Staten Island Chinese Scholar Garden

The Chinese Scholar's Garden in Staten Island is not a very obvious place to consider when thinking of what to do in NYC, but it is a quiet space away from the smog, people and various annoyances of the city in the summertime. There are different botanical gardens throughout the site as well as a structure with various windows that look out into different parts of the garden. It is very peaceful and was more elaborate than I expected.

These are some pictures I took with my camera phone:


The lady in the right picture was explaining that the tiled emblem was made with broken heineken bottles.

The windows that looked into other windows is something I would love to recreate in my own home...

Right image is the Banana Leaf window

There was a pond in the middle of the Scholar House that had Koi fish and Lilypads.


Apparently there is also a mini labyrinth that you can walk through at Connie Gretz's Secret Garden. Unfortunately it was closed when we went, so we did not get to see it. I know its not a full size labyrinth, so i am not too thrilled about it, but its a nice attempt.

To get to the Scholar's Garden, you can take the Staten Island Ferry for free and see their snazzy new terminal with a big LCD panel that streams HAVE A NICE DAY and the time intermittently. Taking the Staten Island Ferry is a method of getting a free boat ride and a creative approach to cooling off in the middle of summer. Once you get to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, you take a bus that goes to Snug Harbor, which is where the Scholar's Garden is located. The bus stop to go to the garden is across the street from the site, and the bus stop to go back to the Ferry Terminal is right in front of the site.


Staten Island Ferry Terminal
Originally uploaded by tangentialism.