Staten Island is often considered “The Forgotten Borough”, since it’s somewhat off the beaten path from the other 4 boroughs, and the subway does not go there. Until late 1964, there was no bridge from New York. The Verrazano Bridge changed that, and the population has been increasing since the bridge’s opening.
Like Brooklyn, I had no relatives living there, and until 1977 did not go there except to get off of the Staten Island Ferry and go back to South Ferry, attend a wedding reception at Fort Wadsworth, cross on Interstate 278 to go to New Jersey, and ride the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway. In 1977 I covered a banking class at the College of Staten for a teacher whom I worked as a graduate assistant. I also started to go out with a Staten Island lady who was an alumna of Saint John’s University’s Staten Island campus. We would go to the movies and restaurants on Staten Island, including Carmen's in Great Kills.
The relationship ended in late 1978 but it was two of her friends who were sitting with Ellen at the Alumni Singles dance when my relationship with Ellen began.
Since 1978 we still cross Staten Island to go to New Jersey and beyond, but we now also have a favorite baseball team to follow – the Staten Island Yankees. Eileen is a Yankees fan, and wanted to see the New York Yankees game in 2007. However, since the Bronx Bombers are doing well, tickets are scarcer than hen’s teeth. I suggested that we see the “other” Yankees, and Ellen and Eileen agreed. On August 12, 2007 we went to a game at the Richmond County Ballpark – the “Baby Bombers” versus the Jamestown Jammers. Our seats were excellent and we also got to see New York Harbor, New Jersey, and Brooklyn. There were also the ferry boats, cruise ships, and container ships passing nearby. The S.I. Yankees lost 3-1 that day, but we did not really care since we had a great time. We will definitely go to a game there again.
And we did. On August 10, 2008 we got tickets to the Yankees - Williamsport Crosscutters game. We started to enjoy the skyline, the ships, and the park. The problem was that the weather was terrible so the game was rained out. On August 16 we returned and this time the opponents were the Vermont Lake Monsters. Our seats were next to the Yankees' bullpen, so we got to see their pitchers warm up. The Yankees ended up winning, 6-1.
