Alice Austen House
The waterfront cottage where one of America's first significant woman photographers lived for most of her life, with a lawn looking straight up the Narrows at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
- What it costs
- Small admission for the house. The grounds and the waterfront lawn are free.
- Best in
- Spring, Summer, Fall
- Where
- 2 Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10305
- Official site
- aliceausten.org
Who she was
Alice Austen (1866–1952) was one of the first significant American women photographers, and among the first anywhere to work extensively outside a studio. She made around 8,000 images over forty years — street life, immigrants at quarantine, working people, her own circle — carrying fifty pounds of equipment around by herself in the 1890s.
She lost everything in the 1929 crash and ended up in the poorhouse. Her negatives were rediscovered in the 1950s and a magazine feature restored her reputation a year before she died.
The house
"Clear Comfort" is a Dutch colonial cottage from around 1690, gothicized in the 19th century, sitting directly on the water.
It is now a museum of her work with rotating exhibitions, and it was designated a national site of LGBTQ history in recognition of the fifty-year relationship she shared here with Gertrude Tate.
The lawn is the other half
The grounds are free and the lawn runs down to the water at the narrowest point of the harbor, looking straight up at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
Every ship entering New York Harbor passes directly in front of you. It is a genuinely great place to sit for an hour, and it costs nothing.
Fort Wadsworth is a fifteen-minute walk south for the view from under the bridge itself.
Getting there
Ferry to St. George, then the S51 bus to Hylan Boulevard — about 20 minutes. Or take the Staten Island Railway to Clifton and walk ten minutes.
Around an hour from Lower Manhattan all in, which makes it one of the more reachable Staten Island sites.
Getting around once you're there
The grounds and lawn are largely flat and step-free. The historic cottage has a step at the entrance; contact ahead about access. St. George terminal is accessible.