List of people from Staten Island

Actors, actresses, dancers, models, film and TV

Past

• Phyllis Allen – comedian who worked with fellow Staten Island native Mabel Normand and other silent-film stars
• Arthur Anderson – actor of radio, stage, film, and television; voice of Lucky Charms leprechaun
• Leslie Barrett – frequent actor in theater and television, especially 1950s–1960s
• Maurice Barrymore – vaudeville actor; father of John, Lionel, and Ethel Barrymore; lived in Fort Wadsworth, with their grandmother Louisa Lane Drew
• John Dehner – television and movie actor; born on Staten Island
• Raoul Pene Du Bois – costume and scenic designer for stage and film; two-time Tony Award winner
• David Dukes – stage, television and movie actor; lived briefly in Brighton Heights, Staten Island
• Joey Faye – comic actor in vaudeville, theater, films and television
• David Froman – portrayed twins Gunther and Bruno on The Edge of Night, and Lt. Bob Brooks on Matlock; once lived in Livingston
• Ben Grauer – longtime broadcaster on radio and television
• Neal Hart – actor and director of silent films
• Allen Jenkins – character actor, voice of cartoon Top Cats Officer Dibble; born on Staten Island
• Betsy Joslyn – Broadway actress, best known for
• Thomas W. Keene – Shakespearean actor
• Guy Kibbee – stage and film actor, father of CUNY Chancellor Robert Kibbee
• Paul Land – actor, Spring Break, The Idolmaker
• Robert Loggia – actor, Scarface, The Sopranos, Big; attended New Dorp High School and Wagner College
• Allan Manings – television producer and comedy writer, best known for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Good Times, One Day at a Time
• Paul Newman – Academy Award winning actor; married to Joanne Woodward; lived in St. George, Staten Island
• Mabel Normand – silent film actress, director, writer, producer; frequent collaborator with Fatty Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin, Mack Sennett; grew up in New Brighton
• Edward Platt – actor who played "The Chief" on the 1960s TV show Get Smart; born on Staten Island
• Frances Robinson – actress in early films
• Ivy Scott – actress on radio and Broadway
• Raymond Serra – actor in television and films, including Gotti and the first two Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies
• Don Stewart – actor, best known for his long-running role as attorney Mike Bauer on Guiding Light
• Robert Taber – Shakespearean actor; brother of mathematician Henry Taber, both born on Staten Island
• Joanne Woodward – Academy Award winning actress; married to Paul Newman; lived in St. George

  Recent

• Betty Aberlin – children's television actress known for Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
• Frank Albanese – actor known for playing mobsters, most notably "Uncle Pat" on The Sopranos
• Yancey Arias – actor
• Gerald Arpino – dancer, choreographer, co-founder of the Joffrey Ballet
• Alexandra Barreto – actress in television and film
• Jedediah Bila – conservative television host; Wagner College valedictorian
• Patrick Breen – frequent television actor
• Kathy Brier – actress in television and musical theater
• Mickey Burns – television host and producer, best known for the celebrity interview show Profiles
• Syma Chowdhry – model and television reporter
• Eric Close – actor who plays Martin Fitzgerald on the CBS drama Without a Trace
• Sheena Colette – actress on Gossip Girl, White Collar; model in W magazine, Elle; graduated from St. Joseph by the Sea
• Pete Davidson – comedian, Saturday Night Live
• Drita D'Avanzo – reality television personality
• Laura Dean – choreographer known for whirling dances
• Michael Drayer – actor, Mr. Robot, The Sopranos
• Selita Ebanks – Victoria's Secret model
• Rich Eisen – former ESPN host; current host for the NFL Network
• Frances Esemplare – actress who played Nucci Gualtieri on The Sopranos
• Jennifer Esposito – actress, Spin City, Summer of Sam; attended Moore Catholic High School
• Emilio Estevez – actor; oldest son of Janet and Martin Sheen; born on Staten Island
• Christine Evangelista – actress; star of The Arrangement
• Dan Frishberg – business commentator on radio and television
• Robert Funaro – actor, The Sopranos, played Eugene Pontecorvo; lives in New Dorp
• Chris Galletta – screenwriter of The Kings of Summer
• Gee Money – radio and television personality and actor
• Buddy Giovinazzo – filmmaker and author, best known for Combat Shock and Life is Hot in Cracktown
• Carmine Giovinazzo – actor who plays Detective Danny Messer on the CBS drama ; cousin of Buddy Giovinazzo and Larry Romano
• Karl Girolamo – film and television actor
• Jenn Graziano – executive producer of Staten Island-based reality TV show Mob Wives
• Renee Graziano – cast member of Mob Wives; sister of Jenn
• Dan Grimaldi – actor, The Sopranos twins Philly and Patsy Parisi; former resident
• Vinny Guadagnino – of MTV's Jersey Shore; born and raised on Staten Island
• Patti Hansen – model; wife of The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards; graduated from Tottenville High School
• Melanie Iglesias – model and TV actress
• Hassan Johnson – actor, featured in The Wire, Belly
• Rebekka Johnson – actress, best known for playing Dawn Rivecca on Netflix's wrestling comedy GLOW
• Colin Jost – comedian and writer, best known for Saturday Night Live
• Florina Kaja – socialite; TV personality; cast member of Season 4 of the reality television series Bad Girls Club
• Jon and Al Kaplan – musical parody writers, best known for Silence! The Musical
• Tim Kelleher – film, TV, and stage actor, writer, director; attended PS 35, OLGC and Msgr. Farrell
• Yunjin Kim – actress, Lost
• Sukanya Krishnan – news anchor; graduated from New Dorp High School
• John Lavelle – stage, film, and television actor
• Bob Levy – comedian and radio personality known as "The Reverend"
• Annette D'Agostino Lloyd – silent film historian
• Jeremy Luke – film and television actor
• Jon Lung – product designer, graphic designer and co-host of the TV series Mythbusters
• Jamie Lynn Macchia – Miss New York 2015
• Larry Marshall – performer in musical theater and film
• Craig Mazin – screenwriter known for The Hangover sequels and Chernobyl miniseries
• Alyssa Milano – film and television actress; raised on Staten Island
• Patty Mullen – actress and model; born and raised on Staten Island
• Julius R. Nasso – film producer, notably including 1990s association with Steven Seagal
• Garry Pastore – film and television actor; documentary director; brother of Eric Blackwood and cousin of Vincent Pastore
• Eddie Pepitone – actor and standup comedian
• Otto Petersen – comedian and ventriloquist, known for his act "Otto and George"
• Angelina Pivarnick – former cast member of MTV's Jersey Shore seasons 1–2; born and raised on Staten Island
• Robin Quivers – radio personality from The Howard Stern Show; lives on Staten Island
• Jack Radcliffe – pornographic film actor
• Angela Raiola – Big Ang, star of Mob Wives
• Tony Reali – "Stat Boy" on Pardon the Interruption; host of Around the Horn on ESPN
• Greg Rikaart – television actor and Daytime Emmy winner, best known as Kevin Fisher from The Young and the Restless
• Pat Robertson – TV personality and evangelist; found his interest in religion while living on Staten Island in the 1950s
• Larry Romano – actor, The King of Queens, NYPD Blue
• James Rosen – TV journalist; raised on Staten Island
• Theo Rossi – actor, Sons of Anarchy
• Gianni Russo – actor, played Carlo Rizzi in The Godfather; raised on Staten Island
• Glenn Scarpelli – child actor from One Day at a Time; son of comic book artist Henry Scarpelli
• Steven R. Schirripa – actor, producer, voice-over artist; Bobby Bacala from The Sopranos
• Ricky Schroder – TV and film actor, The Champ, Silver Spoons, NYPD Blue, 24, Strong Medicine
• Steven Seagal – actor, lived on Staten Island
• Brendan Sexton III – film and television actor
• Janet Sheen – actress and producer; she and Martin Sheen had first child Emilio Estevez while living in St. George
• Martin Sheen – actor, best known for Apocalypse Now and The West Wing
• Peter Sollett – film director and screenwriter, known for Raising Victor Vargas and Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
• Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino – from MTV'S Jersey Shore; born on Staten Island
• Kevin Sussman – actor and comedian, known for Ugly Betty and The Big Bang Theory
• The Tenderloins – comedy troupe featured on Impractical Jokers
• Chris Terrio – film director and screenwriter; won Academy Award for Argo screenplay
• Eddie Kaye Thomas – actor, Paul Finch in the American Pie movies; born and raised in New Dorp
• Jeff Trachta – TV actor, The Bold and the Beautiful, America's Got Talent
• Lenny Venito – actor, War of the Worlds
• Brian Whitman – radio host, impersonator, comedian
• Tristan Wilds – actor, The Wire, 90210; Grammy-nominated recording artist known as Mack Wilds
• Ben Younger – screenwriter and director of Boiler Room, Prime, Bleed for This
• Jeff Wittek - host and director of Jeff's Barbershop, comedian, member of the Vlogsquad

  Architects

• Nathan Franklin Barrett – landscape architect; co-founder and president of American Society of Landscape Architects
• David Carnivale – known for historic preservation efforts on Staten Island; raised in Richmondtown
• John Merven Carrère – designer of New York Public Library Main Branch and Staten Island Borough Hall; lived in Clifton
• Ernest Flagg – designer of many commercial and residential buildings, including his estate on Todt Hill; brother-in-law of Charles Scribner II
• Daniel Paul Higgins – designer of many prominent American buildings, especially for churches including his own St. Clare's in Great Kills
• Frederick Law Olmsted – landscape architect known for Central Park and Brooklyn’s Prospect Park; lived in Annadale's Olmsted–Beil House
• Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. – landscape architect known for national parks; son of Frederick Sr.
• John Charles Olmsted – landscape architect known for urban parks; nephew and adopted son of Frederick Sr.
• Kenneth Olwig – professor of Scandinavian landscape architecture
• Edward Sargent – designer of many homes, schools and office buildings; Tompkinsville resident

  Artists

• Rocco Armento – sculptor, born and raised in Staten Island
• Alice Austen – pioneering photographer, lifelong Staten Island resident; the MV Alice Austen ferry is named after her
• Wallace Berman – collage artist of the Beat movement
• Mathew Brady – Civil War photographer; moved to Staten Island around 1850 with his wife Julia
• Alfred Thompson Bricher – landscape painter associated with White Mountain art and the Hudson River School
• Mario Buatta – interior decorator for large American homes; born in West Brighton; attended Curtis High School
• John Celardo – illustrator of the Tarzan comic strip
• Ceil Chapman – award-winning designer of fashion dresses
• Howard Chaykin – comic book artist
• Cassius Marcellus Coolidge – created Dogs Playing Poker; lived in Grasmere toward the end of his life
• Fred S. Cozzens – maritime artist
• Jasper Francis Cropsey – landscape painter of the Hudson River School; born on his family's farm in Rossville
• Edward DeGroff – historic photographer and merchant in the District of Alaska
• Evan Dorkin – cartoonist and creator of Milk & Cheese; longtime resident of Staten Island
• John Gossage – photographer, noted for artist's books exploring the urban environment
• Alice Sargent Johnson – commercial illustrator; lifelong Staten Islander; daughter of Edward Sargent; grand-niece of Abner Doubleday
• Percy Leason – Australian-born painter, illustrator, and political cartoonist
• Grace Hamilton McIntyre – painter of portrait miniatures
• P. Buckley Moss – painter known for scenes of rural Virginia
• John A. Noble – maritime lithographer and artist; a Staten Island Ferry was named after him
• William Page – painter and portrait artist
• Jacques Reich – portrait artist
• William Allen Rogers – political cartoonist, including decades with Harper's Weekly and the New York Herald
• Henry Scarpelli – artist for DC Comics and Archie Comics; father of actor Glenn Scarpelli
• Francesco Scavullo – celebrity photographer; born on Staten Island
• Henry Fitch Taylor – Modernist painter
• Charles Tefft – architectural sculptor
• Robert Volpe – painter and art-theft detective, whose son Justin was jailed for the police assault against Abner Louima
• Cynthia von Buhler – artist and children's book author; Staten Island resident 2005–2008
• George Woodbridge – illustrator for Mad magazine and history books; lived on Staten Island
• Sarah Yuster – painter of landscapes and portraits

  Business, labor, philanthropy

• William Henry Aspinwall – shipping magnate; co-founder of ASPCA and Metropolitan Museum; died at his country estate on Aspinwall Street in Tottenville
• William Bard – founder of New York Life Insurance and Trust Company; namesake of Bard Avenue
• Ella Reeve Bloor – labor organizer and socialist
• Roderick Cameron – shipping executive and horse breeder
• Barbara Chernow – administrative leader for schools and universities
• Rufus King Delafield – banker and cement manufacturer; namesake of Delafield Place
• W. Butler Duncan I – Scottish-born banker; head of Mobile and Ohio Railroad
• John Eberhard Faber – German-born manufacturer of pencils
• Joseph Giacomo Ferari – lion tamer and circus owner at Dreamland on Coney Island
• James Clair Flood – built a fortune from silver mining in Nevada's Comstock Lode
• Lisa Garcia Quiroz – business executive at Time Warner
• Mott Green – founder of the environmentally sustainable Grenada Chocolate Company
• William H. Friedland – sociologist, labor activist and researcher
• Richard Guarasci – college administrator, including 18th president of Wagner College
• Eliza Healy – the first African-American Catholic mother superior, including of Notre Dame Academy, Staten Island
• Baruch Herzfeld – provider of community webcasting and bicycling
• William Horrmann – head of Rubsam & Horrmann Brewing Co.; built Horrmann Castle atop Grymes Hill
• Denis M. Hughes – president of New York State AFL-CIO since 1999; born and raised on Staten Island
• Charles Wallace Hunt – producer of coal-handling equipment
• James Jebbia – founder of Supreme, an international clothing brand and skateboard retailer
• George H. Kendall – president of New York Bank Note Company that printed stock certificates
• Josephine Shaw Lowell – co-founder of National Consumers League and other charities for women; sister of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw
• Oroondates Mauran – owner of steamship and ferry operations
• John A. McMullen – senior advisor to corporate and government leaders
• John Mojecki – Polish-born homebuilder and philanthropist
• Paul Montauk – political and labor activist with the Socialist Workers Party
• Michael Mulgrew – president of United Federation of Teachers since 2009
• Ralph Munroe – yacht designer and pioneering settler of Miami
• Samuel I. Newhouse – billionaire co-owner of Advance Publications
• Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge – fiberboard industrialist; co-founder of Richmond County Country Club; chairman of Port Authority; namesake of Outerbridge Crossing; brother of tennis pioneer Mary Ewing Outerbridge
• Edward Martineau Perine – Alabama merchant and plantation owner; born on Staten Island and descended from Daniel Perrin, "The Huguenot"
• George Haven Putnam – president of book publisher G. P. Putnam's Sons
• John Bishop Putnam – treasurer and director of book publisher G. P. Putnam's Sons; brother of George Haven Putnam
• Bradhurst Schieffelin – drugmaking and petroleum business; social activist
• Sarah Blake Sturgis Shaw – abolitionist, women's rights supporter, philanthropist, mother of Robert Gould Shaw and Josephine Shaw Lowell
• Anson Phelps Stokes – partner in family's Phelps Dodge Mining Company; his 10-acre mansion was next to Curtis High School; namesake of notable clergymen son and grandson
• Edith Minturn Stokes – philanthropist, daughter of shipping magnate Robert Bowne Minturn Jr., daughter-in-law of mining executive Anson Phelps Stokes
• Van Toffler – longtime MTV executive, rising to President of Viacom Media Networks Music Group 2008–2015
• Gustavus Trask – sea captain; governor of Sailors' Snug Harbor
• Vanderbilt family – wealthy Dutch-American railroad owners and heirs, including many 19th-century Staten Island residents and a church-sized private mausoleum in New Dorp's Moravian Cemetery
• *Cornelius Vanderbilt – shipping and railroad magnate; wealthiest person in America; born and lived on Staten Island
• *Cornelius Vanderbilt II – railroad magnate; son of William Henry Vanderbilt
• *Cornelius Vanderbilt IV – newspaper publisher, author, film producer; grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt II
• *Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt – troubled son of Cornelius Vanderbilt
• *Emily Thorn Vanderbilt – philanthropist; founder of Sloane Hospital for Women; daughter of William Henry Vanderbilt; great-great-grandmother of Timothy Olyphant
• *Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly – known for building elaborate homes; daughter of William Henry Vanderbilt
• *Frederick William Vanderbilt – railroad executive; son of William Henry Vanderbilt
• *George Washington Vanderbilt II or III – born in New Dorp; built North Carolina's Biltmore Estate; son of William Henry Vanderbilt
• *Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard – founder of YWCA hotel; daughter of William Henry Vanderbilt
• *Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt – founder of many equestrian organizations; son of Cornelius Vanderbilt II; father of Gloria Vanderbilt; grandfather of Anderson Cooper
• *William Henry Vanderbilt – railroad magnate and philanthropist; wealthiest person in America; son of Cornelius Vanderbilt
• *William Kissam Vanderbilt – railroad executive; horse breeder; son of William Henry Vanderbilt
• Arthur von Briesen – lawyer, philanthropist, president of Legal Aid Society; estate became Von Briesen Park next to Fort Wadsworth
• Erastus Wiman – president of the Staten Island Railway Co. and the St. George Ferry

  Crime

• Richard Biegenwald – serial killer who murdered at least six people in New Jersey
• Thomas Bilotti – underboss of Gambino crime family; was assassinated with Paul Castellano
• Frank Cali – Gambino crime boss who had close ties to Sicily
• Anthony Capo – hitman for DeCavalcante crime family
• Stephen Caracappa – former detective convicted of eight murders for the Gambino and Lucchese crime families
• Paul Castellano – Gambino crime boss; lived on Todt Hill; buried in Moravian Cemetery in an unmarked grave
• Frank DeCicco – Gambino underboss
• Aniello Dellacroce – Gambino underboss; lived in Grasmere, Staten Island
• Michael DiLeonardo – Gambino caporegime and government informant
• James Failla – senior caporegime with the Gambino crime family
• Gus Farace – associate of Bonanno crime family; murdered a teenager and a federal agent
• Eddie Garafola – Gambino caporegime; brother-in-law of Sammy Gravano
• Sammy "The Bull" Gravano – Gambino underboss and government informant
• Anthony Graziano – consigliere of Bonanno crime family
• Joseph Masella – associate of DeCavalcante crime family
• Frank Matthews – major trafficker of heroin and cocaine
• Xhevdet Mustafa – failed assassin of the leader of communist Albania
• "Staten Island Ninja" – serial burglar, possibly deported to Albania, never positively identified
• Chris Paciello – affiliate of Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino crime families; government informant
• Andre Rand – convicted kidnapper of two children; suspected serial killer
• George Remini – member of Gambino crime family
• Gregory Scarpa – hitman for Colombo crime family
• Anthony Spero – consigliere of Bonanno crime family
• Joseph Vollaro – Gambino associate and government informant
• John Zancocchio – consigliere of Bonanno crime family

  Historical notables and early settlers

• Pierre Billiou – early settler, founder of Old Town
• David Pietersz. de Vries – Dutch explorer and early settler
• Mamie Fish – New York socialite and one of the so-called Triumvirate of American Gilded Age society
• Peter Fisher – historian of colonial New Brunswick, Canada; born on Staten Island
• Loring McMillen – official historian of Staten Island; founder of Historic Richmond Town
• Cornelis Melyn – early settler, political figure, and Patroon
• Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa and Mary Jane O'Donovan Rossa – husband-and-wife activists for Irish independence; ancestors of politician Jerome X. O'Donovan and writer William Rossa Cole
• Daniel Perrin – early settler known as "The Huguenot"

  Inventors

• Thomas Adams – inventor of modern chewing gum; William Wrigley Jr. associate; Island resident in the 1860s–1870s
• Albert Baez – co-inventor of X-ray microscope; father of folk singer Joan Baez
• Charles Goodyear – inventor of vulcanized rubber; lived on Staten Island for several years in the 1830s
• Jerome H. Lemelson – inventor of many electronic technologies; holder of 605 patents
• Gustav A. Mayer – inventor of the Nilla wafer; lived in a mansion that still stands in New Dorp
• Antonio Meucci – inventor of an early form of the telephone; immigrated in 1850, settled in the Clifton area
• Frederick Walton – built first American linoleum factory in "Linoleumville", today's Travis
• Charles Rudolph Wittemann – aviation pioneer; built the world's first airplane factory on Staten Island; co-founded Teterboro Airport

  Military and government

• Donald Armstrong – Brigadier General in the US Army during World War II
• Richard Bayley – first health officer of the Port of New York, in charge of Staten Island quarantine station; father of Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton; grandfather of James Roosevelt Bayley
• Taylor G. Belcher – United States Ambassador to Cyprus and Peru
• Edward Clyde Benfold – US Navy hospital corpsman killed in the Korean War; Medal of Honor recipient
• Andrew E. K. Benham – Admiral, United States Navy
• Christopher Billop – British Loyalist colonel during the American Revolution; Staten Island home was the landmark Conference House
• Christopher Billopp – English naval officer; great-grandfather of Christopher Billop; Staten Island home became the Conference House
• Vincent R. Capodanno – Chaplain and Lieutenant in US Navy; Medal of Honor recipient; Maryknoll Catholic priest and candidate for sainthood
• Salvatore Cassano – New York City Fire Commissioner 2010–2014
• John J. Cisco – Assistant Treasurer of the United States for three Presidents
• Marcia Clark – prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson trial; graduated from Susan E. Wagner High School; lived in Manor Heights
• Kevin J. Collins – senior aide to Republican Party politicians
• Ichabod Crane – military officer for 48 years; nominal inspiration for the fictional protagonist in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; buried in Staten Island
• Thomas D. Doubleday – Wall Street merchant; Colonel in Civil War; lived in Port Richmond; brother of Abner Doubleday
• Trevor N. Dupuy – US Army colonel; prominent military historian
• Sara Ehrman – senior aide to national Democratic Party politicians
• Fred Espenak – NASA scientist, eclipse expert; born and educated on Staten Island
• Giuseppe Garibaldi – Italian revolutionary and statesman; lived for a time on Staten Island
• Eric Garner – former NYC Parks employee, fatally choked by police while being arrested for unlicensed cigarettes
• Irving Hale – brigadier general who served in the Philippines during the Spanish–American War
• Maura Harty – United States Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs
• Louis V. Iasiello – Rear Admiral; Chief of Navy Chaplains 2003–2006; Franciscan Catholic priest
• Patrick Henry Jones – Civil War brigadier general; Postmaster of New York City
• Thomas Jordan – Civil War general and author
• Andrew Juxon-Smith – head of Sierra Leone military government 1967–1968
• Lewis A. Kaplan – US District Court Judge in New York
• Robert Kibbee – Chancellor of the City University of New York; son of actor Guy Kibbee
• Robert S. Lasnik – US District Court Judge in Washington state
• James E. Leonard – Chief of New York City Fire Department 2014–2019
• Cecil B. Lyon – US Ambassador to Chile, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives
• Jeb Stuart Magruder – Staten Island native; Watergate figure in Nixon White House; Presbyterian minister
• Matthew Mahoney – senior aide to Republican Party politicians
• John Marburger – director of Brookhaven National Laboratory; science advisor to President George W. Bush
• Francis Xavier McQuade – New York City judge; advocate for Sunday baseball; part-owner of New York Giants
• Angel Mendez – US Marine awarded the Navy Cross for his death in Vietnam War; raised at Mount Loretto
• Joseph F. Merrell – Medal of Honor recipient in World War II
• Mersereau Ring – Staten Island family that supported the American Revolution with extensive spying activities, 1776–1781
• Ed Murphy – peace and labor activist; organizer of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and the Workforce Development Institute
• Robert Nelson – physician; general of Canadian army rebelling unsuccessfully against British colonial rule
• Joe Pistone – FBI agent, best known as Donnie Brasco; lived in Staten Island for a brief period
• Joseph Rallo – leader of public universities; Commissioner of Higher Education for Louisiana
• Muhamed Sacirbey – Bosnian diplomat
• Louis N. Scarcella – NYPD detective accused of dozens of wrongful convictions
• Les Schneider – US Air Force pilot, known for Gemini 8 rescue mission
• Robert Gould Shaw – colonel who headed the Union Army's first African American regiment, subject of the feature film Glory
• Richard Sheirer – senior official in NYC Fire Department, Police Department, and Office of Emergency Management
• Edward Stettinius Jr. – Chairman of US Steel; Secretary of State in FDR Administration; former home is now Staten Island Academy
• Gustav Struve – German journalist and revolutionary; American Civil War captain
• George Augustus Vaughn Jr. – World War I flying ace; co-founder of Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology
• Katherine Walker – keeper of Robbins Reef Light in New York Harbor; helped rescue more than 50 sailors
• Gerda Warko – government propagandist for Nazi Germany during World War II
• Theodore Winthrop – one of the first Union officers killed in the American Civil War
• James Zappalorti – disabled veteran of the Vietnam War; victim of anti-gay murder

  Musicians

Past

• Vito Bratta – guitarist for White Lion; lives on Staten Island
• Roy Clark – country music performer; co-host of the television show Hee Haw; spent his early years on Staten Island
• Bobby Darin – singer; his family had a summer home as a child in South Beach, Staten Island
• The Elegants – had #1 hit record in 1959, "Little Star", recorded in a South Beach studio
• Anthony Esposito – former bassist for Lynch Mob and Ace Frehley; film producer; born on Staten Island
• Vincent Fanelli – principal harpist of Philadelphia Orchestra and Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
• Eileen Farrell – singer of classical and popular music; lived on Emerson Hill and Grymes Hill
• Force MDs – vocal group; several members were born and raised on Staten Island
• Bobby Gustafson – guitarist best known for the heavy metal band Overkill
• George Harrison – member of the Beatles; briefly lived in Staten Island while being treated for cancer at Staten Island University Hospital
• Frankie LaRocka – drummer and producer; played for Bryan Adams and Jon Bon Jovi; born and raised in South Beach
• Q Lazzarus – singer known for "Goodbye Horses", featured in the films Married to the Mob and The Silence of the Lambs
• Carl Lesch – music director and educator for Catholic churches and schools
• Antoine "T.C.D." Lundy – singer-songwriter with the Force MDs
• Max Maretzek – opera director and composer
• Patricia Neway – operatic soprano and musical theater actress; won a Tony Award for The Sound of Music
• Vito Picone – with The Elegants, recorded #1 hit of 1959, "Little Star", in South Beach
• Charles Seeger – musicologist in family of folk music specialists Ruth, Peggy, Mike, and Pete Seeger; brother of poet Alan Seeger
• George Siravo – saxophonist for Glenn Miller; orchestrator for Tony Bennett, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra
• Axel Stordahl – music director for hundreds of Frank Sinatra songs
• Roland Trogan – classical composer; lived on Staten Island
• UMC's – 1990s hip-hop duo of Haas G and Kool Kim
• Cherry Vanilla – singer and publicist, including for David Bowie and Vangelis
• Buz Verno – bass guitarist, including for fellow Staten Islanders David Johansen and Cherry Vanilla
• Chuck Wayne – jazz guitarist with Woody Herman, George Shearing, and Tony Bennett

  Recent

• 9th Prince – co-founder of rap group Killarmy; brother of Wu-Tang Clan co-founder RZA
• Christina Aguilera – Mouseketeer; pop singer; judge on NBC's The Voice; born on Staten Island
• Steve Augeri – former lead singer of the rock band Journey
• Joan Baez – folk singer and activist; born on Staten Island; daughter of inventor and Wagner College professor Albert Baez
• Eric Blackwood – guitarist and singer-songwriter for Edison's Children; brother of actor Garry Pastore and cousin of Vincent Pastore
• Cappadonna – rapper, Wu-Tang Clan member; born and raised on Staten Island
• Richie Castellano – musician for Blue Öyster Cult
• Lenny Cerzosie – lead singer of Staten Island hard rock band The Infinite Staircase
• Ron Dante – lead singer for The Archies; number 1 song "Sugar Sugar"
• Mark Delpriora – classical guitarist and composer; born and raised on Staten Island
• Trife Diesel – rapper affiliated with Wu-Tang Clan
• Eamon Doyle – rapper; born and raised on Staten Island
• Frankee – R&B singer-songwriter
• Reeves Gabrels – rock guitarist and songwriter with David Bowie, Tin Machine, and The Cure
• Sandy Gennaro – drummer; raised in South Beach; played with Cyndi Lauper, Joan Jett, The Monkees and Pat Travers
• Ghostface Killah – rapper, Wu-Tang Clan member; born and raised on Staten Island
• Billy Graziadei – guitarist and lead singer for rap-rock band Biohazard
• GZA – rapper, Wu-Tang Clan founding member, born on Staten Island
• Haas G – rapper also known as Fantom of the Beat, half of the 1990s duo The UMC's
• Hanz On – rapper affiliated with Wu-Tang Clan
• Inspectah Deck – rapper; Wu-Tang Clan member; born and raised on Staten Island
• David Johansen – of the New York Dolls
• Blackie Lawless – lead singer of the 1980s heavy metal band W.A.S.P.
• Lil Suzy – freestyle singer
• Galt MacDermot – musician and lyricist for musicals such as Hair and The Two Gentlemen of Verona
• Method Man – rapper; Wu-Tang Clan member; born and raised on Staten Island
• Ingrid Michaelson – Indie-pop singer/songwriter; a Staten Island Technical High School graduate
• Kevin Norton – jazz and contemporary percussionist, composer, teacher
• NYOIL – rapper also known as Kool Kim, half of the 1990s duo The UMC's
• Jeannine Otis – singer and theater professional
• Dom Pachino – rapper, Killarmy member; moved to Staten Island as a youth
• David Park – rap producer and recording engineer
• A.J. Pero – drummer for Twisted Sister
• John Pisano – jazz guitarist, including long collaborations with Herb Alpert, Peggy Lee, Joe Pass
• PS22 Chorus – prominent elementary-school chorus located in Graniteville; performed at the 83rd Academy Awards
• Raekwon – rapper, Wu-Tang Clan member; born in Brooklyn, raised on Staten Island
• Vernon Reid – guitar player for Living Colour
• Remedy – rapper affiliated with Wu-Tang Clan
• Bebe Rexha – singer-songwriter, grew up on Staten Island
• Keith Richards – Rolling Stones guitarist; his wife Patti Hansen was from Staten Island; in the 1980s they owned a home on the South Shore
• Rockell – freestyle pop singer
• Daniel Rodriguez – operatic tenor known as "The Singing Policeman" for his former work in NYPD's Ceremonial Unit
• RZA – rapper, Wu-Tang Clan founding member, Grammy Award-winning producer
• Shyheim – rapper affiliated with Wu-Tang Clan
• Gene Simmons – Kiss bass player; attended Richmond College
• Earl Slick – guitarist, Phantom, Rocker and Slick; played with John Lennon
• Peter Steele – lead singer and bassist for the gothic metal band Type O Negative
• Steve Stoll – drummer and techno producer
• Streetlife – rapper affiliated with Wu-Tang Clan
• Kasim Sulton – bass player for Utopia, with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; now a member of The New Cars
• Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal – guitar player for Guns N' Roses, raised in Bay Terrace
• U-God – rapper, Wu-Tang Clan member; born in Brooklyn, moved to Staten Island as a youth
• Kenny Washington – jazz drummer
• White Lion – hard rock band
• Rusty Willoughby – rock musician in the Seattle area since the 1980s
• Wu-Tang Clan – influential hip-hop group; most of its founding members were from Staten Island; credited with giving Staten Island the nickname "Shaolin"

  Politicians

Past

• Eugenio Alvarez – NY State Assembly 1973–1974
• Edward J. Amann Jr. – NY State Assembly 1953–1973
• Robert S. Bainbridge – NY State Senate 1943–1946
• Howard R. Bayne – lawyer, historian, member of NY State Senate
• Obadiah Bowne – member of 32nd US Congress and a presidential elector
• James A. Bradley – New Jersey politician; founder of Asbury Park and Bradley Beach
• John M. Braisted Jr. – NY State Senate 1948–1952; District Attorney 1956–1975
• Erastus Brooks – NY State Senate 1854–1857, NY State Assembly 1878–1883
• John Broome – NY State Assembly 1800–1802, NY State Senate 1804, NY Lieutenant Governor 1804–1810
• Ellsworth B. Buck – member of US House of Representatives; opposed development of Fresh Kills Landfill
• Aaron Burr – third US Vice President; known for duel with Alexander Hamilton; died in Port Richmond
• Thomas Child Jr. – US House of Representatives, NY State Assembly, town supervisor of Northfield, Staten Island
• Robert Christie Jr. – NY State Assembly, NY State Senate
• Elizabeth Connelly – NY State Assembly 1973–2000; first woman to win elective office in Staten Island
• Robert T. Connor – borough president 1966–1977
• Henry Crocheron – member of 14th US Congress
• Jacob Crocheron – member of 21st US Congress, brother of Henry
• George Cromwell – businessman, lawyer, NY State Assembly and Senate, first borough president of Staten Island
• Harman B. Cropsey – Richmond County Sheriff 1829–1831, NY State Senate 1832–1835; uncle of artist Jasper Francis Cropsey
• Edward V. Curry – NY State Assembly 1949–1952, NY State Senate 1955–1956, NY City Council 1958–1978
• John Decker – NY State Assembly; the last Chief Engineer of New York's Volunteer Fire Department
• Johannes de Decker – Comptroller of New Amsterdam; negotiated 1664 colonial surrender to the British
• Thomas Dongan – Governor of NY Province; namesake of Dongan Hills
• William Duer – NY State Assembly; District Attorney; US House of Representatives
• Rae L. Egbert – NY State Senate 1935–1940
• Daniel D. T. Farnsworth – president of West Virginia Senate; second Governor of West Virginia
• Edward E. Fitzgibbon – Wisconsin State Assembly; born on Staten Island
• Frank Fossella – NY City Council 1985; uncle of Vito
• Albert Jennings Fountain – Texas Senate; New Mexico House of Representatives
• John C. Fremont – Civil War major general; first Senator from California; first Republican Party nominee for President; Governor of the Territory of Arizona
• Samuel H. Frost – town supervisor of Westfield, Staten Island 1851–1856; NY State Senate 1870–1871
• Anthony Gaeta – borough president 1977–1984
• James J. Galdieri – Jersey City politician
• James Guyon Jr. – member of NY State Assembly and 16th US Congress
• Robert E. Johnson – NY State Senate 1941–1942, 1947
• Abraham Jones – member of 1st NY State Assembly 1777–1778; expelled and imprisoned for British Loyalist activity
• David D. Kpormakpor – Liberian law professor, Supreme Court justice, head of state 1994–1995
• Nicholas B. La Bau – NY State Assembly; NY State Senate; son-in-law of Cornelius Vanderbilt
• Ralph J. Lamberti – borough president 1984–1989
• Nicholas LaPorte – NY City Council 1977–1985; deputy borough president 1985–1989
• Robert Lindsay – NY City Council 1964–1972
• Francis Lovelace – second Governor of NY Province; purchased Staten Island from Native Americans and built farm
• Caleb Lyon – NY State Assembly; NY State Senate; US House of Representatives; Governor of the Territory of Idaho
• Albert V. Maniscalco – NY State Assembly; NY City Council; borough president 1954–1965
• Charles J. McCormack – NY State Assembly 1903; Richmond County Sheriff 1904–1907; borough president 1914–1915
• Henry B. Metcalfe – District Attorney; County Judge; US House of Representatives
• S. Robert Molinari – NY State Assembly 1943–1944; father of Guy; grandfather of Susan
• Nicholas Muller – NY State Assembly 1875–1876; US House of Representatives for 12 years during 1877–1902
• James J. Murphy – US House of Representatives 1949–1952; NY City Council 1954–1957
• John M. Murphy – US House of Representatives 1963–1981; convicted in Abscam bribery case
• William L. Murphy – District Attorney 1983–2003
• Benjamin Nichols – science educator and Democratic Socialist mayor of Ithaca, NY
• Jerome X. O'Donovan – NY City Council 1983–2001; great-grandson of Irish activists Jeremiah and Mary Jane O'Donovan Rossa
• James A. O'Leary – US House of Representatives 1935–1944; great-grandfather of Vito Fossella
• Joseph A. Palma – borough president 1934–1945
• Harry J. Palmer – NY State Senate 1929–1934
• John Palmer – Civil War officer; elected as NY Secretary of State
• Ruth Perry – Liberian senator, head of state 1996–1997
• Anning Smith Prall – US House of Representatives 1923–1934; FCC Chair 1935–1937; namesake of Prall Intermediate School
• Edmund P. Radigan – NY State Assembly 1945–1948
• William N. Reidy – NY State Assembly 1949–1952
• Joseph Ridgway – Ohio House of Representatives 1828–1831; US House of Representatives 1837–1843
• Lucio F. Russo – NY State Assembly 1953–1974
• Antonio López de Santa Anna – five-time President of Mexico; retook the Alamo; exiled on Staten Island
• Alfred E. Santangelo – NY State Senate; US House of Representatives
• Henry J. Seaman – US House of Representatives 1845–1847
• William Allaire Shortt – NY State Assembly 1908–1911
• William A. Stevens – President of New Jersey Senate; New Jersey Attorney General
• Daniel D. Tompkins – NY Governor; US Vice President; established Tompkinsville, SI Ferry, Richmond Turnpike
• Hannah Tompkins – NY First Lady; US Second Lady; wife of Daniel
• Minthorne Tompkins – NY State Assembly; NY State Senate; son of Daniel and Hannah; co-founder of NY Republican Party, and Stapleton
• Julia Gardiner Tyler – second wife of US President John Tyler; resided in Staten Island after being widowed during the Civil War
• Jacob Tyson – town supervisor; county judge; US House of Representatives; NY State Senate
• Thomas J. Walsh – NY State Senate; District Attorney; Judge

  Recent

• Joseph Borelli – NY State Assembly 2013–2015; NY City Council 2015– ; conservative commentator
• Justin Brannan – NY City Council, representing Brooklyn; former musician; attended College of Staten Island
• Ronald Castorina – NY State Assembly 2016–2018
• Alfred C. Cerullo III – NY City Council 1990–1994, commissioner 1994–1999, professional actor in theater and television
• Michael Cusick – NY State Assembly 2003–
• Serena DiMaso – New Jersey politician
• Dan Donovan – District Attorney 2004–2015; US House of Representatives 2015–2018
• Charles Fall – NY State Assembly 2019–
• Stephen Fiala – NY City Council 1998–2001
• Vito Fossella – Republican member of NY City Council and US House of Representatives
• John Fusco – NY City Council 1992–1998; judge 1998–2013
• Sara M. Gonzalez – NY City Council 2002–2013, representing Brooklyn; attended College of Staten Island
• John T. Gregorio – New Jersey politician
• Michael Grimm – Republican member of US House of Representatives; former FBI agent
• Janele Hyer-Spencer – NY State Assembly 2007–2010
• Vincent M. Ignizio – NY State Assembly; NY City Council
• Andrew Lanza – NY City Council; NY State Senate
• John W. Lavelle – NY State Assembly 2001–2007
• Donna Lupardo – NY State Assembly, representing Binghamton; born and educated on Staten Island
• Nicole Malliotakis – Republican, NY State Assembly
• John J. Marchi – NY State Senate 1957–2006; led Staten Island's NYC secession movement
• Steven Matteo – NY City Council
• Michael McMahon – NY City Council 2003–2008; US House of Representatives 2009–2010; District Attorney 2016–
• Matthew Mirones – NY State Assembly 2002–2006
• Kenneth Mitchell – NY City Council 2009; Executive Director of Staten Island Zoo 2010–
• Guy Molinari – NY State Assembly 1975–1980; US House of Representatives 1981–1989; borough president 1990–2001; father of Susan
• Susan Molinari – US House of Representatives 1990–1997; keynote speaker for 1996 Republican National Convention
• James Molinaro – borough president 2002–2013
• James Oddo – Republican member of NY City Council 1999–2013; borough president of Staten Island 2014–
• Michelle Paige Paterson – NY First Lady, wife of Governor David Paterson
• Michael Reilly – NY State Assembly 2019–
• Debi Rose – Democratic member of NY City Council for the North Shore of Staten Island, 2010–
• Max Rose – Democratic member of US House of Representatives, 2019–
• Diane Savino – NY State Senate 2005–
• Philip S. Straniere – Staten Island Civil Court judge 1997–
• Robert Straniere – NY State Assembly 1981–2004; brother of Philip
• Matthew Titone – NY State Assembly 2007–2018; Richmond County Surrogate Judge 2019–
• Louis Tobacco – NY State Assembly 2007–2012
• Eric N. Vitaliano – NY State Assembly 1983–2001; judge 2001–

  Religion

• Patrick Ahern – Catholic priest and bishop
• James Roosevelt Bayley – nephew of St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton; Catholic pastor of St. Peter's Church; Bishop of Newark; Archbishop of Baltimore
• William H. Boole – Methodist pastor and prominent Prohibitionist
• Robert Anthony Brucato – Catholic priest and bishop
• Peter John Byrne – Catholic priest and bishop
• Dorothy Day – social activist and radical; co-founder of Catholic Worker movement and newspaper; candidate for sainthood
• Edward Doane – Congregationalist missionary to Pacific islands
• Edmund J. Dobbin – Augustinian Catholic priest and longest-serving president of Villanova University
• John Christopher Drumgoole – Catholic priest and founder of Mount Loretto Children's Home
• John Murphy Farley – Cardinal; Catholic Archbishop of New York; priest at St. Peter's Church 1870–1872
• Joseph A. Farrell – Catholic priest, teacher, namesake of Monsignor Farrell High School
• Reuven Feinstein – Orthodox Jewish rabbi; head of the Yeshiva of Staten Island
• George Henry Guilfoyle – Catholic priest and bishop
• Edward D. Head – Catholic priest and bishop
• Metropolitan Ireney – primate of the Orthodox Church in America
• Walter P. Kellenberg – Catholic priest and bishop
• Thomas John McDonnell – Catholic priest and bishop
• Richard Channing Moore – Episcopal rector of St. Andrew's Church; Bishop of Virginia
• William Muhm – Catholic priest, chaplain, bishop
• Miguel Pedro Mundo – Catholic priest and bishop
• Patrick O'Boyle – Cardinal; Catholic Archbishop of Washington; director of Mount Loretto 1936–1943
• John Joseph O'Hara – Catholic priest and bishop
• Frank Pavone – Catholic priest and pro-life activist
• Satsvarupa das Goswami – writer, poet, artist, and guru for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
• Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton – first American-born Roman Catholic saint; founder of American branch of Sisters of Charity; Staten Island resident in 1790s
• Anson Phelps Stokes II – Episcopal priest; secretary of Yale University; civil rights activist; son of namesake mining executive; father of namesake bishop
• William Greenough Thayer – Episcopal minister and educator, born in New Brighton, Staten Island
• Terry Troia – Reformed minister; longtime leader of Staten Island's interfaith nonprofit Project Hospitality
• Edmund James Whalen – Catholic priest and bishop; graduate and former principal of Msgr. Farrell H.S.

  Science, mathematics, medicine

• Oscar Auerbach – pathologist who helped prove that smoking causes lung cancer
• Nathaniel Lord Britton – co-founder of New York Botanical Garden; donor of The Britton Cottage, now in Richmondtown
• James Chapin – ornithologist for American Museum of Natural History; author of the landmark Birds of the Belgian Congo
• Helen Clevenger – NYU chemistry student who was murdered in North Carolina
• William T. Davis – naturalist, entomologist, historian; co-founder of Staten Island Institute of Arts & Sciences
• Samuel Mackenzie Elliott – pioneer of American ophthalmology; abolitionist leader; lieutenant colonel
• Allan L. Goldstein – biochemist, specializing in the thymus gland and the immune system
• Gary Hartstein – anaesthesiologist, emergency physician for Formula One racing events
• Arthur Hollick – paleobotanist, expert on fossil plants
• Bruce Kershner – forest ecologist, environmentalist, biology teacher
• Rebecca Lancefield – microbiologist at Rockefeller University and Columbia University; expert on streptococcal bacteria
• Charles W. Leng – naturalist, entomologist, historian; co-founder of Staten Island Institute of Arts & Sciences
• Lily McNair – psychologist; past provost of Wagner College; president of Tuskegee University
• John Coleman Moore – mathematician and professor, specializing in algebraic topology
• John Peoples Jr. – physicist; past director of Fermilab and Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• George H. Pepper – archaeologist, specializing in Native American burial grounds
• Leonard Radinsky – paleontologist and professor, specializing in fossil mammals
• :de:Edward H. Robitzek|Edward H. Robitzek – tuberculosis expert and chief physician at Sea View Hospital; helped develop isoniazid antibiotic treatment
• Doris Schattschneider – geometer and professor; first female editor of Mathematics Magazine
• Leroy Louis Schwartz – pediatrician; health policy researcher
• Lynn Steen – mathematician and professor, president of Mathematical Association of America
• Henry Taber – mathematician and professor, specializing in linear algebra; brother of Shakespearean actor Robert Taber
• Kaya Thomas – app developer; mentor with Black Girls Code
• Thomas Gordon Thompson – oceanographer and professor, specializing in the chemistry of the sea
• Paul Torgersen – engineering professor and president of Virginia Tech
• Mikhail Varshavski – "Doctor Mike", celebrity physician
• J. Lamar Worzel – geophysical oceanographer, specializing in deep-sea acoustics and gravity measurements

  Sports

Baseball

• Tim Adleman – Major League Baseball and KBO League pitcher; attended Georgetown University
• Rich Aurilia – MLB All-Star shortstop; attended St. John's University
• George Bamberger – MLB pitcher, pitching coach, and manager
• Larry Bearnarth – MLB pitcher and pitching coach, attended St. John's University
• Cliff Brantley – MLB pitcher; attended Port Richmond High School
• Jerry Casale – MLB pitcher; Staten Island resident
• Gloria Cordes – All-American Girls Professional Baseball League pitcher
• Jack Cronin – MLB pitcher from 1895 to 1904
• Terry Crowley – MLB outfielder and hitting coach, won World Series ring; attended Curtis High School
• Karl Drews – MLB pitcher; attended Ralph R. McKee CTE High School
• Jack Egbert – MLB pitcher
• Brian Esposito – MLB catcher; attended Staten Island Technical High School
• Dude Esterbrook – MLB third baseman and manager
• Bobby Evans – MLB executive, including general manager of the San Francisco Giants
• Frank Fernández – MLB catcher and outfielder, the "Staten Island Strongboy"; attended Curtis High School
• Matt Festa – MLB pitcher
• John Franco – MLB pitcher; Staten Island resident
• Grover Froese – MLB umpire and scout
• Matt Galante – MLB bench coach; Staten Island resident
• Frank Genovese – MLB outfielder and scout, minor league manager; older brother of George
• George Genovese – MLB pinch hitter specialist, minor league manager; attended Port Richmond High School
• Zack Granite – MLB outfielder; attended Tottenville High School
• Lee Howard – MLB pitcher in 1946 and 1947
• John H. Johnson – executive, president of National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues
• Bill Lindsey – MLB catcher
• Hank Majeski – MLB third baseman and batting coach; minor league manager and Wagner College coach
• Jason Marquis – MLB All-Star pitcher; attended Tottenville High School
• Joe McDonald – MLB executive, including general manager of three teams; won six World Series rings
• Frank Menechino – MLB infielder and designated hitter; attended Susan E. Wagner High School and University of Alabama
• Pete Mikkelsen – MLB relief pitcher
• Rose Montalbano – AAGPBL infielder, 1951–1953
• Larry Napp – MLB umpire
• Joe Pignatano – MLB catcher and bullpen coach, won World Series ring
• Sonny Ruberto – MLB catcher; attended Curtis High School
• Rich Scheid – MLB pitcher
• George Sharrott – MLB pitcher from 1893 to 1894
• Jack Sharrott – MLB pitcher and outfielder from 1890 to 1893; cousin of George
• Duane Singleton – MLB center fielder
• Jack Taylor – MLB pitcher in the National League from 1891 to 1899
• Bobby Thomson – MLB All-Star third baseman and outfielder, hit "Shot Heard 'Round the World"; attended Curtis High School
• Bill Traffley – MLB catcher for the Chicago White Stockings
• Tuck Turner – MLB outfielder from 1893 to 1898
• Billy Urbanski – MLB infielder for the Boston Braves
• Frank Umont – MLB umpire, after several years playing football for the New York Giants
• Anthony Varvaro – MLB pitcher; attended Curtis High School and St. John's University
• Mookie Wilson – MLB center fielder; Staten Island resident

  Basketball

• Nicky Anosike – Women's National Basketball Association forward/center; attended St. Peter's Girls High School
• O. D. Anosike – European professional forward/center; two-time Rebounding leader in NCAA Division I; attended Siena College; younger brother of Nicky
• Renaldo Balkman – National Basketball Association forward; No. 1 draft choice of the New York Knicks; plays internationally
• Ray Corley – NBA guard, attended St. Peter's Boys High School
• Mike Deane – head coach of college basketball teams, including Wagner College
• Jennifer Derevjanik – WNBA guard; attended George Mason University and St. Peter's Girls High School
• Billy Donovan – NBA guard and head coach; played for Staten Island Stallions of the United States Basketball League
• Jim Engles – head coach at Columbia University
• Warren Fenley – Basketball Association of America forward ; coached Monsignor Farrell High School and Moore Catholic High School
• Halil Kanacevic – European professional forward/center; attended Curtis High School
• Hassan Martin – professional forward in Japan and Germany
• Kyle McAlarney – professional guard in France, then head coach for his alma mater, Moore Catholic High School
• Kevin O'Connor – NBA general manager and executive; attended Monsignor Farrell High School
• Buddy O'Grady – BAA guard ; head coach at Georgetown University
• Jordan Parks – Basketball Bundesliga forward
• Elmer Ripley – Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member; coached college teams, Olympic teams, and the Harlem Globetrotters
• Ryan Rossiter – Japan Basketball League forward, attended Siena College and Monsignor Farrell High School
• Abdul Shamsid-Deen – International professional center; 2nd Round draft choice of the Seattle SuperSonics; attended Tottenville High School
• Isaiah Wilkerson – Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional guard, attended NJIT and Curtis High School
• Andrew Wisniewski – European professional guard, attended St. Peter's Boys High School

  Bowling

• Joe Berardi – Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Fame member
• Johnny Petraglia – PBA Hall of Fame member
• Mark Roth – PBA Hall of Fame member

  Boxing

• Teddy Atlas – boxing trainer and commentator; trained Michael Moorer and Mike Tyson; winner of the Sam Taub Award
• Marcus Browne – three-time Golden Gloves Champion; National PAL Champion; 2012 US Olympian
• Tony Canzoneri – three-time World Champion boxer
• Frankie Genaro – flyweight Gold Medalist at the 1920 Olympics
• Oleg Maskayev – heavyweight boxing champion
• Bill Richmond – British pugilist; born a slave in colonial Staten Island
• Kevin Rooney – former boxer and current trainer
• Elijah Tillery – cruiserweight and heavyweight professional boxer

  Football

• Emmanuel Akah – National Football League and NFL Europa offensive lineman
• Lou Anarumo – coaching staff member of college and NFL teams; New York Giants defensive backs coach
• Joe Andruzzi – NFL offensive lineman, won three Super Bowl rings
• Dawn Aponte – NFL executive
• Dan Blaine – halfback, owner of the Staten Island Stapletons; brought team into NFL
• Micah Brown – Canadian Football League and Arena Football quarterback
• Irv Constantine – NFL back, for one game with the Staten Island Stapletons; attended Curtis High School
• Kevin Coyle – coaching staff member of college and NFL teams; Alliance of American Football Atlanta Legends head coach
• Dominique Easley – NFL linebacker, won a Super Bowl ring; attended Curtis High School
• Gus Edwards – NFL running back for the Baltimore Ravens
• Frank Ferrara – NFL defensive end; attended New Dorp High School
• Steve Gregory – NFL safety and coach; Detroit Lions defensive assistant
• Percy Haughton – college head coach, won three NCAA championships, College Football Hall of Fame member; baseball coach and investor
• Vidal Hazelton – NFL and CFL wide receiver, attended Moore Catholic High School
• Jim Lee Howell – NFL receiver and defensive back; head coach for the New York Giants and Wagner College
• James Jenkins – NFL tight end for the Washington Redskins, won a Super Bowl ring
• Rich Kotite – NFL tight end, head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets; attended Wagner College
• Shemiah LeGrande – NFL and Indoor American football defensive tackle
• Pete Lembo – coaching staff member of college teams
• Dino Mangiero – NFL defensive lineman, attended Curtis High School
• Tom Masella – head coach of several college football teams, including Wagner College
• Hurvin McCormack – NFL defensive tackle, attended New Dorp High School
• Dennis McKnight – NFL guard, coaching staff member of college and CFL teams; Hamilton Tiger-Cats offensive line coach
• Dan Mullen – college football coach; graduate of Wagner College
• Ollie Ogbu – NFL, CFL, and Arena football defensive tackle, attended St. Joseph by the Sea High School
• Adewale Ogunleye – NFL defensive end; attended Indiana University and Tottenville High School
• Eric Olsen – NFL center, attended Notre Dame
• David Richards – NFL guard; 1983 USA Today High School All-American
• Peter Rossomando – college head coach at Central Connecticut
• Lewis Sanders – NFL cornerback, attended University of Maryland and St. Peter's Boys High School
• William Shakespeare – college halfback at Notre Dame, College Football Hall of Fame member, "The Bard of Staten Island"
• Mike Siani – NFL wide receiver, No. 1 draft choice of the Oakland Raiders; attended Villanova University
• Vernon Turner – NFL and NFL Europa running back, wide receiver, and return specialist; attended Curtis High School

  Golf

• Jim Albus – winner of multiple tournaments on the PGA Tour Champions
• Bill Britton – tournament winner on the PGA Tour; won 1975 National Junior College Athletic Association Championship
• Carolyn Cudone – won a United States Golf Association record five-straight U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championships
• Frank Esposito – golfer on the PGA Tour Champions
• Frank Hannigan – USGA Executive Director, TV golf analyst, Staten Island Advance golf columnist
• Sean Kelly – golfer on the Web.com Tour
• Isaac Mackie – head professional at Fox Hills Golf Course in Clifton, where he won the Eastern PGA Championship in 1908
• Joe Moresco – Hall of Fame member of the Metropolitan section of the Professional Golfers' Association of America

  Gymnastics

• Olivia Greaves – competitive gymnast, member of Junior National Team
• Dominick Minicucci – 1988 and 1992 Olympic gymnast

  Hockey

• Zach Aston-Reese – National Hockey League forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins
• Nick Fotiu – NHL and World Hockey Association forward; first player from New York City to play for the New York Rangers
• Joe Gambardella – NHL center for the Edmonton Oilers
• Jack Krumpe – multi-sport executive, including president of the New York Rangers, Islanders, Knicks, and Madison Square Garden
• Kevin Labanc – NHL right wing for the San Jose Sharks

  Ice skating

• Silvia Fontana – Italian figure skater in the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics; born in Staten Island
• Lynn Kriengkrairut – ice dancer
• Amar Mehta – figure skater who represents India internationally

  Martial arts

• Nick Pace – Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight fighter
• Ricco Rodriguez – Winner of UFC Heavyweight Championship, World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, and ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship

  Racket sports

• Sudsy Monchik – five-time Pro World Champion racquetball player; attended Tottenville High School
• Mary Ewing Outerbridge – "mother of American tennis"; set up one of the first courts in the US; buried in Silver Mount Cemetery in Silver Lake; sister of industrialist Eugenius Harvey Outerbridge
• Bob Wrenn – four-time U.S. singles championship winner was tennis member of Richmond County Country Club

Soccer

• Chris Agoliati – American Soccer League and North American Soccer League forward and midfielder
• Jack Hynes – American Soccer League, outside right; National Soccer Hall of Fame member
• George Weah – FIFA World Player of the Year for 1995; president of Liberia since 2018
• John Wolyniec – Major League Soccer forward for Red Bull New York

  Track and field

• Robby Andrews – 2016 Olympic team and 2017 national champion in the 1500m run; Staten Island native
• Ashley Higginson – middle distance runner; set 3000m steeplechase record in 2015 Pan Am Games
• Bill Jankunis – 1976 Olympic High Jump competitor
• Marilyn King – pentathlete for Tottenville High School, AAU, Pan American Games, and 1972–1980 Olympic teams
• Abel Kiviat – 1912 Summer Olympics Silver Medalist in the 1500m run; world record holder; Gold Medal team in the 3000m relay

  Wrestling

• Tim Arson – World Wrestling Council wrestler
• Tony Garea – World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler
• Vito LoGrasso – WWE wrestler
• Sean Maluta – WWE wrestler known as "The Samoan Dragon"
• Sabu – Extreme Championship Wrestling champion
• Randy Savage – World Championship Wrestling and WWE wrestler known as "Macho Man"

  Other

• Carl Borack – fencer; participated in the 1972 Summer Olympic Games
• Rick Decker – race-car driver, including the Indianapolis 500
• Gary di Silvestri – cross-country skier, 2014 Winter Olympics
• William Butler Duncan II – leader in New York Yacht Club's long defense of the America's Cup; adoptive son of banker W. Butler Duncan I
• Loni Harwood – winner of two World Series of Poker bracelets
• Daniella Karagach – international dance competitor
• John Henry Lake – Bronze Medalist in Cycling at the 1900 Summer Olympics
• Krystal Lara – Dominican-American swimmer; bronze and silver medalist in 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games
• Robert Pipkins – 1992 and 1994 Olympic luge
• Ray Rudolph – 1980 Olympic handball team

  Writers

Past

• Henry H. Carter – linguist, professor, specialist in Spanish and Portuguese translation
• William Rossa Cole – author, poet, anthologist, editor; grandson of Irish activists Jeremiah and Mary Jane O'Donovan Rossa
• James Gould Cozzens – short story writer and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist
• George William Curtis – author, orator, reformer; namesake of Curtis High School
• Donald Davidson – influential philosopher and professor
• William Main Doerflinger – author and editor, including a major collection of folksongs
• John Drebinger – sports editor for The Richmond County Advance, longtime baseball reporter for The New York Times, winner of 1973 Spink Award
• Isaac K. Funk – Lutheran minister; co-founder of Funk & Wagnalls Company, publisher of dictionaries and encyclopedias
• Sydney Howard Gay – journalist and abolitionist, active in the Underground Railroad
• Emily Genauer – Pulitzer-winning art critic
• Langston Hughes – poet; lived and worked for a season on a Staten Island farm growing vegetables
• William James – philosopher, and his younger brother, novelist Henry James, spent a few summers on Staten Island
• Anna Leonowens – travel writer and educator, governess for King of Siam; memoir evolved into The King and I
• Richard Adams Locke – editor of The New York Sun; presumed author of the "Great Moon Hoax"; lived on Staten Island
• Laurence Manning – science fiction author
• Edwin Markham – poet, school administrator, namesake of Markham Intermediate School
• John William Martin – socialist academic, lecturer, writer; hosted many celebrity authors
• Andy Milligan – playwright and film director; resided in Staten Island
• Kafū Nagai – Japanese author; wrote about his brief residence in American Stories
• Frederick Nebel – novelist and short story writer known for his hardboiled detective fiction
• Francis Parkman – historian of the American frontier
• Emily Post – columnist and author, best known for Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home
• Edwin Arlington Robinson – three-time winner of Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, best known for the narrative poem "Richard Cory"
• Armand Schwerner – poet, best known for Tablets; professor at Staten Island Community College and College of Staten Island
• Alan Seeger – poet and World War I hero ; brother of Charles Seeger; uncle of Pete Seeger
• Theodore Sturgeon – science fiction author; born on Staten Island
• Henry David Thoreau – essayist, philosopher, naturalist; spent his longest time away from Concord, Massachusetts on Staten Island in the 1840s
• Amy Vanderbilt – author of the best-selling Complete Book of Etiquette; distant cousin of Cornelius Vanderbilt
• Phyllis A. Whitney – prolific mystery writer; Staten Island resident during 1950s–1960s
• William Winter – poet, critic, biographer, theater historian
• Paul Zindel – novelist and Pulitzer-winning playwright, whose stories usually took place on Staten Island

  Recent

• Ayad Akhtar – playwright, novelist, screenwriter; won Pulitzer Prize for Disgraced
• Melissa Anelli – webmistress of The Leaky Cauldron; author of Harry, A History
• Tracy Brown – Essence best-selling author; born and raised in Mariners Harbor
• Cheryl Burke – poet, posthumous winner of Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Literature
• Gwen Carr – activist, public speaker, author, after her son Eric Garner was killed by police
• Christopher Celenza – historian of the Italian Renaissance; dean of Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences
• Vito Delsante – comic book writer, including several issues of Scooby-Doo
• Shawnae Dixon – chef, cookbook author
• C. P. Dunphey – author of science fiction and horror stories
• Alex Gino – winner of Stonewall Book Award and Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Children's Literature
• Suheir Hammad – poet, author, Palestinian activist
• Michael Henry Heim – literary translator, fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Tyehimba Jess – Pulitzer Prize winning poet, College of Staten Island professor
• Charlie Kadau – longtime writer and senior editor for MAD magazine
• Ki Longfellow – novelist, born on Staten Island; author of The Secret Magdalene
• Lois Lowry – children's author, two-time Newbery Medal winner
• Andrew Ostrowski – newspaper columnist, specializing in topics from his Polish and Catholic heritage
• Brian Plante – writer, best known for science fiction stories
• Darwin Porter – travel writer and celebrity biographer; lives in New Brighton in the former home of Howard R. Bayne
• Joe Raiola – longtime writer and senior editor for MAD magazine
• Sarah Schulman – novelist, playwright, LGBT activist, College of Staten Island professor
• Pam Sherman – Gannett columnist also known as "The Suburban Outlaw"
• David O. Stewart – historian and author
• John Taddeo – writer, director; born and raised in Staten Island
• William J. Taverner – sex educator and author; grew up on Staten Island
• Anthony Torrone – author of Anthony's Prayers, inspired by his years in Willowbrook State School
• Lara Vapnyar – Russian Jewish emigre writer known for her novels and short stories