Safehouse Memorial Garden
Owner

Community-maintained

Established 2019
Purpose Memorial site
Status Open to public, 7AM - 12AM

During the years leading up to the civil war, a Ferrymen safehouse known as The Garden sat in the heart of Staten Island's greenbelt. The house lasted only as long as people inhabited it, yet made an impact as a stop between the inner boroughs and outwards from the metro area. Little of the three-story brickwork cottage in one piece at the end of its snaking dirt road. Some stones from the fallen brick home have been used in the construction of the garden; a plaque at the entrance denotes the significance of the memorial, and the plants are tended to by members of the community. There are, of course, spells of vandalism, though just as it had in life, the Garden remains, stubbornly symbolizing its way to permanence.

Visitors will find a cobbled brick walkway curving between old growth trees and new beds of decorative plants, a few benches along the quaint route, shaded under branches. A visualized moment of quiet beside the rest of Staten Island.

The ruins tucked behind the old stone walls and iron gate are grown over by vine and weed, a few trees having taken root on the outskirts of the crumbled borders of the former three stories. The remnants of the ground floor cut an odd silhouette, and the oaken and calico innards have long been scoured over; the largest remaining piece of the house is its fireplace, a jutting smokestack still tentatively reaching the middle of the second story.

During occupation, the property and the surrounding area was home to a large feral cat population. Their descendants still trawl the woodland and field, only a few now brave or accustomed enough to visit the copse themselves.

Safehouse Memorial Garden

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