Were there really four airports here? Was the Staten Island Airport shut down each night to ensure no peril to the patrons of the drive-in theater? Is there truly a 150 foot dormant tunnel under the harbor between Staten Island and Brooklyn with the entrance capped in Brooklyn? In the 1930's, Which of Staten Island's best known restaurateurs, bought a house across the street from his famous restaurant and built a 200-foot tunnel between the house and the restaurant so that he could safely carry the day's receipts from the restaurant to his home. Did President John Kennedy, sip coffee at the St. George ferry terminal? Can you believe that a famous Island milk company resorted to rowboats to delivery milk to areas from Oakwood to Midland Beach during some of the worst storms to every hit that area? Did Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley have a Wild West show in 1886 down at Erastina (Mariners Harbor)? In what year was a bomb actually exploded on a Staten Island Ferry? Being a native Staten Islander, I thought I knew all about this Island. In my later years I became very interested in the Islands history. I wondered about all the things I was told about Staten Island but never had the opportunity to personally see. This work is a collaboration of many people and many sources of information. It was my love of Staten Island and a desire to see again how the Island used to look that led me write this book.The Island then and now is a relief from the frenzied atmosphere of the rest of the city. It's really been a learning experience for me. Staten Island has such an amazing history. Born and raised in Midland Beach, now residing in South Beach and living all my life on Staten Island. I always had a love of the Island and a desire to learn about this Island where I was born and raised. This led me to write this book. I have terrific memories of growing up here, particularly of my Mom bringing me to the beach as a child. I had a burning desire to find out the history of this Island before I was born and to learn about some of the wonderous tales that I was told. This all led to a website called "StatenIslandHistory.com" which I created almost five years ago. Many of the visitors sent email of memories and stories of their childhood on Staten Island. Many of the stories energized me to do more research about them. And before I knew it, I had loads of stories and information about the Island.