A mistake, or mis-reading of an article led me to these woods in Staten Island. I’ve been doing some research on Staten Island. Despite its development and highways it contains many remnants of its historical natural landscape. I had read that Olmstead had a working farm in the mid 1800s in Arden Woods. So I decided to take a visit. Turns out Olmstead’s farmhouse was actually in a different part of the island (off Hyland Blvd)and it had been re-named “Woods of Arden” by the next owner. Hence the confusion. No matter. The real Arden Woods is actually a tract of undeveloped, forested parkland. It’s a wild, wet space (it also contains wetlands). We wandered the woods for a couple hours and didn’t see another person. We saw frogs, cicada skins, baby tulip trees, and a junked car (how did it get there?).