It is located along the waterfront of Upper New York Bay, roughly bounded on the north by Tompkinsville at Grant Street, on the south by Clifton at Vanderbilt Avenue, and on the west by St. Paul's Avenue and Van Duzer Street, which form the border with the community of Grymes Hill.

Staples and Tompkins started a ferry service from the neighborhood waterfront to Manhattan and began advertising their new village in 1836.

In 1884, the Staten Island Railway extended its track from the neighborhood northward to St. George, with a stop at Stapleton station.

This proposal became highly controversial throughout Staten Island when analysis of the proposal showed a net loss of civilian jobs on Staten Island (mainly due to expected job-seekers among naval dependents, but also due to a loss of businesses forced out by the naval presence).

It was also controversial because of the belief that the Tomahawk cruise missiles aboard the Iowa and an accompanying Aegis cruiser would, in at least some cases, be carrying nuclear warheads.

For never-explained reasons the city administration opposed this, and finally some of the civil courts took over a small part of the site, leaving most unused while various proposals were made for housing, parkland, and an educational complex, among others.

The City Council pushed the project through its final regulatory hurdle when it approved the $66 million blueprint for the former Navy base.

[7] The city will use the money and an additional $1.1 million state grant to create streets, utilities and a mile-long waterfront esplanade while soliciting proposals from private developers to build on six sites—three residential and three commercial—across the 36-acre (15 ha) base.

[8] On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy threw the tanker John B. Caddell ashore on a vacant part of Front Street.

For census purposes, the New York City government classifies Stapleton as part of a larger neighborhood tabulation area called Stapleton-Rosebank.

[2] In 2018, an estimated 21% of Stapleton 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], Stapleton and the North Shore are considered high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

[12]: 7 The portions of the neighborhood around the Stapleton Houses have been predominantly Black for a while (though there has always been a noticeable White and Hispanic presence), while the areas further away have been a little bit more diverse.

As such, it is just as common to find Spanish bodegas and vibrant street art as winding roads, used book stores, and coffee shops.

In October 1980, the Paramount Theater began hosting acts such as The B-52s, Talking Heads, Squeeze, the Dead Kennedys, Burning Spear and the Ramones, but it ceased functioning as a concert hall by the late 1980s.

The NYC Arts Cypher is located on Broad Street, and occasionally hosts hip-hop concerts, which distinguishes it from most other local venues, which cater mainly to rock and alternative bands.

The neighborhood also has a diverse selection of restaurants, including an American-style diner, a Gastropub, as well as Sri Lankan, Mexican, and Italian eateries.

[22] Stapleton is served by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)'s Engine Co. 153/Ladder Co. 77, located at 74 Broad Street.

[12]: 14 The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Stapleton and the North Shore is 0.0071 milligrams per cubic metre (7.1×10−9 oz/cu ft), less than the city average.

[26] The United States Postal Service operates the Stapleton Station post office at 160 Tompkins Avenue.

[27] Stapleton and the North Shore generally have a lower rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018[update].

[12]: 6  The percentage of Stapleton 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.

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

[12]: 6 [13]: 24 (PDF p. 55)  Additionally, 73% of high school students in Stapleton and the North Shore graduate on time, about the same as the citywide average of 75%.

[34] A minor controversy arose over the discrepancy of architectural styles between the modernist black-glass addition and the original structure.