Greenpoint, October, 2015

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Fun on Fingerboard

Coming into downtown Brooklyn on the BQE one day last week, drivers were met with the overhead warning: "Construction at I-278 and Fingerboard Road." Expect delays. Nothing new there. But where? If you guessed Staten Island, you are correct.
Assemblyman Lou Tobacco, press conference on
Fingerboard Road overpass to SIE 2009 (Staten Island Advance)
Fingerboard Road passes over the Staten Island Expressway just after you pass through the toll plaza at the foot of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. According to the invaluable Forgotten New York website's entry on the Rosebank neighborhood of SI, Fingerboard Road and West Fingerboard Road "show up on Staten Island maps by 1880. The roads were not named for any string instrument players; according to legend, a large, finger- shaped wood sign pointing the way to the Richmond County Courthouse, then located at the end of Richmond Road in Richmondtown, was installed someplace on the road."

Sorry to say, there's no sign of the fingerboard sign today. But there was no delay either.

2 comments:

  1. Perhaps it is time to reinstall one?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Robyn: Great idea for your next project! Giving the fingerboard to Fingerboard Road.

    ReplyDelete