Staten Island YMCA records

There have been YMCA-affiliated programs on Staten Island since before the Civil War. As early as 1857, an independent YMCA provided programs for young men on the community before it became part of New York City. In 1871, a YMCA opened on Richmond Terrance near Van Street; the building exists to this day and may be the oldest YMCA building remaining in New York City. After the branch closed in 1886, numerous short-lived efforts to establish a YMCA on Staten Island finally began to see success when a summer day camp and four Hi-Y clubs were organized. The success of these programs led to the organization of a branch in 1947.

The branch began with modest rented space near the St. George ferry terminal. In 1952, the branch acquired land at 651 Broadway with an old house that served as the branch building until 1957, when a new YMCA building opened. As the post-war population of Staten Island continued to grow, the YMCA began expanding its programing to other communities and ultimately established extension services on the South Shore in 1974. In 1976, the original Broadway building was extensively renovated and expanded. The result was a quick doubling of membership to 9,000. In 1997, the extension on the South Shore opened a permanent branch in a modern facility; it was the first completely new Y building in New York City in 30 years. By the 2010s, in addition to operating the two popular branches, the Staten Island YMCA ran a program for children of substance abusers, the YMCA Counseling Services Center and the YMCA of Greater New York’s headquarters for the Senior Olympics.

(Information taken from West Brighton, by Jim Harkins and Cecillia S. Brunner (2014) and the YMCA of Greater New York website.)