Boehm’s Beach, Staten Island, NY 2011
This drawing is from a photo taken on what was Boehm’s Beach on the south east coast of Staten Island, NY.
A chair abandoned in the woods.
From the late 19th Century until 1958 my partner's family owned and ran a beach resort right there.
The Boehm’s Beach Resort.
It is still marked on maps as Boehm St. although the roads are now empty and the signage removed.
It comprised of a large restaurant, picnic grounds, bowling alley and casino not to mention access to the sea.
New Yorkers would escape the city and take their summer vacations and weekend retreats there.
World Champion Prizefighters would train and spar there before travelling into Manhattan for their bouts.
In 1958 under the instruction of the controversial “master builder” Robert Moses it was purchased through "eminent domain" in order to build a coastal highway.
Thankfully that was never realised and the beach remains more or less intact.
It’s now part of the Gateway National park.
All the hotels and resorts have gone through wilful or natural destruction....Hurricane Sandy took any remaining items in 2012.
The adjacent Cedar Grove beach community resisted eviction until a few years ago.
The small group of charismatic beach houses were used as a location for HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” in 2014.
