Emerson Hill, Staten Island - Definition

Emerson Hill is the name of a hill, and the neighborhood upon which the hill is situated, in Staten Island, New York, one of the five boroughs of New York City, USA.

The hill is named for Judge William Emerson, brother of Ralph Waldo Emerson; the judge purchased a house on the hill in 1843. The judge's children were tutored by Henry David Thoreau, who lived for a time in nearby Concord.

A highly affluent community, the roads on Emerson Hill are technically private, and several gates are found at approaches to the enclave; since the gates are seldom closed and are not manned by security personnel, however, it does not officially qualify as a gated community.

Today Emerson Hill is separated from its northern neighbor Grymes Hill by the Staten Island Expressway, but the two hills were contiguous prior to the building of the expressway in the early 1960s, when a huge section of earth was removed and placed in a remote area of the Staten Island Greenbelt; this relocated mound of earth was then named "Moses Mountain," after noted city planner Robert Moses, who had designed the expressway and laid out its route.

The equally exclusive neighborhood of Todt Hill — where private roads also exist — borders Emerson Hill on the south.