Could Ape City Secretly Actually Be Staten Island? – Collectors Confessions

Could Ape City Actually Be Staten Island?

By Chad Farley

Growing up, one of my favorite after-school rituals was sitting down in front of the television to watch the legendary “ABC 4:30 Movie.” For many kids of my generation, it was the perfect way to end a school day, and for me, nothing was better than when Planet of the Apes or one of its sequels was playing.

Over the years, I’ve watched the original films countless times, and recently I started thinking about something that may sound a little crazy at first: What if Ape City from Planet of the Apes was actually located on Staten Island?

Now before you dismiss the idea entirely, hear me out.

Fans of fantasy and science fiction love connecting fictional worlds to real-life locations. We’ve already made the connection between Staten Island and Westeros from Game of Thrones. So why couldn’t our borough also play a role in one of the greatest science-fiction franchises of all time?

At the end of the original 1968 Planet of the Apes, astronaut George Taylor famously discovers the ruined Statue of Liberty buried in the sand, revealing that the “alien” planet was actually Earth all along. It remains one of the most iconic twist endings in movie history.

Then in the sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, much of the story takes place in the “Forbidden Zone,” which is strongly implied to be the ruins of Manhattan. Underground mutant societies, destroyed subway tunnels, and the remains of New York City all play major parts in the film’s setting.

So if Ape City exists relatively close to both Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, where exactly would it logically be located?

Looking at a map, Staten Island suddenly becomes a very interesting possibility.

Think about it. Staten Island sits directly between Manhattan, New Jersey, and the harbor containing the Statue of Liberty. It’s close enough geographically to make the journey believable within the films’ world. Add in the fact that Planet of the Apes takes place thousands of years in Earth’s future, and the landscape could have dramatically changed after wars, environmental collapse, and the fall of civilization.

Could forests, ruins, and ape settlements one day occupy what we now know as Staten Island?

It’s a fun theory, but also one that strangely makes sense when you really think about the geography presented in the films.

Science fiction has always used New York City as a backdrop for stories about the future, destruction, and rebirth. Staten Island often gets overlooked in those conversations, but maybe our borough has secretly been part of these fictional worlds all along.

So what do you think? Could Staten Island one day become the future home of Ape City? And what other science-fiction or fantasy stories might secretly use our borough as inspiration?

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Banner Image: Ape Island. Image Credit – Collectors Confessions