“Staten Island was the place to be,” remarked Liz McEnaney standing before a display of silvery photographs from the 1880s. She paused a moment, as if tasting the oddness of the words, before inserting a disclaimer. “In some senses.”

Indeed, as we gazed at well-born New Yorkers horseback-riding, yachting and frolicking on the Staten Island beaches with all the  élan of Lartigue’s French aristocrats on the Riviera, we were inclined to agree with Ms. McEnaney, a guest curator at the Museum of the City of New York. Our prejudices and those of almost everyone who lives in the other four boroughs notwithstanding. Read More