Staten Island Improvement Commission

Frederick Law Olmsted became a member of the Staten Island Improvement Commission in 1871. When submitting his regional plan proposal Olmsted wrote “the improvements required to secure the greatest possible prosperity to your Island, are such as will present the largest number of sites for dwellings, furnished with public urban conveniences and associated with permanent and generally available advantages of landscape and sylvan beauty, all accessible with regularity and comfort from the business quarter of New York.” [Staten Island Improvement Commission Report for Preliminary Scheme Improvements_1871-01-12_LOC_FLOP-SF-R24_im.45] In addition to design and infrastructure recommendations, Olmsted took interest in improving public health for residents. Olmsted had personal ties to the project, as he lived in Staten Island as a young boy from 1848 to 1855. His childhood home is known as Olmsted-Beil Farmhouse and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.