Retaining Walls on Todt Hill and the Serpentinite Ridge
The highest ground on the Atlantic coast south of Maine, steep private driveways, and the busiest neighborhood for retaining wall work in New York City.
NYC Retaining Walls is a licensed and insured retaining wall contractor building and repairing retaining walls on Todt Hill, Emerson Hill, Lighthouse Hill, Manor Heights and Dongan Hills. By the numbers, this is the most active neighborhood for retaining walls in New York: the Todt Hill–Emerson Hill–Lighthouse Hill–Manor Heights area ranks #1 of 262 citywide, with 37 permitted wall jobs, 53 properties with an inspector-confirmed wall problem and 56 Local Law 37–cited lots since 2015, and 95% of those jobs were on one- to three-family homes (NYC Open Data).
- Local Law 37 window
- Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026 (open now)
- Terrain
- Serpentinite ridge to ~410 ft; Greenbelt edge
- Most common jobs
- Homeowner driveway, terraced and stone walls
- Site visit
- Within 3 business days
Common retaining wall problems on Todt Hill.
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The 2026 LL37 report is due
Staten Island's window closes December 31, 2026. Tall walls along Todt Hill's frontage roads need a QRWI report filed within 60 days of the inspection.
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The driveway wall is moving
Long, steep driveways put car weight on top of the wall. That surcharge needs a permit and engineered plans at any height (1 RCNY §101-14).
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Rock where the footing should go
Serpentinite can sit a few feet under the topsoil, so footings get pinned to ledge or stepped, and digging is often by hand.
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Runoff from the slope above
Every lot here takes water from the one uphill. Without weep holes and a drainage zone, the wall holds back water as well as soil.
Retaining wall services on Todt Hill.
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Hillside Retaining Walls
Terraced and tall walls for steep lots, including Special Hillsides and Natural Area District sites. -
Driveway Retaining Walls
Walls alongside and below sloped driveways, designed for vehicle surcharge and filed with DOB. -
Stone Retaining Walls
Natural stone and fieldstone walls built and restored — repointing, resetting and matching old stone. -
Retaining Wall Inspection
Local Law 37 compliance: we coordinate an independent QRWI, prepare the wall, and handle required repairs. -
Retaining Wall Drainage Repair
Weep holes, perforated pipe and clean-stone drainage zones that take the water pressure off the wall.
How we plan a Todt Hill wall on rock.
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Call or send photos
Tell us the street and what the wall is doing. Todt Hill visits are scheduled in blocks to keep travel off your bill.
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Free site visit
Measured height, length and lean, a crack map, a drainage check and a DOB records lookup for the lot.
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Written scope and price
Repair, stabilize or rebuild, with engineering, permit and any zoning-district review spelled out.
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Build and closeout
Clean site, before-and-after photos, and the paperwork your inspector or insurer will ask for.
What the ridge asks of a wall.
Todt Hill is the high point of Staten Island's serpentinite ridge, about 410 feet, the highest natural ground on the Atlantic seaboard south of Maine. Emerson Hill and Lighthouse Hill are spurs of the same ridge. The rock is close to the surface, the lots are large and steep, and the houses sit well above or below the road, so almost every property needs walls: a wall along the driveway, a wall at the street, and often two or three terraces behind the house. The activity is concentrated in ZIP codes 10304 (#1 citywide) and 10314 (#14), which the neighborhood straddles, more than in 10306 (#53). Because serpentinite often sits a few feet down, we plan footings around it: pinning to sound ledge where it's shallow, stepping the footing where it drops away, and hand-digging where a machine can't reach the back of the lot.
Two rules shape the paperwork. Much of the ridge borders the Staten Island Greenbelt, and the Greenbelt is Special Natural Area District NA-1, where site alteration on qualifying lots needs City Planning review before DOB will issue a permit. And any wall 4 feet or taller from the top of the footing, or one carrying a driveway or sloped backfill, needs a DOB permit with plans by a PE or RA. On Todt Hill most driveway walls cross that line. For Local Law 37 walls, those 10 feet or taller fronting a street or sidewalk, Staten Island's window is open now and closes December 31, 2026; our Staten Island deadline guide covers the steps, and the Staten Island borough page covers the rest of the island.
Open Todt Hill in Google Maps ↗ Why Todt Hill owners call NYC Retaining Walls.
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Retaining walls are the focus
Site visits, estimates and repairs here are about one thing: walls that hold back soil — how they're drained, footed, reinforced and filed.
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Numbers on the first visit
Measured height, length and lean, a crack map and a DOB records check — not a guess from the curb.
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A written, line-item price
Repair, stabilize or rebuild, priced side by side, with engineering and permit steps spelled out.
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Licensed and insured
Licensed and insured for home improvement work in New York City, and we build to stamped plans when the code calls for them.
How we reach you on Todt Hill.
From 27 Knickerbocker Ave in Brooklyn we take the BQE and Gowanus Expressway to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, then the Staten Island Expressway to the Todt Hill Road and Richmond Road exits. We schedule ridge visits in blocks with the rest of Staten Island, and every Todt Hill property gets a site visit within 3 business days of your call.
Todt Hill neighborhoods we cover
- Todt Hill
- Emerson Hill
- Lighthouse Hill
- Manor Heights
- Dongan Hills
- Grasmere
- Westerleigh
Near landmarks like
- Todt Hill summit
- Staten Island Greenbelt
- High Rock Park
- Historic Richmond Town
- Moravian Cemetery
- Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art
Routes we use
- Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge (I-278)
- Staten Island Expressway (I-278)
- Todt Hill Road
- Richmond Road
- Manor Road
Transit: Staten Island Railway (Dongan Hills and Grant City stations).
Todt Hill retaining wall questions.
How much do retaining walls cost on Todt Hill?
Published Staten Island figures put installed walls at about $21 to $64 per square foot of wall face (homeblue), and HomeAdvisor's Staten Island average is about $6,000 for a typical wall. Todt Hill walls often run higher than average because of height, rock excavation, hand-carry access and engineering. In our NYC working band, engineering for walls 4 feet and up is about $450 to $970 (HomeAdvisor $350–750 times 1.29).
Does my Todt Hill wall need City Planning approval?
It might. Lots inside the Staten Island Greenbelt's Natural Area District, NA-1, can need City Planning review of site alteration, including regrading and new walls, before DOB issues a permit. Many ridge lots sit next to the district rather than inside it, so the lot's zoning is the first thing we check before pricing a new wall.
My driveway wall is under 4 feet. Do I still need a permit?
Probably yes. The no-permit exemption in 1 RCNY §101-14 covers walls under 4 feet measured from the top of the footing only when they carry no surcharge. A driveway, a parking pad or a sloped yard above the wall is a surcharge, so the wall needs a DOB permit with plans by a PE or RA regardless of height. We coordinate the filing and build to the stamped plans.
Is it too late to file the 2026 LL37 report for a Todt Hill wall?
Not yet. Staten Island's window closes December 31, 2026, and the report is due within 60 days of the inspection, so book a Qualified Retaining Wall Inspector now. A filing after the window is late, adding $1,000 a month on top of the $5,000-a-year failure-to-file penalty. We can connect you with an independent QRWI and start any repairs the report calls for.
Book a free Todt Hill site visit
Thanks, we have your request.
Callback within 1 business hour. If it's urgent, call (718) 555-0100.
Nearby service areas.
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Grymes Hill
North Shore hillside and LL37 walls inside the Special Hillsides Preservation District.
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Staten Island
Hillside, driveway and timber-replacement walls, and the 2026 Local Law 37 window.
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Brooklyn
Rowhouse rear-yard walls, subway-cut walls, and the ridge from Green-Wood to Bay Ridge.
Retaining wall work on Todt Hill?
We call you back within 1 business hour during business hours (Mon–Sat, 7am–7pm) and schedule a free site visit within 3 business days.