Updated October 2026
The furthest, quietest, most suburban corner of New York City. The southernmost point in the whole state, a small waterfront town where you get the most space, the most yard, and the most peace for your money of almost anywhere in the 5 boroughs.
This is a neighborhood of detached single family homes on their own land, with driveways, garages, and backyards. You get square footage here that costs 2 or 3 times as much in Brooklyn. Add Conference House Park, the beaches, the Raritan Bay waterfront, and a rare small town feeling, and this is the Staten Island people move to the island for.
You are buying real detached houses, so the entry is higher than a condo up north, but you get dramatically more home for the money. Single family homes sit at a solid mid range Staten Island price, climbing for newer, larger, and waterfront. There are 2 family homes too, where a tenant’s rent helps carry your mortgage. The mansion tax adds 1% once a home crosses 1,000,000, and some of the larger new builds do.
Tottenville is far, the furthest point from both the ferry and the Verrazzano. The train up to the ferry plus the ferry plus a subway can push a Manhattan commute well over an hour, often closer to 90 minutes. Most people here drive. If you have a daily Manhattan office commute and hate long trips, this will test you. If you work from home, work local, or work in New Jersey across the Outerbridge, it goes from a hard sell to a dream.
One of the most family oriented neighborhoods in all of New York City. The south shore is known for its schools, Tottenville High School is a point of real pride, and families move down here for the combination of good schools, safe quiet blocks, and real space to raise kids, then never leave.
It fits the family that wants a real house with a real yard in a safe, quiet, community minded place, and will trade a long commute to get it, and the work from home or work local buyer for whom the commute does not apply. If you commute to Manhattan daily and know you will hate the drive, you will be happier closer to the ferry or across the water in Brooklyn.
Is the south shore really your speed?
Tell me how you work and what you want, and I will tell you honestly whether Tottenville fits or whether you would be happier closer in. Call or text 917-905-2541.
Tell me how you work and what you want, and I will tell you honestly whether Tottenville fits or whether you would be happier closer in.
One email. Everything that actually moved in Staten Island and Brooklyn this week, plus the one listing worth seeing before it hits Zillow.