2. The Alice Austen House
Clear Comfort, one of the oldest buildings on Staten Island, was the charming 19th-century home of photographer Alice Austen. Alice moved into this 1690s Dutch farmhouse with her mother in the 1860s. It was in this home that Austen discovered and nurtured her passion for photography and lived happily with her lover Gertrude Tate until the Great Depression.
Today, the house serves as a museum where visitors can learn about Austen’s life and work. The allegedly haunted house was designated as a New York City Landmark in 1971, though there is no mention in the designation report of Austen’s connection to the LGBTQ+ community. The site was designated a National Site of LGBTQ History in 2017.