by Community News | Oct 9, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Updated: Oct. 6, 2026 Published: Oct. 04, 2026, 11:49a.m. By Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Nearly two centuries after it was founded, Rossville AME Zion Church gathered Saturday to celebrate a milestone few congregations ever reach:...
by Community News | Oct 1, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Published: September 20, 2026, 6:30 a.m. By Amanda Faublas | afaublas@siadvance.com STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — One of Staten Island’s most historic churches is celebrating a milestone anniversary while continuing efforts to preserve its legacy for future generations. The...
by Community News | Aug 12, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Published: Augut 12, 2026, 5:50a.m. By Amanda Faublas | afaublas@siadvance.com STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. —The stories of Sandy Ground, the nation’s oldest free Black settlement still inhabited by descendants of its pioneers, are taking center stage in a new documentary...
by Community News | Jul 12, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Updated: July. 12, 2026, 4:15 p.m. | Published: July. 11, 2026, 5:50 a.m. Sandy Ground is the nation’s oldest free Black settlement continuously inhabited by descendants. Advance Local Express Desk By Amanda Faublas | afaublas@siadvance.com EDITOR’S NOTE...
by Community News | Jul 8, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Updated: July. 8, 2026, 4:17 p.m. | Published: July. 2, 2026, 5:50 a.m. Sandy Ground is the nation’s oldest free Black settlement continuously inhabited by descendants. Advance Local Express Desk By Amanda Faublas | afaublas@siadvance.com EDITOR’S NOTE...
by Community News | Jun 9, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Updated: Mar. 12, 2026, 11:19 a.m. | Published: Mar. 11, 2026, 5:50 a.m. Sandy Ground is the nation’s oldest free Black settlement continuously inhabited by descendants. Advance Local Express Desk By Tracey Porpora | porpora@siadvance.com EDITOR’S NOTE This...
by Community News | May 18, 2026 | News, Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Sandy Ground descendants traveled to Columbia University to share stories of a Staten Island community that has endured since 1828, surviving devastating fires and development while preserving its heritage through faith and family. (Courtesy of Heather Butts)Heather...
by Community News | May 11, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Updated: Mar. 12, 2026, 11:19 a.m. | Published: Mar. 11, 2026, 5:50 a.m. Sandy Ground is the nation’s oldest free Black settlement continuously inhabited by descendants. Advance Local Express Desk By Tracey Porpora | porpora@siadvance.com EDITOR’S NOTE This...
by Community News | Apr 30, 2026 | News, Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Published: Apr. 30, 2026, 5:30 a.m By Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com EDITOR’S NOTE This story is part of an ongoing journalistic initiative to rally the community and the country around a critical, but endangered, historical site: Sandy Ground, the...
by Community News | Apr 21, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Updated: Apr. 03, 2026, 11:19 a.m. | Published: Apr. 03, 2026, 5:30 a.m By Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com EDITOR’S NOTE This story is part of an ongoing journalistic initiative to rally the community and the country around a critical, but...
by Community News | Apr 3, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Updated: Apr. 03, 2026, 11:19 a.m. | Published: Apr. 03, 2026, 5:30 a.m By Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com EDITOR’S NOTE This story is part of an ongoing journalistic initiative to rally the community and the country around a critical, but...
by Community News | Mar 20, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
https://www.silive.com/news/2026/03/i-wake-up-and-i-say-thank-you-god-cousins-return-to-americas-oldest-free-black-settlement.html EDITOR’S NOTE This story is part of an ongoing journalistic initiative to rally the community and the country around a critical,...
by Community News | Mar 6, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Updated: Mar. 05, 2026, 9:53 a.m. | Published: Mar. 05, 2026, 5:50 a.m. Sandy Ground is the nation’s oldest free Black settlement continuously inhabited by descendants. Advance Local Express Desk By Tracey Porpora | porpora@siadvance.com EDITOR’S NOTE This story...
by Community News | Feb 28, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
EDITOR’S NOTE This story is part of an ongoing journalistic initiative to rally the community and the country around a critical, but endangered, historical site: Sandy Ground, the nation’s oldest free Black settlement still inhabited by descendants of its...
by Community News | Feb 24, 2026 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
EDITOR’S NOTE This story is part of an ongoing journalistic initiative to rally the community and the country around a critical, but endangered, historical site: Sandy Ground, the nation’s oldest free Black settlement still inhabited by descendants of its...
by Community News | Sep 30, 2025 | News, Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Seated in the first row from left to right, Rev. Charles Washington, Jerome Moody, and Glenda Mosley-Laboard, second row from left to right, Lucille Herring, Yvette Taylor Jordan, Damien Taylor Brown, and Olivia Moody, standing in the third row from left to right,...
by Community News | Jun 1, 2025 | Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
By Mike Matteo | mmatteo@siadvance.com STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — On Sunday, the Rossville AME Zion Church celebrated its 57th annual Family and Friends Day. On a pleasant, yet unseasonably cool first Sunday in June, more than 100 people gathered to celebrate at the...
by Community News | Mar 9, 2025 | News, Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance, Women of Achievement
By Pamela Silvestri | silvestri@siadvance.com Published: Mar. 09, 2025, 8:00 a.m. https://www.silive.com/womenofachievement/2025/03/meet-the-2025-staten-island-advance-women-of-achievement-from-the-editor.html STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — At the moment, there are 29,876...
by Community News | Mar 9, 2025 | News, Rossville AMEZ, Staten Island Advance
By Brian J. Laline | laline@siadvance.com Published: Mar. 09, 2025, 8:00 a.m. https://www.silive.com/womenofachievement/2025/03/meet-the-2025-staten-island-advance-women-of-achievement-from-the-editor.html Hi Neighbor,Not long ago, during one of Staten Island’s...
by Community News | Nov 17, 2023 | Rossville AMEZ, News, Sandy Ground
The Rossville African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church is a rare and important surviving building from the period when Sandy Ground was a prosperous African American community on Staten Island. The founder and first minister of the church was William H. Pitts, a...
by Community News | Jun 6, 2023 | News, Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
By A 55-year-old tradition: This Staten Island church sets aside a day each year to honor its past, celebrate the future Updated: Jun. 06, 2023, 6:41 a.m.| Published: Jun. 06, 2023, 6:30 a.m. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — More than 150 people gathered at Rossville AME...
by Community News | Feb 15, 2023 | News, Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
By Jessie Jones-Gorman| jgorman@siadvance.com Published: Feb. 15, 2023, 5:50 a.m. https://www.silive.com/news/2023/02/the-soul-of-sandy-ground-rossville-ame-zion-church-has-been-the-hub-of-the-historic-community-for-almost-2-centuries.html STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. —...
by Community News | Feb 25, 2022 | News, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
‘The recognition it deserves’: NYC mayor commissions new ferryboat, named for historic Sandy Ground Updated: Feb. 25, 2022, 4:34 p.m. | Published: Feb. 25, 2022, 4:34 p.m. By Jessica Jones-Gorman | jgorman@siadvance.com A new Staten Island ferry boat honoring the...
by Community News | Dec 31, 2021 | News, Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
Published: December 31, 2021, 12:41 p.m By Kayla Simas | KSimas@siadvance.com STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The second of three new Staten Island ferryboats has arrived in New York City. The Sandy Ground cruised under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge just after 10 a.m. on...
by Community News | Jun 6, 2017 | News, Rossville AMEZ, Sandy Ground, Staten Island Advance
AFRICAN AMERICAN CEMETERIES, RELIGIOUS CEMETERIES, STATEN ISLAND ROSSVILLE A.M.E. ZION CHURCH CEMETERY Amid rows of modern tract houses on a quiet street in Staten Island is a graveyard that is regarded as one of the country’s most significant African American burial...
