A gemstone set in the history of the Risorgimento can be found in a quiet corner of Tompkins Ave, in the Clifton section of Staten Island overlooking the Narrows. The setting is theatrical. If New York City is the stuff of fairytales, then Staten Island is the boisterous red-headed stepchild. Although the suburban residents have been connected to Brooklyn by the Verrazzano Bridge since 1964, Staten Islanders have a history of feeling politically ostracized and neglected by the rest of the city.
When Antonio Meucci and Giuseppe Garibaldi became housemates in 1850, this quiet, wooded island was a short ferry ride from a rapidly industrializing Manhattan, but a world away. Their home, now the