The neighborhood comprises an older industrial and residential harbor front area along the Kill Van Kull west of St. George.

By 1765, part of the Dorlant tract was owned by John Wandel, a molasses distiller who operated a plant at the Kill Van Kull near Richmond Terrace and Westervelt Avenue, taking advantage of the Jersey Street brook.

[18][11] Tompkins also incorporated the Richmond Turnpike Company to build present-day Victory Boulevard in 1816, started operating a ferry to Manhattan in 1817, and laid out the adjacent village of Tompkinsville for development between 1819 and 1821.

[11][20] Tompkins's property on the North Shore was sold in April 1834 to Manhattan developer Thomas E. Davis, who continued to buy land through the following year.

[21][22] Davis came to own all the land on Staten Island's northeastern shore, bounded to the south by Victory Boulevard, to the west by Sailors' Snug Harbor, and to the north and east by the waterfront.

Other streets were named after people or places that were associated with the development of the area, including Tompkins, Davis, or the Stuyvesant family (who were early investors).

[24] Work on the street grid and development of the land continued, but in March 1837, one major investor declared bankruptcy following the Panic of 1837.

[33] Additionally, new houses such as Italianate villas were built, while existing Richmond Terrace mansions were expanded or received new annexes and gardens.

[33] Several greenhouses were also built in the neighborhood, particularly on the land of the merchant John C. Green, whose estate is now the site of Curtis High School.

Initially, the local economy suffered due to cessation of trade with the Southern United States, but because of the Union Army's demand for material, many entrepreneurs and workers moved to New York City, including to Staten Island's North Shore.

Its public buildings, churches, hotels and institutions are all handsome and substantial, its residences the perfection of refined taste; it has fifteen miles (24 km) of streets, the principal of which are wide, well paved, and generally well shaded with ornamental trees.

The inhabitants are filled with a sense of local pride which is in itself most commendable and leads to the happiest results, the most noticeable of which perhaps is the great care bestowed upon their private residences.

As a whole, the effect is most pleasing, but when the eye wanders beyond the artificial beauty of its immediate surroundings and rests upon the sparkling waters of the incomparable Bay of New York, with stretches of cultivated landscape in the distance, the picture is singularly lovely and complete.

[44][45][46] The completion of new transportation options also resulted in further real estate development, especially around the areas close to New Brighton and St. George stations.

At this time immigrant groups settled in New Brighton in greater numbers; Italians and African-Americans along the Kill Van Kull, and Jewish communities on the eastern boundary of the village near St. George and Tompkinsville.

[48] In the years after unification, the North Shore became quickly urbanized, and the political and economic center of Staten Island shifted to the region.

[52] Other city services were also brought to Staten Island following unification, such as schools, emergency facilities, new roads, and utilities including an underground water supply.

[54] This provided the impetus for improvements in infrastructure, including road construction, police and fire protection, and two commuter airports on Staten Island that were established in the 20th century.

Navy and Coast Guard outposts could be found on the north shore of Staten Island, each employing local residents in military and civilian capacities.

[55][56] The 1964 opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, connecting Brooklyn and Staten Island,[57] allowed for a massive population and development boom that continues to this day.

[58] For census purposes, the New York City government classifies New Brighton as part of a larger neighborhood tabulation area called West New Brighton-New Brighton-St.

[2] In 2018, an estimated 21% of New Brighton and the North Shore residents lived in poverty, compared to 17% in all of Staten Island and 20% in all of New York City.

Based on this calculation, as of 2018[update], New Brighton and the North Shore are considered high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

Sailors' Snug Harbor includes 26 Greek Revival, Beaux Arts, Italianate and Victorian style buildings.

At its peak, 1,000 sailors made their home at Snug Harbor, but due to a decline in funding caused by the founding of the Social Security program, the site closed in the 1960s.

Unconnected to the grid of surrounding streets until 1886, it is a large, elevated tract bounded by today's East Buchanan, Franklin, Prospect and York.

[citation needed] The hilly streets of the Hamilton Park neighborhood feature rows of gingerbread-trimmed Victorian mansions and shingle-style homes erected during the Civil War era.

[83] The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in New Brighton and the North Shore is 0.0071 milligrams per cubic metre (7.1×10−9 oz/cu ft), less than the city average.

[93] The percentage of New Brighton and the North Shore students excelling in math rose from 49% in 2000 to 65% in 2011, though reading achievement declined from 55% to 51% during the same time period.

[94] New Brighton and the North Shore's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is slightly higher than the rest of New York City.