Located in Southwest Staten Island adjacent to Raritan Bay (Richmond County, NY), Wolfe’s Pond Park is a picturesque park on the outskirts of New York City, with great fishing and recreational opportunities and a salty past.
Hylan Boulevard bisects the park. From 1941 to the 1970s Robert Moses hoped to build the Wolfe’s Pond Parkway into the park from Richmond Parkway.
Most people only visit the eastern half of the park, which includes the 16-acre Wolfe’s Pond, two playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts, numerous walking and biking paths, open fields, and a small beach on Raritan Bay. The more inland western half is mostly ponds and woodlands.
Between 1995 and 1998, the park was upgraded with the second playground, sports areas, a new entrance to the beach, and a new monument to the Battle of the Bulge.
Every 4th of July, the park hosts a popular fireworks show, with live entertainment and food which.
Wolfe’s Pond
Wolfe’s Pond, from which the park gets its name, is only about 4-5 feet deep. Although now freshwater, it was once a tidal inlet but the gradual action of wind and waves pushed sand and clay into the mouth of the inlet, damming it and forming a pond.
It is connected by a stream to Acme Pond, which was formed as the Wisconsin ice sheet retreated, leaving a large chunk of ice behind.
Its berm was breached in 1991 and 2011, releasing its freshwater contents into the marine environment of Raritan Bay and flooding it with saltwater.
The berm on both occasions was repaired, most recently in 2019, and the pond has been restocked with largemouth bass, bluegill, black crappie, and fathead minnows by New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks).
Recent NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) fish surveys found both largemouth bass and black crappie populations have been increasing in size over the past three years. In addition to the stocked fish, brown bullhead, golden shiner, white perch, pumpkinseed, gizzard shad, American eel, and common carp were also found in the pond.
ACCESS: The Park is bounded on the south by Holton Avenue, on the east by Raritan Bay, on the west by the Staten Island Railway, and on the north by Chisholm Street, Luten Avenue, and Cornelia Avenue, which is also the main entry into the park’s public areas.
Wolfe’s Pond Park and is accessible by car, public transport, or even foot if you are close by. Parking is available in a lot on the west end of Chester Avenue. MTA bus lines S55, S56, S59, S78, SIM2 stop on Hyland Blvd where an additional walk is needed to get to the pond.
The most accessible area to fish is the pond’s eastern shoreline near the parking lot. There are fishing access points on the western shoreline off Holten Ave and on the north shoreline via Wolfe’s Pond Park trails.
FISHING NOTE: DEC statewide and special fishing regulations stipulate catch and release only, open to fishing all year, and a DEC Freshwater Fishing License required for those 16 years of age and older at Wolfe’s Pond. NYC Parks have additional fishing regulations prohibiting barbed hooks and lead weights ½ oz or less.
The pond has been sampled by DEC on four occasions since 2008 and stocked once by NYC Parks in 2020. DEC hopes to regularly monitor the bass and sunfish population going forward.
Photos, from above, courtesy NYC Parks: Wolfe’s Pond Park Beach and Raritan Bay; and Wolfe’s Pond.
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