclave. It was in this sequestered environment, albeit in the shadow of Manhattan, that the Staten Island Savings Bank was chartered by a special Act of the State Legislature on April 7, 1864 (it would not begin actual operations until June 1867). Local leaders, headed by Francis George Shaw, founded the bank in the spirit of forwarding the public good, as had the earlier mutuals. Like its predecessors, Staten Island Savings Bank also started small. It conducted its business in a single room that was furnished by the bank's trustees, who would not be reimbursed for the expense for several years. Deposits at the end of the first year totaled only $13,957.

The Staten Savings Bank grew slowly but steadily over the years. In 1892 it moved to a new location and began to rent more and more rooms, until 1923 when the bank purchased the building and two adjoining properties, and built a new office that today continues to house a branch office. When its new home was completed in 1925 the assets of the Staten Island Savings Bank neared $15 million. The first branch office opened in 1929, followed by another in 1937, at which point assets reached $21,500,000. By 1950 the amount had more than doubled, reaching $47,333,000, as more branch offices began to open to serve the expanding population of Staten Island. In 1961 the assets of the Staten Island Savings Bank topped the $100 million mark. By 1973 the bank had added two more branches and its assets had grown to $277 million. The bank exceeded the $500 million level in 1980.

In 1983 the Staten Island Savings Bank merged with the Richmond Country Federal Savings and Loan Association, the oldest such institution on the island, thus adding three more offices, which allowed the bank to cover nearly all of Staten Island. To provide service to the fast growing community of New Springville, the bank opened its 13th branch office in 1989, and by now its assets had grown to $836 million. Named to lead the Staten Island Savings Bank into a new era was Harry P. Doherty, who became president and chief operating officer in 1989. A year later he would be named chairman and CEO. Doherty began working at the bank in the mid-1960s after serving in the Marines. A management trainee, he first gained experience in the internal audit department, where he worked for several years before becoming chief auditor. He then transferred into finance, became a cashier, and rose to the level of senior VP cashier before being named to head the bank.

In 1990 a further consolidation of the traditional local banking community took place with the dissolution of the Nassau Federal Savings and Loan Association, which allowed Staten Island Savings Bank to acquire three more branches. Two of the offices originally had contained the Edgewater Savings and Loan Association, and the third had been the office of Prudential Savings and Loan. Edgewater and Prudential were among the island's oldest financial institutions. With the addition of these branches, Staten Island Savings Bank topped $1 billion in assets.

In the world of mutuals, Staten Island Savings Bank was a true success story. Although the philanthropic nature of its origins had long since given way to the realities of business, the bank was able to remain true to its community-oriented vision yet still prosper. The same could not be said for other mutuals, which began to suffer in the 1970s from rising interest rates. Committed to long-term, low-yielding mortgages, many mutuals lacked the flexibility to adapt to such adverse economic conditions. By the mid-1990s, mutuals were becoming a dying breed. At the end of 1972 there had been 1,817 federally chartered mutual savings banks; by the end of 1996 only 653 would remain.

Many mutuals converted to a stock form of ownership. Instead of being owned by the community through its customers, converted mutuals now would have to answer to shareholders, with the result that a longer-term approach would give way to a quarterly results-oriented approach, and sometimes the interests of customers and shareholders would be at odds. Staten Island Savings Bank, operating in a community with growth that was limited by its shoreline, tried to expand its business and hedge its bets against the volatility of interest rates by offering commercial services. It enjoyed limited success, mostly because its main competitor, Gateway State Bank, was doing a better job. When Doherty learned in late 1994 that Gateway had hired an investment banker and might be available for purchase, he approached his board about acquiring the commercial bank. Although no mutual bank had ever bought a stock institution, the board was willing to move forward. The New York State Banking Department initially dismissed the idea, only to conclude a short time later that there was nothing in the state statutes to prevent such a transaction. By March 1995 the Staten Island Savings Bank had completed a definitive agreement to purchase Gateway, and by August the $58 million deal was completed. The Staten Island Savings Bank, therefore, added $320 million in assets, bringing its total to $1.7 billion. The deal also brought with it five offices and a Trust Department that gave Staten Island entry into a new line of business. A branch office in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, just across the Verrazona Bridge, became the bank's first location off Staten Island. Although the bank's business model was changing to accommodate both consumers and business customers, Doherty insisted at the time that the Staten Island Savings Bank would remain a mutual.

Formation of Staten Island Bancorp in 1997

A year after acquiring Gateway, Doherty announced that the Staten Island Savings bank was converting to a stock institution. To accomplish the conversion, a holding company named Staten Island Bancorp (SIB) was incorporated in Delaware. In December 1997 an initial public offering of stock was made, and Staten Island Bancorp began trading on the New York Stock exchange.

With the money raised from the public offering, SIB began to expand and diversify its business. It formed a mortgage company subsidiary (SIBMC) in 1998 to purchase the Ivy Mortgage Corp., based in Branchburg, New Jersey, with a network of branch offices and correspondents in 21 states. SIBMC elected to continue operating under the Ivy Mortgage name. Also in 1998, SIB created the SIB Investment Corporation (SIBIC) for the purpose of managing certain investments of the bank. It then created the Staten Island Funding Corporation for the purpose of establishing a real estate investment trust that would be run as a wholly owned subsidiary of SIBIC.

Early in 1999 SIB formed American Construction Lending Services, Inc. (ACLS) after being approached by experienced lenders in the residential construction loan business who were looking to create a start-up. ACLS would lend money to builders, who would in turn transfer a new home to the owner. ACLS would then sell the loan in the marketplace. The venture would in effect give SIB the ability to generate higher-yielding, short-term loans in a rapidly growing segment of the residential construction lending business.

Later in 1999 SIB acquired First State Bancorp, Inc. and First State Bank, a New Jersey commercial bank worth $374 million with six branches serving Monmouth and Ocean Counties. The deal was an important step for SIB, not only to reach westward into New Jersey but to grow its traditional business: deposits. The possibilities were limited for further growth on Staten Island (and to a lesser extent, Brooklyn). Most activity would simply be a shifting of accounts from one bank to another. Certain parts of New Jersey, however, offered true growth potential.

Five years removed from the Gateway State Bank transaction, SIB had undergone so many changes, both in product lines and geographic markets, that management felt it was time to change the name of its banking subsidiary, Staten Island Savings Bank. The words 'savings bank' was too limiting, and the association with Staten Island meant little to New Jersey customers. A compromise was found in the name SI Bank & Trust, which more accurately described the business while retaining some name recognition for its Staten Island customers.

SIB continued its efforts at diversification in January 2000 when it formed SIB Financial Services to sell life insurance. In October 2000 SI Bank & Trust signed an agreement to purchase four New Jersey branches from Unity Bancorp. Three were located in Union County and one in Middlesex County. The deal brought the total number of New Jersey branches to ten. Doherty also announced the bank's intention to open another three facilities in New Jersey in the near future.

With assets standing at $5 billion (as of June 2000), its business far more diversified than when it had been strictly a mutual savings bank, and a geographic reach that now extended nationwide, SIB entered 2001 poised for continued growth, yet harboring some concerns. Doherty told the Wall Street Corporate Reporter in an October 2000 interview, 'The biggest challenge ahead of SIB is execution, which is paramount. If we trip and fall in any of the areas where we are trying to execute strategies for expansion into Brooklyn and New Jersey or are unable to find marriages with other institutions, we won't have the ability to expand our base and grow the balance sheet. We need to be able to duplicate what we are doing successfully on Staten Island in our new markets in both Brooklyn and New Jersey and that is just what we are doing.'

Principal Subsidiaries: SI Bank & Trust; SIB Investment Corporation; SIB Mortgage Corp.; Staten Island Funding Corporation; American Construction Lending Services, Inc.

Principal Competitors: HSBC USA; Independence Community Bank; Richmond County Financial.

Related information about Staten Island

pop (2000e) 443 700; area 153 km族/59 sq mi. Borough of New York City, USA, co-extensive with Richmond Co; an island separated from New Jersey by Kill van Kull and Arthur Kill Channels, and from Long Island by the Narrows; oil refining, shipbuilding, paper, printing; first settled in 1641; named by early Dutch settlers after the Staaten or States General of 17th-c Holland.

Situated on an island of the same name that is the most geographically separate of the city's boroughs, Staten Island is the least populated of the five boroughs.

The Borough of Staten Island is coterminous with Richmond County, the southernmost county in the state of New York. Until 1975 the borough was officially named the Borough of RichmondNew York Public Library Staten Island Timeline, accessed January 16, 2006.

With a population of just over 460,000, Staten Island is often called "the forgotten borough," as it is much less well-known than its four sisters, The Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn.

By far the least populated, most ethnically homogeneous and most remote borough of New York City, Staten Island is primarily suburban. The borough's steady rise in population since the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge has added to a sharp increase in traffic that plagues the island and is a cause of frequent road repairs and accidents.

Staten Island is also known for the Fresh Kills Landfill, the repository of garbage from all of New York City for 53 years.

History

The bedrock of the island is a diabase sill formed during the volcanic eruptions that created much of the bedrock of northern New Jersey, including the New Jersey Palisades, approximately 200 million years ago. In the late Pleistocene between 20,000 and 14,000 years ago, the ice sheet that covered northeastern North America reached to as far south as present day New York City, to a depth of approximately the same height as the Empire State Building. The island was probably abandoned later, possibly because of the extinction of large mammals on the island.

In the Sixteenth Century, the island was part of a larger area known as Lenapehoking that was inhabited by the Lenape, an Algonquian aboriginal American people also called the "Delaware". The staples of their diet included shellfish, including the oysters that are native to both Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay.

Staaten Eylandt

The first recorded European contact with the island was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano who sailed through the Narrows. In 1609, Henry Hudson established Dutch trade in the area and named the island Staaten Eylandt after the Staten-Generaal, the Dutch parliament. From 1639 to 1655, the Dutch made three separate attempts to establish a permanent settlement on the island, but each time the settlement was destroyed in the conflicts between the Dutch and the local tribes.

In 1661, the first permanent Dutch settlement was established at Oude Dorp (Dutch for "Old Village"), just south of the Narrows near South Beach, by a small group of Dutch Walloon and Huguenot families.

Richmond County

At the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667, the New Netherlands colony was ceded to England in the Treaty of Breda, and what was now anglicized as Staten Island became part of the new English colony of New York.

In 1670, the Native Americans ceded all claims to Staten Island to the English in a deed to Gov. Francis Lovelace. The name derives from the title of an illegitimate son of King Charles II.

In 1687-1688, the English divided the island into four administrative divisions based on natural features, called the North, South, and West divisions, as well as the 5100 acre (21 km族) manorial estate of colonial governor Thomas Dongan in the central hills known as the "Lordship or Manner of Cassiltown." By 1708, the entire island had been divided up through this fashion into 166 small farms and two large manorial estates, the Dongan estate as well as a 1600 acre (6.5 km族) parcel on the southwestern tip of the island belonging to Christopher Billop (Jackson, 1995).

In 1729, a county seat was established at the village of Richmond Town, located at the headwaters of the Fresh Kills near the center of the island. In the summer of 1776, the British forces under William Howe evacuated Boston and prepared to attack New York City. It is here that the representatives of the British government reportedly received their first notification of the Declaration of Independence.

The following month, in August 1776, the British forces crossed the Narrows to Brooklyn and routed the American forces under George Washington at the Battle of Long Island, resulting in the British capture of New York. Three weeks later, on September 11, 1776, the British received a delegation of Americans consisting of Benjamin Franklin, Edward Rutledge, and John Adams at the Conference House on the southwestern tip of the island (known today as Tottenville) on the former estate of Christopher Billop. The British again used the island as a staging ground for their final evacuation of New York City on December 5, 1783. After the war, the largest Loyalist landowners fled to Canada and their estates were subdivided and sold.

On July 4, 1827, the end of slavery in New York state was celebrated at Swan Hotel, West Brighton. This road expansion was planned initially by Robert Moses.

Some of the island's open space and historic areas were incorporated in 1972 into Gateway National Recreation Area, part of the National Park System. The Staten Island Unit of Gateway NRA is joined by the Jamaica Bay Unit in Brooklyn and Queens and the Sandy Hook Unit in New Jersey. The Staten Island Unit is comprised of Great Kills Park, Miller Field, Fort Wadsworth, as well as Hoffman Island and Swinburne Island.

Throughout the 1980s, a movement which had as its goal the secession of Staten Island from the city steadily grew in popularity, reaching its peak during the mayoral term of David Dinkins. The movement largely evaporated with Rudolph Giuliani's election as mayor in 1993, although some pro-secession sentiment remains.

In the 1980s, the United States Navy had a base on Staten Island, Naval Station New York. A few frigates, destroyers, and at least one cruiser were based there. The small size of the base and the expense of basing personnel there led to closure.

For the last half of the 20th Century, Staten Island was arguably best known as the site of the Fresh Kills Landfill, the primary destination for garbage from the five boroughs of New York City and the largest single source of methane pollution in the world. The landfill was closed in early 2001 but was temporarily reopened later that year to receive the ruins of the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Staten Island bore much of the loss of life in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, nearly 300 residents, with a large numbers of firefighters and World Trade Center workers living on Staten Island. The Fresh Kills Landfill was chosen to hold the debris from the towers and served as a crime lab for police investigators searching for human remains.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough / county has a total area of 265.5 km族 (102.5 mi族). 151.5 km族 (58.5 mi族) of it is land and 114.0 km族 (44.0 mi族) of it (42.95%) is water.

Staten Island is separated from Long Island by the Narrows and from mainland New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull. It is connected to New Jersey via the Bayonne Bridge, the Outerbridge Crossing, the Goethals Bridge, and to Brooklyn by the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The Staten Island Ferry connects the island to lower Manhattan. The Staten Island Railway traverses the island from its northeastern tip to its southwestern tip.

In addition to the main island, the borough and county also include several small uninhabited islands:

  • The Isle of Meadow (at the mouth of Fresh Kills)
  • Pralls Island (in the Arthur Kill)
  • Shooters Island (in Newark Bay; part of it belongs to New Jersey)
  • Swinburne Island (in Lower New York Bay)
  • Hoffman Island (in Lower New York Bay)

The highest point on the island, the summit of Todt Hill, elevation 410 ft (125 m), is also the highest point in the five boroughs, as well as the highest point on the Atlantic Coastal Plain south of Great Blue Hill in Massachusetts and the highest point on the coast proper south of Maine's Mount Desert Island.

In the late 1960s the island was the site of important battles of open-space preservation, resulting in the largest area of parkland in New York City and an extensive Greenbelt that laces the island with woodland trails.

Adjacent Counties

  • Hudson County, New Jersey - north
  • Union County, New Jersey - west
  • Middlesex County, New Jersey - west
  • Kings County, New York - northeast

Government


Since New York City's consolidation in 1898, Staten Island has been governed by the New York City Charter that provides for a "strong" mayor-council system. In 1989 the Supreme Court of the United States declared the Board of Estimate unconstitutional on the grounds that Brooklyn, the most populous borough, had no greater effective representation on the Board than Staten Island, the least populous borough, a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause pursuant to the high court's 1964 "one man, one vote" decision.Cornell Law School Supreme Court Collection: Board of Estimate of City of New York v. Morris, accessed June 12, 2006

Since 1990 the Borough President has acted as an advocate for the borough at the mayoral agencies, the City Council, the New York state government, and corporations. Staten Island's Borough President is James Molinaro, a member of the Conservative Party elected in 2001 and re-elected in 2005, with the endorsement of the Republican Party. The racial makeup is 77.60% White, 9.67% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 5.65% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.14% from other races, and 2.65% from two or more races. 71.3% of the population were Whites not of Hispanic origins.

Some main European ancestries of Staten Island, 2000:

  • Italian: 44.55 (largest percentage for any U.S. county.)
  • Irish : 14.54
  • German : 7.61
  • English : 3.37

Since the 2000 census, a rather large Russian community has been growing on Staten Island, particularily in the South Beach and Great Kills area.

The vast majority of the island's African American and Hispanic residents live north of the Staten Island Expressway, or Interstate 278. N/A - 1,021 - 855 - 1,154 - 3,835

1800 - 1,056 ? N/A - 1,980 - 1,012 - 1,616 - 6,135

1830 - 2,204 ? N/A - 2,171 - 975 - 1,734 - 7,084

1840 - 4,275 ? N/A - 2,745 - 1,619 - 2,326 - 10,965

1850 - 5,389 ? N/A - 4,020 - 2,709 - 2,943 - 26,026

1860 - 6,778 - 6,243 - 4,841 - 3,645 - 3,985 - 25,492

1870 - 9,504 - 7,589 - 5,949 - 5,082 - 4,905 ?

The movie School of Rock starring Jack Black was filmed all over Staten Island, including Wagner College, St.George Theater, Cargo Cafe,etc.

The music video for the song "Papa Don't Preach" by Madonna was shot at various Staten Island locations, including Stapleton and a house on Ward Hill. Also, the "You Get What You Give" video by the New Radicals was partially filmed at the Staten Island Mall.

Television series shot partially or wholly on Staten Island include The Education of Max Bickford and The Book of Daniel.

Fox and WB sitcom Grounded for Life is about a family living in Staten Island.

Banishment to Staten Island was once a common threat in the New York City uniformed services, and is reflected in both film and television. This theme was also used on other TV shows such as The Odd Couple, Car 54 Where Are You?, Welcome Back Kotter, Sex in the City, Seinfeld, All in the Family and even the Andy Griffith Show.

Staten Island is home to a surprising variety of museums: the Alice Austen House Museum, the Conference House, the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum, Historic Richmond Town, Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, the John Noble Collection, Sandy Ground Historical Museum, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, the Staten Island Children's Museum, and the Staten Island Museum.

Sports

  • Staten Island Yankees, New York-Penn League baseball, Class A Minor League affliate to the New York Yankees
  • Staten Island Yankees who made it to the big leagues. Jason Anderson, Andy Phillips, Melky Cabrera, Brandon Claussen, Wily Mo Pena, Robinson Cano, Chien-Ming Wang, Brad Halsey, John-Ford Griffin
  • The New York Metropolitans of the American Association played baseball on Staten Island from April 1886 through 1887. Erastus Wiman, the developer of St. George, brought the team to Staten Island where they played in a stadium near the site of the current-day Staten Island Yankees stadium and the Staten Island Ferry terminal.
  • Wagner College participates in Division I athletics.
  • Former NBA Basketball coach P.J. Carlesimo coached the Wagner College Basketball team the "Seahawks".
  • Terry Crowley baseball player, member of the 1970 World Champs Baltimore Orioles
  • Matt Galante - former baseball coach for New York Mets and Houston Astros lives in Annadale, Staten Island
  • Staten Island formerly had a professional football team which was a member of the NFL called the Staten Island Stapes. He spent only three seasons in the Major Leagues with the New York Giants (1951-1952), and with the 1959 Baltimore Orioles.
  • Bobby Thomson, the Flying Scot, hit a home run (which has become known as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World") to win the 1951 National League pennant for the New York Giants.
  • Johnny "The Heat" Verderosa former pro boxer
  • Silvia Fontana, Italian figure skater in the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympic Games, was born on Staten Island December 3, 1976.
  • Gary Stark Jr. Pro Boxer
  • Rich Kotite - former Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets head coach,and New York Giants player lives in West Brighton, Staten Island.
  • Hank Majeski - MLB outfielder. Born and raised in Staten Island
  • Pete Mikklesen- New York Yankee and Los Angeles Dodgers relief specialist.
  • There is a controversial plan to build an international speedway on the island, by 2010, which would host NASCAR races.
  • St Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jason Marquis went to Tottenville High School in Staten Island.
  • New York Rangers Nick Fotiu was the first player ever from New York City ( Staten Island) to play hockey for the hometown Rangers
  • Pro Bowlers Johnny Petraglia and Mark Roth both resided in Staten Island.
  • In 1964 Staten Island's Mid Island Little League won the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania
  • Mookie Wilson - New York Mets outfielder lived on Staten Island
  • Joe Andruzzi - New England Patriots Offensive Lineman. Has 3 Super Bowl rings.
  • Mike Siani - standout wide receiver for Villanova and number 1 draft choice for the Oakland Raiders was born and raised on Staten Island.
  • The Mid-Island Little League from Staten Island advanced to the 2006 Little League World Series.

Notable residents

  • Daniel D. Tompkins, was the sixth Vice President of the United States, an entrepreneur, jurist, Congressman, Governor of New York, and established Tompkinsville in Staten Island and the Staten Island Ferry.
  • Christina Aguilera - Pop singer. Born on Staten Island, although she was raised in Pittsburgh, PA
  • Teddy Atlas - Boxing trainer
  • Kevin Rooney former manager of Mike Tyson lived on Staten Island
  • Alice Austen - Photographer, lived all of her life on Staten Island. A Staten Island Ferry is named for her
  • Joan Baez - folk singer
  • Madonna - lived in the Stapleton area briefly.
  • Oleg Maskaev - Heavyweight Boxing Champion
  • Renaldo Balkman- New York Knicks 2006 First Round Draft Pick, Born on Staten Island
  • Paul Castellano- Gambino Crime Boss, lived in the Todt Hill section
  • Eric Close - Actor who plays "Martin Fitzgerald" on the CBS drama Without a Trace
  • Ichabod Crane, a Colonel in the US Army during the War of 1812 and the nominal inspiration for the protagonist in Washington Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow", who is buried in Staten Island, New York
  • Gene Simmons - Bass player and rock star from the legend rock band KISS received his BA in Teaching from Richmond College (now the College of Staten Island).
  • Gianni Russo - Actor was born and raised on Staten Island. Simpson trial, graduated from Wagner High School
  • Earl Slick - famous guitarist
  • Kasim Sulton - musician
  • Thommy Price - former Patty Smyth and Scandal and Billy Idol drummer
  • Steven R.
  • Roy Clark - Country singer, Hee Haw star, and guitarist, actually grew up in Great Kills, Staten Island
  • Evan Dorkin - Cartoonist and creator of Milk & Cheese is a long time resident of Staten Island
  • Raymond Serra - Actor, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, Gotti
  • Steven Duren - Better known as Blackie Lawless, lead singer of the 1980s heavy metal band - drummer for Twisted Sister
  • John Franco - Former New York Mets pitcher
  • Emilio Estevez - Actor, born on Staten Island (New York City)
  • Armand Assante - Actor, currently resides in Staten Island.
  • Allen Jenkins - famed Hollywood character actor, voice of cartoon Top Cat's Officer Dibble was born on Staten Island.
  • Eamon - Eamon Doyle rapper, born and raised on Staten Island
  • Vito Bratta - guitarist for White Lion lives on Staten Island
  • Paul Newman - lived on Staten Island in St. George, Staten Island
  • Martin Sheen - lived on Staten Island in St. George, Staten Island
  • Giuseppe Garibaldi - 19th century Italian revolutionary and statesman, lived for a time on Staten Island, and worked as a candle-maker
  • Buddy Giovinazzo - Actor/Director/Writer who directed the cult films Combat Shock and No Way Home
  • Carmine Giovinazzo - Actor who plays "Detective Danny Messer" on the CBS drama *David Johansen (aka Buster Poindexter) of the New York Dolls
  • Antonio Meucci - disputed inventor of the telephone, immigrated to Staten Island, settling in the Clifton area in 1850, where he would live for the remainder of his life
  • Alyssa Milano - Actress. Parisen - Filmmaker, was born and raised on Staten Island
  • Joe Causi - Disc Jockey, raised in Brooklyn, currently lives on Staten Island
  • Robin Quivers- radio personality from the Howard Stern show lives on Staten Island
  • Vito Picone - Vito and The Elegants, had a #1 song in the 50's "Little Star". The song was actually recorded in a South Beach, Staten Island studio.
  • Edward Platt - Actor who played "The Chief" on the 1960s TV show Get Smart
  • Randy Savage - Former Professional wrestler known as "Macho Man" now resides in Staten Island
  • Rick Schroder - Actor who played "Ricky Stratton" on the 1980s NBC sitcom Silver Spoons and "Detective Danny Sorenson" on the ABC drama NYPD Blue. Currently appearing as "Dr. Dylan West" on the Lifetime drama Strong Medicine
  • Method Man- Clifford Smith - Rapper/Wu-Tang Clan member (aka Method Man) was born on Staten Island
  • Ghostface Killah Rapper born on Staten Island.
  • Peter Steele - Lead singer and bassist for the gothic-doom band Type O Negative
  • Theodore Sturgeon - Science fiction author
  • Henry David Thoreau spent his longest time away from Concord, Massachusetts on Staten Island in the 1840s. He penned several letters to Ralph Waldo Emerson while on the island, and Emerson himself spent a significant amount of time on the island as well
  • Cornelius Vanderbilt - 19th century shipping and railroad magnate and patriarch of the Vanderbilt family, was born, and lived most of his life on, Staten Island. He is buried in the family vault in the Moravian Cemetery at New Dorp on Staten Island
  • Wu Tang Clan - Hip-hop group; 4 of the 9 are from Staten Island.
  • Paul Zindel - Novelist
  • Robert Loggia - Actor (Scarface, The Sopranos, Big, etc.)
  • Steven Seagal - Actor, lived on Staten Island
  • Glenn Scarpelli - child actor from One Day at a Time born and raised in Staten Island
  • Joe Pistone - FBI agent aka Donnie Brasco was from Staten Island.
  • Sammy "The Bull" Gravano - mob turncoat lived on Staten Island
  • Francesco Scavullo - Famous Photographer
  • Jennifer Esposito - actress Spin City, Summer of Sam
  • Larry Romano - actor The King of Queens, NYPD Blue
  • Patti Hansen - Famous model and wife to The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards
  • Vito LoGrasso - WWE wrestler hails from Staten Island
  • Bobby Darin - singer, his family had a summer home as a child in South Beach, Staten Island.
  • Jason Marquis - Current pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals, grew up on Staten Island
  • Lenny Venito - actor from The Sopranos, Gigli, War of the Worlds
  • Jay Akselrud - Balloon artist who entertained at Staten Island Yankees, Staten Island Xtreme and Staten Island Vipers games through 2005. Lived in Willowbrook.
  • Force MD's born and raised on Staten Island had a top ten song Tender Love in 1986, produced by longtime Janet Jackson producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
  • Beatles George Harrison lived in Staten Island briefly near Staten Island University Hospital while being treated for cancer there.

Education

Education in Staten Island is provided by a number of public and private institutions. Public schools in the borough are managed by the New York City Department of Education, the largest public school system in the United States.

The College of Staten Island is one of four "hybrid colleges" of the City University of New York (CUNY). Many successful performers are alumni of Wagner's department of Theatre and Dance including Randy Graff and Kathy Brier.

St. John's University has a campus on Staten Island.

Chronology

  • Key Dates:

  • 1864: Staten Island Savings Bank chartered by state.
  • 1867: Bank begins operations.
  • 1983: Bank merges with Richmond County Federal Savings and Loan Association.
  • 1995: Bank acquires Gateway BanCorp.
  • 1997: Staten Island Bancorp (SIB) formed; bank converts from mutual to stock ownership under SIB.
  • 1999: SIB acquires First State Bank, expands into New Jersey.
  • 2000: Banking subsidiary changes name to SI Bank & Trust.

Additional topics

Company HistoryFinance: Holding Companies

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