New Dorp is a neighborhood in South Shore area of Staten Island, New York near the foot of Todt Hill. Formerly one of the most important towns on the island before suburbanization, it was the center of much activity during the American Revolution. Despite surrounding development, the neighborhood has retained its distinct character as a town and is one of the most thriving commercial centers on the island.
Like all of Staten Island, the area of New Dorp was populated by American Indians going back over 10,000 years. At the time of the arrival of the Europeans in the 17th Century, it was inhabited primary by the Raritans and other subgroups of the Lenape tribe.
The first recorded European settlement of the area was in 1671. The English, after having taken over the New Netherlands colony from the Dutch, expanded the previous Dutch settlements along the South Shore at Oude Dorp ("Old Town") which had been established ten years earlier.
