Lily Pond Avenue

Lily Pond Avenue is a relatively short primary artery in the South Beach, Arrochar, Concord, and Shore Acres neighborhoods in the New York City borough of Staten Island.[2]

Lily Pond Avenue

Owner	City of New York
Maintained by	NYCDOT
Length	0.71 mi[1] (1.14 km)
Location	Staten Island, New York
Coordinates
South end	Father Capodanno Boulevard in Arrochar
Major junctions	I-278 in Concord
North end	Tompkins Avenue in Shore Acres

Route description

Lily Pond Avenue is the middle leg of Staten Island's coastal eastern corridor, possessing the same route as School Road and Father Capodanno Boulevard. Important intersections include Tompkins Avenue, Narrows Road, Major Avenue, and McClean Avenue. Lily Pond Avenue passes underneath the Staten Island Expressway at the foot of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.[2] Landmarks include the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Memorial.[3][4]

Toll plaza reconstruction

The Lily Pond toll plaza reconstruction project was notable for going far over the timeline for its completion in 2008. The project was started in 2006, but had taken longer than originally planned. States Senator Diane Savino and Member of the Assembly Michael Cusick criticized the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the construction delays.[5] The project was finally expected to be completed in 2014.[6] There were concerns as early as 1994 about the huge mass of concrete used in the Lily Pond Bridge, which is one of three bridges or passes on the Staten Island side of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.[7]

Since the completion of the project, the toll plaza has been demolished and replaced with an electronic toll collection gantry.

Points of interest

A busy thoroughfare, Lily Pond Avenue has been the scene of at least one fatal motorcycle accident in 2012,[8][9] and a roadside memorial was set up on the side of that road.[10]

A small, 35-bed nursing home is located on Lily Pond Avenue.[11]

Transportation

Because of the easy access the artery provides to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge amongst other destinations,[12] MTA Regional Bus Operations runs the following public bus routes along the avenue:

• The S51/S81 along Lily Pond Avenue's entire route.[13]
• The S53 from the Staten Island Expressway to McClean Avenue.[13]
• The SIM5, SIM6, SIM9 from the Staten Island Expressway to Father Capodanno Boulevard.[13]

The New York City Marathon directs buses and private vehicles to Lily Pond Avenue, which is just outside the main staging area for the start of the famous foot race.[14] The street is then closed to through traffic.[15]

The City of New York has a designated bicycle lane on Lily Pond Avenue.[16]

Major intersections

The entire route is in the New York City borough of Staten Island. 

Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Arrochar	0.00	0.00	Father Capodanno Boulevard south
Concord	0.38	0.61	I-278 east (Verrazano Bridge)	Separate ramps to upper and lower levels of the bridge
Shore Acres	0.51	0.82	I-278 west (Staten Island Expressway) – Goethals Bridge	Exit 15 on I-278
	0.71	1.14	Tompkins Avenue / School Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Electronic toll collection

In popular culture

Lily Pond Avenue is mentioned in several police procedural novels: in F. P. Lione's The Crossroads, the second volume of the Midtown Blues series,[17] Lione's Skells: A Novel, the third volume of the Midtown Blues series,[18] and Jamise L. Dames's Pushing Up Daisies: A Novel,[19]

References

1. "Richmond County Inventory Listing" (CSV). New York State Department of Transportation. August 7, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
2. Overview map of Lily Pond Avenue route (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
3. "Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Memorial, Arrochar, Staten Island". Bridgeandtunnelclub.com. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
4. New York, Washington. Le aree urbane e i dintorni: Guide verdi del mondo, p. 136.(Touring Editore, 2007). ISBN 9788836527687. (In Italian). Found at Google Books. Accessed July 2, 2012.
5. Yates, Maura (August 24, 2008). "Lily Pond project:The slow road". Staten Island Advance. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
6. "Contract Awarded to Remove Brooklyn-bound Toll Booths at Verrazano-Narrows Bridge". mta.info. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
7. Philip Dale Cady, Concrete bridges in aggressive environments: Philip D. Cady International Symposium, p. 246. (ed. Richard E. Weyers) (American Concrete Institute, 1994). Found at Google Books. Accessed July 2, 2012.
8. "Staten Island motorcyclist killed in Fort Wadsworth crash is identified". Staten Island Advance. March 30, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
9. Sharp, Sonja (March 30, 2012). "Motorcyclist Killed in Collision on Staten Island". DNAinfo. Archived from the original on July 4, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
10. Sedon, Michael (March 31, 2012). "'He loved that bike': Staten Island motorcyclist killed in crash was multi-faceted". Staten Island Advance. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
11. "Staten Island Nursing Homes - Nursing Homes - NYC Caregiver : Making it easier to care". Nyc.gov. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
12. Approach Roads to Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at the MTA official website. Accessed July 2, 2012.
13. "Staten Island Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
14. "Transportation to the Start of the ING New York City Marathon". 2012. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
15. "Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, street closures for New York City Marathon". Staten Island Advance Staten Island Advance. October 30, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
16. "NYC Bicycle Lane and Trail Inventory (1) - Part 6" (PDF). Nyc.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-03-14. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
17. F. P. Lione, The Crossroads: A Novel, p. 127 (Baker Books, 2005) ISBN 9781441237255. Found at Google Books. Accessed July 2, 2012.
18. F. P. Lione, Skells: A Novel, p. 165 (Baker Books, 2006) ISBN 9781441237262. Found at Google Books. Accessed July 2, 2012.
19. Jamise L. Dames, Pushing Up Daisies: A Novel, p. 15 (Simon and Schuster, 2005) ISBN 9781416517269. Found at Google Books. Accessed July 2, 2012.