Sir Roderick William Cameron founded a shipping line in 1852 to ferry prospectors and supplies from New York to an Australian gold rush. He lived in a 130-acre estate on Staten Island, where he bred horses. When he developed a chunk of his land in the 1880s, he named it Grasmere for its resemblance to a village in England's Lake District. One of those lakes he sold was to Philip Brady who used it to harvest ice. Today the 15-acre Brady's Pond is the only freshwater pond inside New York City limits suitable for swimming and reigns as the jewel of the Grasmere neighborhood. The private Cameron Club formed in 1930, with lifeguards for the sand beach and rowboats and swans for the members, who could only be nearby residents. Today some of those luxury homes on the shores of Brady's Pond fetch over one million dollars on the rare occasion when one reaches the market. The surrounding Grasmere streets are also residential, although not so pricey as they have sprouted around a stop on the Staten Island Railway. Condominium communities have also been developed in the past few decades, with modern townhouse units to complement the single family homes. As the first exit on the Staten Island Expressway on the eastern end of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, Grasmere is a popular commuter neighborhood for Brooklyn and Manhattan. While commuters cherish their quiet escape from busier boroughs they find local shopping and eating along the serpentine Hylan Boulevard that defines the eastern border of Grasmere. Grasmere is a station along the Staten Island Railway.
Buses:
Rental Prices:
$684 ― $1,243Sales Prices:
$164,000 ― $299,000Landmarks:
N/ASchool Districts:
31Police Precincts:
122
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