The History of Brady's Pond... thru the Years
Situated in the Grasmere area of Staten Island,
Brady's Pond is a spring fed,15 acre wetland pond that has been the source of community enjoyment, economic return and environmental support for the people of Staten Island.
Brady's Pond exists along side the smaller Cameron Lake which is located across West Fingerboard Road.
Called the Haunted Swamp at one time because a murder had supposedly occurred on it's shores.
During the 1800's, the property that Brady's Pond lies on was part of the large Sir Roderick Cameron Estate. Supposedly named after a friend of Sir Roderick, the lake and it's environs were used for fishing and hunting for pheasant.
Cameron sold the lake to his friend Philip Brady in the late 1880s.
Brady closed off part of the "Haunted Swamp" with a weir,blocking the flow of water and forming what is now Brady's Pond.
Brady established an ice business on the lake.
The fresh clean waters of Brady's Pond provided the community with ice. Ice harvested from Brady's Pond was pure and clean and used thruout the island. Ice tongs and picks have been retrieved from the waters of the pond giving a glimpse of it's past.
Always a magnet for ice skating in winter, Brady's Pond had some tragic deaths from people falling thru thin ice and drowning.. Even though Brady would warn children and visitors alike of thin ice, his warnings fell on deaf ears . Philip Brady was either spooked by these tragic deaths or just wanted to retire so he sold his land in 1909 to Heinrich Christ William Feith.
BUT THE POND IN GRASMERE WILL FOREVER BEAR HIS NAME>>>>BRADY"S POND.
In 1911 part of Christ's land was sold to Charles D. Durkee, who owned a marine hardware firm. On this site Durkee built a brick factory and a large mansion called Durkee Manor. Durkee sold parts of the estate off to developers and the neighborhood as we know it started to take shape.
Brady's Pond is a spring fed,15 acre wetland pond that has been the source of community enjoyment, economic return and environmental support for the people of Staten Island.
Brady's Pond exists along side the smaller Cameron Lake which is located across West Fingerboard Road.
Called the Haunted Swamp at one time because a murder had supposedly occurred on it's shores.
During the 1800's, the property that Brady's Pond lies on was part of the large Sir Roderick Cameron Estate. Supposedly named after a friend of Sir Roderick, the lake and it's environs were used for fishing and hunting for pheasant.
Cameron sold the lake to his friend Philip Brady in the late 1880s.
Brady closed off part of the "Haunted Swamp" with a weir,blocking the flow of water and forming what is now Brady's Pond.
Brady established an ice business on the lake.
The fresh clean waters of Brady's Pond provided the community with ice. Ice harvested from Brady's Pond was pure and clean and used thruout the island. Ice tongs and picks have been retrieved from the waters of the pond giving a glimpse of it's past.
Always a magnet for ice skating in winter, Brady's Pond had some tragic deaths from people falling thru thin ice and drowning.. Even though Brady would warn children and visitors alike of thin ice, his warnings fell on deaf ears . Philip Brady was either spooked by these tragic deaths or just wanted to retire so he sold his land in 1909 to Heinrich Christ William Feith.
BUT THE POND IN GRASMERE WILL FOREVER BEAR HIS NAME>>>>BRADY"S POND.
In 1911 part of Christ's land was sold to Charles D. Durkee, who owned a marine hardware firm. On this site Durkee built a brick factory and a large mansion called Durkee Manor. Durkee sold parts of the estate off to developers and the neighborhood as we know it started to take shape.
A colorful past life....
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Early in the 20th century , Brady's Pond was used also for entertainment. The young movie industry tapped Brady's Pond to appear in many silent films. It is rumored that parts of the controversial silent film classic "Birth of a Nation was filmed along the shores as well as classics like "Perils of Pauline."
In the area that is now Brady's Pond Park there is the remains of a more raucous form of entertainment, the old motorcycle pit. Now overgrown and barely recognizable, the large concrete pit with it's angled sides were used for racing motorcycles in the early to mid 1900's.
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Early in the 20th century , Brady's Pond was used also for entertainment. The young movie industry tapped Brady's Pond to appear in many silent films. It is rumored that parts of the controversial silent film classic "Birth of a Nation was filmed along the shores as well as classics like "Perils of Pauline."
In the area that is now Brady's Pond Park there is the remains of a more raucous form of entertainment, the old motorcycle pit. Now overgrown and barely recognizable, the large concrete pit with it's angled sides were used for racing motorcycles in the early to mid 1900's.
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After Charles Durkee passed away, in October 1930,
Brady's Pond became the home of the Cameron Club. Started initially as a social club and swim club located on the shores of Brady's Pond. It boasted a sand beach, swimming dock and rowboats for it's members. Membership at that time was open to those families who lived in the footprint of the old Roderick Cameron Estate.
Later on the Cameron Club was able to purchase the lake from the city and still owns the waters of Brady's Pond to this day. The group operates a swim club during the summer months. Membership is now open to anyone who lives on Staten Island.
A staunch Ally...
The most important job for the Cameron Club is as protector, manager and custodian of the waters of Brady's Pond. For the last 80 years, the Cameron Club has been dedicated to maintaining the quality of the water and the natural environment as well a maintaining a swimmable beach club along the shore of Brady's Pond.
Brady's Pond became the home of the Cameron Club. Started initially as a social club and swim club located on the shores of Brady's Pond. It boasted a sand beach, swimming dock and rowboats for it's members. Membership at that time was open to those families who lived in the footprint of the old Roderick Cameron Estate.
Later on the Cameron Club was able to purchase the lake from the city and still owns the waters of Brady's Pond to this day. The group operates a swim club during the summer months. Membership is now open to anyone who lives on Staten Island.
A staunch Ally...
The most important job for the Cameron Club is as protector, manager and custodian of the waters of Brady's Pond. For the last 80 years, the Cameron Club has been dedicated to maintaining the quality of the water and the natural environment as well a maintaining a swimmable beach club along the shore of Brady's Pond.
In the name of progress...
In the early 1960's with the building of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge the idyllic perimeter of Brady's Pond was shake. Part of the lake was taken by the City of New York to accomodate the construction of the Staten Island Expressway and it's auxiliary roads. A section of the lake along the northern border was annexed by the city and filled in to form the highway that leads to the Verrazano.
Progress trumped nature... a dirt, debris, barbed wire, machinery and all sorts of construction debris was dumped into Brady's Pond.
This was a dark time for Brady's Pond.
Progress trumped nature... a dirt, debris, barbed wire, machinery and all sorts of construction debris was dumped into Brady's Pond.
This was a dark time for Brady's Pond.
But with time and the work of the Cameron Club the water was coaxed back to normal.The natural springs continued to feed the lake with fresh clean water .
But it could not be left to nature to keep this body of water "natural".
Brady's Pond managed to endure the late 20th century...dodging "environmental" bullets like *increasing storm water drainage from DEP pipes ,
*drain off from the streets and the Staten Island Expressway which carried gasoline residue and dirt from local streets,
*dumping of tires and garbage along Narrows Road South into the lake
*increased construction of larger homes and with them larger lawns and gardens with their fertilizers,
*increased mosquito populations causing increased fear of exposure to West Nile and Zika Viruses ,
*the influx of Canada geese and the natural aging of the lake.
*the build up of organic matter... leaves from trees, aquatic weeds and algae etc.
Brady's Pond survived thru the efforts of the Cameron Club. Without them, this small treasure would most likely have become a swampy bog.Potentially becoming a breeding ground for mosquitos, vermin of all kinds.
But survive it did.
and
A new century brings new problems...
As we greeted 2000, we vowed to keep up the work that had served us so well in the previous years.
In 2010 a new issue arose, the Staten Island Expressway which is the northernmost border of Brady's Pond was scheduled to undergo massive redesign and renovation. Adjacent streets were re-constructed , re-vamped and re-directed.
During these past years of construction large amounts of debris, silt and water were released into the pond.in essence, a kind of construction pollution. Silt and dirt in the run off from the highway accumulated .
Local residents responded with anger and confronted the DOT. The DOT was responsive to their concerns.
Working with the Department of Transportation (DOT) efforts were made to insure that drainoff from this busy highway into Brady's would be filtered in some way.
Construction is currently completed and the DOT has included leech fields that filter and clean up water as well as separators (Vortech chamber) to separate waste from the highway drainoff.
Brady's Pond there existed an area of silt build up left over from the construction site that effectively filled in part of the lake at the runoff point from the Staten Island Expressway... near Steuben Street and Narrows Road South.
As of October 2016, DOT and their environmental engineers acknowledged their responsibility to clean up the north east corner of Brady's Pond...where yellow water retention baffles remained from the previous years construction. and large silt deposits exist.
Clean up by the Department of Transportation ... August 2017
Thru the efforts of the Grasmere and Cameron Lakes Bluebelt Conservancy, the DOT fulfilled their responsibility and cleaned up the silt and debris from the Staten Island Expressway construction.
The Department of Transportation (DOT)came to clean up the stormwater drain area near the Staten Island Expressway in mid August 2017. A crew of engineers and workmen were on site for over a week working in Brady's Pond.
An new dam was created with sand bags and plastic sheeting in the lake beyond the original yellow floating baffles. Mud Suckers pumped the water from the interior dam area back into the lake. When the water was low enough mud and silt was directed by hand into large flexible suction tubes that lead to a heavy duty vacuum truck situated high above the lake on Narrows Road South .Because the area was inaccessible to machines, this was a job that was done entirely by hand.Shovel by shovel the silt, leaves and debris were shoveled into the suction tubes of the vacuum truck and carted away by DOT. They lake and shoreline was cleaned . The telephone pole that had been floating in the lake for over 5 years was removed. The temporary dam was removed and taken away.The DOT Clean up was completed.
A victory for Brady's Pond...
Man would have to give nature some help.
The Cameron Club takes it's responsibility as protector of Brady's Pond very seriously. It has been involved in a decades long program of water maintenance by both mechanical and chemical means. Guided by professionals in the field, the health of the lake is monitored regularly and treated when necessary.
With the guiding had of the Department of Conservation ( DEC) always directing the efforts, Brady's Pond fights to remain clean and usable both for nature and man.
Local Officials like NYC Councilman Steven Matteo have generously helped us with NY City Council Discretionary Grants and Parks Equity Grants that have been used to defer the costs of treating the lake for algae . Funds have been used to replace and repair the existing older aeration system. We are so grateful for his help.
David Carr has taken over the reigns of NYC Councilman and continues to support our efforts to keep the water of Brady's Pond clean through NYC Council Discretionary Grants and PEI( Parks Equity Grants) administered thru DYCD( Department of Youth and Community Development).
So that's where we are today.
Fighting to keep the waters of Brady's Pond clean for the next generation.
Trying to involve and inspire a new generation of active participants in the preservation of this special body of water
A Dream Come True.
Installation of a Full Lake Aeration System by Princeton Hydro, March 2019.
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March 2019....The Grasmere and Cameron Lakes Bluebelt Conservancy, Inc. installed new, full coverage
AERATION SYSTEM that brings increased oxygen to the whole lake and help prevent algae blooms and mosquito infestation and make Brady's Pond cleaner and healthier . We worked for months to plan this project, raising funds, getting NYSDEC permits, and getting a suitable contractor.... IT"S IN AND BUBBLING AWAY!!As a wonderfully natural environment in a un-natural setting Brady's Pond fights for it's survival all the time. With the insults of civilization all around it. This wetland wonderland is constantly struggling to keep healthy. 
2019...
How did we spend our donation dollars? EVERY PENNY COUNTS ______________________________________ *Installation of the Full lake Aeration system The water of Brady's Pond was clear and clean... Unlike other lakes ,like Lake Hopatcong in New Jersey, who lost their whole swimming season due to toxic algae blooms With the installation of the new Aeration system in March 2019, we were able to avoid having any Harmful Algae Blooms. (HAB's). We had no harmful Blue Green Algae ( Cyanobacteria) events. The water quality was the best it's been in years. *Replaced the Weir... We needed a new "water door"... The weir broke unexpectedly in April. after almost 40 years of service we needed a new WEIR gate. In July 2019 had a new water gate fabricated and installed to replace the broken apparatus. The weir functions as a door that allows us to adjust the level of the water in the lake. We are able to stop the water from flowing out of Brady's Pond in the summer months when we might have a drought or low rainfall or conversely, we can open up the weir and allow the water to freely run out .This is especially important with heavy rains or hurricanes. *Algaecide Treatments... FOUGHT SURFACE AND FLOATING ALGAE WITH Algaecide TREATMENTS ... We treated the lake with algaecides 3 times this year. The aeration system took care of the blue-green algae, We still had some new Algae ( horsehair algae, a clumping form of floating algae) to deal with this year. It was a hot summer and we are a shallow lake. |
2018 and 2019 brought with it seed money from a generous grant from City Councilman Steve Matteo .Additional grants from the Parks Equity Initiative , Richmond County Bank Foundation , Northfield Bank Foundation and private donors gave us what we needed....
A new aeration system that covers the entire lake. A custom designed state of the art Vertex aeration system was installed . 2 generators. !8 aeration bases places via GPS coordinates thru our Brady's Pond for optimum coverage, Each base has 5 bubbler plates. Underwater hoses pump air and oxygen to all corners of the lake. Increasing the dissolved oxygen, moving the water table, decreasing the formation of algae and weeds, preventing mosquitos from establishing breeding grounds, encouraging beneficial bacteria and improving the overall aquatic ecosystem. 
Always a challenge..
2020.. We continued the use of the full lake aeration system for the 2020 year. It was a success in that there were no problematic algae blooms in 2020. Water quality was the best it has been in many years. Once again we received a Parks Equity Grant thru Councilman Steve Matteo 's office... 2021..2022..2023 With the help of NYC Councilman David Carr we got additional Parks Equity Grants. We endeavor to use our grants to help pay for necessary things such as electricity to run our full lake aeration system, maintenance of the aeration system , Upkeep of the facilities that house our generators and professional application of Algaecides ,when necessary ,to prevent the formation of Harmful algae blooms. EVERY YEAR IS DIFFERENT. EVERY YEAR A CHALLENGE. |
It's always something!
