Bay Terrace, Staten Island

Bay Terrace is a neighborhood, centered around the street of the same name, on the East Shore of Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City.

The vicinity around the street was largely undeveloped until the late 1950s, when single-family home construction began there; the area itself then acquired the name of Bay Terrace, which may refer to its flat, ramp like terrain, which gradually slopes downward to the east until reaching the Lower New York Bay in Great Kills Park.

In the 1970s many Jewish families from Brooklyn and Queens settled in Bay Terrace, providing a significant demographic contrast with the surrounding communities, whose populations are still largely Italian-American, though they are becoming increasingly Russian-American as well.

In recent years, many new commercial establishments — most notably a large shopping center built on the site of a former swim club — have sprung up to serve the area's growing population.

Ron Thal, a hard rock guitar player who is a former member of Guns N' Roses lived in the area from his childhood through his mid 20s.