12 vintage photos that show what New York City's 'forgotten borough' looked like in the 1980s
At the time, Osinski and her close group of New York friends knew little about the borough. "[Many of our friends] had never been to Staten Island. It seemed like a very remote place, a world away," she told Business Insider.
At 102 square miles, Staten Island is New York's third largest borough, but the least densely populated.
In 1980, about 350,000 people were living there — compared to the 1.4 million in Manhattan.
At the time, the New York housing market was booming. Prices throughout all five boroughs increased by an average of 152% between 1980 and 1989.
Source: Furman Center
Staten Island was the least affected by these price appreciations. Average home prices went up between 103 and 130% in the same period — still a significant increase.
We were tired of fixing up rentals and getting the boot," Osinski said. "And because we had very, very limited resources, it was suggested to us that we look in Staten Island.
Before moving to Staten Island, Osinski had no preconceived notions about the people or culture there. "I had no pictures in my head about it," she said.
Staten Island accounts for one-fifth of New York City's shoreline, and there are two beaches fit for swimming: Midland Beach and South Beach.
Osinski noted that she "did not set out to document the people of Staten Island." "Each time I started out I set myself a goal to find one interesting thing to photograph that day," she said. "I was never disappointed."
Everyone I photographed was a stranger to me," Osinski said. "Mostly, I photographed people once and then never saw them again.
"Each of the photographs offers a particular glimpse of a certain time and a certain place: Staten Island in the early 1980s," Osinski said.
Osinski wants her images to speak for themselves. "The job for artists, as I see it, is to see what is right in front of them ... and in describing it well, show it in a new light," she said.
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