Sunnyside, Staten Island

Sunnyside is the name of a neighborhood in the Mid-Island region of the New York City borough of Staten Island.

Two large city parks—Silver Lake Park and Clove Lakes Park—form the eastern and western boundaries, respectively, of Sunnyside, which is named for a boarding house that was established there in 1889; the vicinity had previously been known as Clovenia, owing to its location in what was then referred to as the Clove Valley, whose name survives in Clove Road, which runs from West Brighton to Grasmere, and is one of the neighborhood's principal thoroughfares. Clove Road forms the northern boundary of Sunnyside, separating it from the community of Grymes Hill.

Prior to the advent of cable television service, Sunnyside was noted for having the worst television reception on Staten Island, resulting from its being hemmed in by several hills, including Grymes Hill, Emerson Hill and Castleton Hill, the latter separating Sunnyside from neighboring Castleton Corners.

Sunnyside was once the home of a campus of the College of Staten Island; located at the foot of Emerson Hill, in 1993 this campus was moved to the grounds of the former Willowbrook State School, and an advanced-placement high school, the Michael Petrides Center, took its place. This center is also an evacuation site for residents during floods or other emergencies.

A large percentage of Sunnyside's residents are civil service workers, this demographic trait being typical of many Mid-Island...
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