Oakwood is the name of a neighborhood located in east central Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, USA. It lies near the southern shore, and is bordered by Tysens Lane (north); the Atlantic Ocean (east); Great Kills Park (south); and Kensico Street at Clarke Avenue (west).
The neighborhood has a coastline on the Lower New York Bay; the coastal area is sometimes referred to as Oakwood Beach, and is the site of a sewage treatment facility. Bordering this facility on the south is the Staten Island Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area, also known locally (and formerly, officially) as Great Kills Park.
Oakwood’s ZIP Code is 10306, the post office serving it being located in New Dorp, the community’s northern neighbor.
HISTORY
Dominated by farmland in the heights area, and an ocean resort in the beach area until the mid-20th Century, Oakwood started suburbanization when a subway line was proposed between Brooklyn and Staten Island, and it underwent rapid suburbanization after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened in November 1964. Today, Oakwood is a middle-class neighborhood of one- and two-family homes and garden apartments, with important commercial establishments along Hylan Boulevard.
Oakwood Beach underwent massive damage during Hurricane Sandy in late October 2012. A year later, due to the damage, former residents of the town were given the choice to sell their property and if they accept, the town will no longer be inhabited again and it will be used as a buffer zone.
