Is New Brighton Staten Island Safe? (Van Buren, Franklin: apartment, rent, high crime)
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Hi, I am looking at some cheap old houses on Van Buren St and Franklin
Ave. Is this area relatively safe? I'm looking to move out of Flushing,
Queens because the area has become very crowded. I currently rent an
apartment and am sick of having disputes with neighbors over noise.
I'm Asian American. Are there any Asians living in the New Brighton area?
The demographics really doesn't concern me as long as people are civil
and respectful. I grew up in the Midwest prior to living in Queens and
I absolutely love the west coast if I could afford it. Because of work,
I've had the chance to travel quite a bit both in the states and abroad
and I can honestly say most of Queens (Flushing especially) is way too
crowded to maintain a decent quality of life.
If you are looking for a safer, walkable neighborhood that's welcoming to all ethnicities I'd strongly suggest the West Brighton/Randall Manor/Sunset Hill area.
It's a walking neighborhood with a main strip that runs through it--Forest Avenue--which has everything: supermarket, banks, Starbucks, restaurants, dry cleaners, drugstores, etc. etc. Sunset Hill is the area that's above Forest; Randall Manor and West Brighton are below Forest. Sunset Hill and Randall Manor would be pricier than West Brighton, but natives refer to the whole area as West Brighton, though there are the "West Brighton" projects on Castleton Avenue at the edge of West Brighton. They've been there for years and you can find something affordable and away from them. If you need to get to Manhattan, two express buses run along Forest Avenue to Midtown/42nd and downtown/Battery Park, plus there are the city buses every few minutes in the morning that are about a 10-minute ride to the ferry terminal, which brings commuters directly downtown.
People have commented to me that the neighborhood is reminiscent of Maplewood, NJ, in terms of housing styles (lot of old colonials) and walkability.
P.S. Just sent you a more detailed message. I know someone, Asian-American from Flushing, who just moved to the area with her family and loves it.
I don't know that much about Staten Island. For the most part, I know that some parts of the borough are dangerous. (Like Stapleton, St. George, Tompkinsville, etc) I know the North Shore has some tough areas, and New Brighton is in the North Shore. I'm not trying to scare you away, but that's what I heard at least. You don't like Flushing? There are other parts of Queens you can look into that isn't as packed as Flushing. Such as Forest Hills, Rego Park, or maybe parts of Southeast Queens. Trust me, it's WAY more convenient than Staten Island.
Hi, I am looking at some cheap old houses on Van Buren St and Franklin
Ave. Is this area relatively safe? I'm looking to move out of Flushing,
Queens because the area has become very crowded. I currently rent an
apartment and am sick of having disputes with neighbors over noise.
I live on Staten Island and the area of New Brighton that you are looking at is somewhat depressed.
Van Buren and Franklin may be close to the bus route on Richmond Terrace for easy and relatively quick access to the SI Ferry, but there are many drawbacks to the neighborhood.
Of all the areas on Staten Island, it is not one of the safest of areas. The streets you mentioned are within a short walk of the Jersey Street projects which has a somewhat high rate of crime and bad element for Staten Island.
To purchase a home in that area, you may be able to buy cheap, but that also comes with a price. When it is time to sell, you may have problems moving the property and the house could be on the market for quite a while in that neighborhood. That area of New Brighton is a bit depressed and there are not many signs that the surrounding community is going to get better in the near future with any development to make the area better and more attractive. It's basically been the same for well over 30 years.
The closer you get to Forest Avenue in New Brighton, the neighborhoods get better and your investment would be better. The areas of New Brighton that are close to Richmond Terrace are not very good and you could definitely do better for the money in other areas of Staten Island. The commute to the ferry may be longer, but your property investment will be better and would move faster when you decide to sell.
There are nice areas of New Brighton, but the streets you mentioned are not the best. You can do much better. As I said, the farther away from Richmond Terrace, the better.
Quote:
I'm Asian American. Are there any Asians living in the New Brighton area?
The streets you mentioned seem to be of mixed ethnicity. I don't think there are many people of Asian extraction. At least not the last time I was around that neighborhood. I could be wrong. It seems to be mostly a black and various Hispanic neighborhood. Some other ethnicities too.
Good Luck with your home search and I think if you do some research you can find homes on Staten Island in better areas probably for similar prices.
The area you refer to is called "Brighton Heights" by its residents. There are many nice older homes in the area you mentioned and the people who live there are very nice. However, as the other members have mentioned, you are literally within a stones throw of two particularly high crime projects on both Jersey Street and Richmond Terrace. There is quite a little gang problem that's been going on there. The area is mixed ethnicity but there are few Asian Americans in this particular area. I would agree with the writers who suggest getting closer to Forest Avenue and into West Brighton (though not too close to the West Brighton projects either. )Most of the people in the area are hard-working and honest.
west brighton projects are castleton avenue and broadway.
richmond terrace projects are richmond terrace and jersey street, which is near the area the OP was asking about.
either way their both pretty crappy housing developments.
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
I know several people in West Brighton projects. They are hard working people, never had problems in that area, also I have a good friend on Cary ave not far from there and never any problems. I think if you mind your business you will be find over there. Staple ton and Richmond terrace are much worst
YES...I grew up there. In the 90's. I remember one time when I lived there on the 4 of july the kids throwing M-80's at the cop cars and they just kept going. I seen someone got shot in the head on the corner of Castleton and Broadway,I was told it was over a walkman. I seen a whole lot more stuff then that but that will give you an idea.
I would recomend anything around Richmond U. Hospital(it used to be St. Vincent Hosp.)
Around Snug Harbor area.
In other words the east part of West New Brighton and not the west side.
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west brighton houses are better than some
