Lemon Creek Park

The Daily Plant : Thursday, April 5, 2007

Lemon Creek Park Is April’s Park Of The Month

Photo by Daniel Avila

Lemon Creek Park in Staten Island is home to diverse wildlife on land and beyond its shore. Not only is it a habitat for migratory birds and butterflies year-round, but its waterfront area is also a spawning ground for many fish, shellfish, ducks, and swans. The park, which is bounded by Hylan Boulevard and Sharrott, Bayview and Seguine Avenues, has been named April’s Park of the Month.

"Lemon Creek Park is a nature lover’s paradise," said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "It contains one of the largest and most pristine salt marshes in the borough and it includes one of the only purple martin bird colonies in New York City. I encourage all New Yorkers to make a trip to experience this oasis on Staten Island’s south shore."

Thanks to the park’s fertile waterfront area, visitors can fish off of the Lemon Creek fishing pier at the foot of Sharrott Avenue. Casting a line at Lemon Creek Park offers the opportunity to catch flounder, striped bass, bluefish, weakfish, and others.

Park visitors can also relax inside a gazebo, which is adorned with figures of dolphins, turtles, and egrets, and offers shade as well as a nautical view. Visitors can also take a stroll along the newly constructed boat launch at Bayview Avenue with a shaded pavilion and trails with interpretive signs. Wooden benches and tables on an overlook offer a picturesque view of the clay bluffs and Prince’s Bay.

The property was acquired as a park in 1962, when the City transferred approximately 76 acres of land to the jurisdiction of Parks. Additional segments were added in 1983 and 1984. In 1989 the Seguine Mansion and its site overlooking Raritan Bay was acquired through negotiation of a private owner. Nearly 23 acres of waterfront, acquired from New York State, were added in 1995. Lemon Creek Park, currently 106 acres, is a designated "Forever Wild" nature preserve for its immense ecological value to the City of New York.

Lemon Creek, which empties into Prince’s Bay and, ultimately, Raritan Bay, has been known by several names over the years. In 1830 the freshwater stream was known as Seguine’s Creek, and later, as the Little North River in 1885. Shortly thereafter, the name of Lemon Creek began to appear on maps, although the origin of this unusual name is not known.

(Tuesday, April 5, 1994)

For the last three years, every morning at 6:00 a.m., no matter what the weather, Elmhurst Service Center volunteers meet at Clement Clark Moore Homestead Park in Elmhurst, Queens, for a clean-up. The 20-member organization of older Korean immigrants stands guardian to the park, working closely with City Park Worker George Hairston to keep the site clean and attractive. Park Supervisor Gerry Geiger reports that even though Parks supplies the group with tools, the volunteers like to create their own shovels and dustpans out of large corn oil containers.

"Look for the ridiculous in everything and you will find it."

(1864 – 1910)