Staten Island, as the name suggests, is no easy place to reach. On the map, it looks like a reluctant fifth borough, severed from Brooklyn’s western shore. There is no subway line connecting to the island, which spans sixty square miles. The only way to get there is by crossing the water, either by ferry or car, on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. After it opened in 1964, some realtors steered African Americans to the economically depressed North Shore, where housing projects overlooked abandoned factories and destitute streets.
