Eye of the Needle

6:30 P.M. is a rough slog on the S.I. Expressway. Some days, I opt for the overland route. Slip out the back exit, left onto Willowbrook Road and a quick right onto Westwood Avenue just before the expressway onramp. Right on Sheraden Avenue, a quick jog back on Willowbrook Road* to Sunset Avenue, which charts a perfect diagonal to Harold Street. Left on Harold; at Manor Road, Harold becomes Ocean Terrace, which curves down through the hills and drops me onto the expressway just before the bridge.

It took me a while to establish this route. In large part because Westwood Avenue appears to be no more than an alley for its first block (above). If you make it through though it opens up to one of the widest streets on Staten island (below).

(*This roundabout way allows me to miss the traffic lights and back-ups that taking a right onto Willowbrook would bring.)