It is not surprising that Staten Island, the most bucolic borough, became a haven for Italian immigrants who arrived from Contursi-Terme, Italy during the early 20th century, says Frances R. Curcio in speaking of those who came to America to make a better life — in the country where many believed the streets were paved with gold.

Curcio, of Arrochar, professor emerita at CUNY’s Queens College and a learned author, presumes our borough’s terrain and climate probably reminded them of the calm, simple life in the “old country.” The Contursians settled in Tompkinsville, West Brighton, and South Beach.