Fairview Park

What was here before?

Formerly known as Androvetteville in the 1700s after the Androvette family who settled the area in 1699, this neighborhood was known as Kreischerville from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. Drawn by the clay deposits in present-day Clay Pit Ponds State Park and ease of transportation on the Arthur Kill, Bavarian immigrant and businessman Balthasar Kreischer purchased land here in 1849 to build a clay product factory. In 1854, Kreischer built a grand mansion called “Fairview” on this site.

Following his death, the property was sold to Arnold Kreusler, a Brooklyn inventor and brewer. The Kreischerville clay works and Fairview were destroyed by fire between 1927 and 1931. The neighborhood was eventually renamed Charleston in the early 20th century.

How did this site become a park?

While Staten Island’s South Shore contains a lot of parkland, much of it is natural areas not suited for active recreational use. In an effort to address the issue, this longstanding natural area was targeted for recreational park development in the early 2000s.

The site was transferred from the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services to NYC Parks in 2003. Construction began in 2019 to turn this underutilized parcel into a sprawling green space with baseball and multipurpose fields, courts for pickleball, tennis, bocce, an ADA-compliant trail, a public restroom, and a picnic area.

Fairview Park is also the new home of John D'Amato Field, formerly in New Dorp Park. The original field, dedicated in 2011 to Staten Island attorney, community leader and athlete John D'Amato (1955-2007) was damaged by flood waters from Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

What is this park named for?

Fairview Park occupies the site of Balthasar Kreischer’s Italianate mansion and estate, Fairview, named for its pleasant overlooks on the Arthur Kill. One of the two additional mansions he built for his sons remains standing on adjacent Arthur Kill Road.