Brady’s Pond…

Brady’s Pond is a large artificial pond that sits on what was the Haunted Swamp. Perhaps the noise of the abutting Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad scared the ghosts off…? Now the 15-acre pond is an oasis amidst abundant houses. It is supposedly the only pond in the five-boroughs where swimming is allowed, but you have to be a member of the Cameron Club to get yourself wet. Membership is only permitted if you live within a certain radius. In 2008, ninety-five families were paying $500 a year for their membership. In the 1880s Philip Brady bought the pond, and it was there that he cut the ice that provided his income, and the pond’s name.