Arden Heights is a name increasingly applied to the western part of Annadale, a neighborhood located on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York City, US. The name "Arden Heights" is found on most maps of New York City, including Hagstrom's.
Arden Heights is bordered by Annadale to the east, Huguenot to the south, the Arthur Kill to the west, and the Fresh Kills to the north.
History
Erastus Wiman, a noted Staten Island real estate developer, coined the name "Arden Heights" in 1886; the neighborhood's name probably refers to the hill that currently looms above the Village Greens shopping center and housing development. (The moniker does not refer to the now-shuttered Fresh Kills Landfill, at the western end of Arden Avenue. The landfill did not exist until the mid-20th century.)
Long noted for being the site of St. Michael's Home For Children, a Roman Catholic orphanage, Arden Heights underwent a serious transformation when the aforementioned Village Greens, New York City's first planned urban development, opened there in 1971. Ground was broken for the project by Mayor John V. Lindsay, who in the late 1960s proudly announced that travel time from the Greens to Lower Manhattan would average one hour 15 minutes – just about the same when taking a bus in 2007.
In 1982, the Saint Michael's orphanage, situated off Arthur Kill Road, closed, with some land on which it stood being sold to developers (who have since built the Aspen Knolls development) and the remainder set aside for use as a church, named for the recently canonized St. John Neumann. The church also maintains a convent for the Presentation Sisters on the east side of the property; in 2005 a section of this land was sold off, with new home construction to follow here too — still another sign of the continuing housing boom on Staten Island, which has gone on virtually uninterrupted since the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge opened in 1964.
Demographics
For census purposes, the New York City Department of City Planning classifies Arden Heights as part of a larger Neighborhood Tabulation Area called Arden Heights-Rossville SI0303. This designated neighborhood had 30,683 inhabitants based on data from the 2020 United States Census. This was an increase of 767 persons (2.6%) from the 29,916 counted in 2010. The neighborhood had a population density of 19.8 inhabitants per acre (14,500/sq mi; 5,600/km<sup>2</sup>).
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 73.7% (22,611) White (Non-Hispanic), 1.5% (457) Black (Non-Hispanic), 9.6% (2,934) Asian, and 1.9% (587) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.9% (3,945) of the population.
Arden Heights does not have a station on the Staten Island Railway, but it can be reached at the Annadale station via the S55 bus.
Notable residents
- Jason Marquis – Washington Nationals All Star starting pitcher; though born in Manhasset, New York, he was raised in Arden Heights and attended Tottenville High School, whose baseball team he pitched to two New York City championships.