Waterfront

North Shore Entertainment and Amusement Site

Location: Staten Island

Project Status: Ongoing

The North Shore Entertainment and Amusement Site on Staten Island’s North Shore represents an opportunity to bring a world-class destination to one of the last large waterfront development sites on the New York Harbor.

The City has a historic opportunity to complete and activate the North Shore Entertainment and Amusement Site, a prime waterfront parcel in downtown Staten Island. Through this RFP, NYCEDC is seeking proposals that deliver a premier recreational destination for the region with entertainment, amusement, and retail uses along with over seven acres of public open space.

The partially-improved eight-acre site features a completed 820-space parking garage and a 70,000-SF structurally complete terminal building, originally designed to support exhibit areas, entertainment, food service, and retail. The North Shore Entertainment and Amusement Site RFP opportunity is part of the recently announced Staten Island North Shore Action Plan.

Over the past 20 years, the City of New York has facilitated over $400 million of public investment along Staten Island’s North Shore waterfront, creating public waterfront access to the New York Harbor with stunning views of Lower Manhattan, and attracting private investment in retail attractions and mixed-income housing—all anchored by the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.

Staten Island North Shore Action Plan

A generational investment bringing high-quality open spaces, waterfront connections, jobs, and commercial space to the Staten Island North Shore community.

Read the Plan

North Shore Investment + Opportunity

The North Shore Entertainment and Amusement Site is located on the St. George waterfront of Staten Island’s North Shore, with commanding views of the NYC skyline and New York Harbor. St. George is one of the City’s emerging waterfront destinations. Over the past two decades, St. George and the broader North Shore have benefitted from significant public and private investments that have transformed the area into a thriving district with entertainment attractions, retail, transit upgrades, and mixed-income housing.

Building on this momentum, the City’s Action Plan aims to refocus efforts on the next phase of development throughout the North Shore, including the creation of over 2,000 new homes on City-owned sites and a $400 million public investment towards completing the two-mile waterfront esplanade, spanning from St. George to Stapleton.

The City envisions a project that can be brought to life quickly, as the site received land uses approvals in 2015 for entertainment and amusement uses. As part of prior development efforts, nearly $200 million of construction work¹ has been invested in the site, resulting in:

A completed and operational 820-space mechanically vented parking garage
A structurally complete 70,000-SF terminal building designed originally to support exhibit areas, entertainment, food service, and retail

The Project has the potential to deliver a highly visible entertainment, amusement, and retail destination and public amenity that will provide an enduring regional attraction for years to come and serve as a physical beacon marking Staten Island’s distinctive identity and importance to the City. The Site is superbly situated to capitalize on the City’s tourism base of approximately 60 million domestic and international visitors annually. In addition, the Project will importantly enhance the quality of life for the St. George community by delivering direct access to high-quality waterfront public open space.

^1.^{Reflects an approximation of the site improvements made over the 2015 to 2017 period that was provided to NYCEDC by third parties. Any party interested in redeveloping the North Shore Entertainment and Amusement Site should perform their own due diligence.}