Named for the water that built the borough's breweries
Czech and German lagers built on double decoction mashes and weeks of cold conditioning, brewed and poured on the North Shore where the borough's first brewers set up.
From the Craft House to Richmond Terrace
Kills Boro was founded on Aug. 21, 2017, brewing inside the Craft House in Tompkinsville. The name comes from the “kills,” the Dutch word for the tidal straits that ring the borough and that the German brewers here built on.
Nine years later we're on Richmond Terrace with a proper brewhouse, twenty taps, side-pull faucets flown in from Prague and Knead serving a full menu in the same room. What hasn't changed: we brew lager, we brew it slowly, and we don't rush a keg to the floor because the weekend is coming.
Knead is run by Executive Chef Rafael Ortiz. Across a 14-year career in New York kitchens he has worked under April Bloomfield and David Burke, and credits Italian-Mediterranean chef Nina Clemente as a defining mentor.
How it went
2017
Aug. 21: founded
Kills Boro founded, brewing inside the Craft House in Tompkinsville.
2018
Killsner arrives
The German pilsner that became the flagship, and never left the tap list.
2019
Richmond Terrace
The team buys an industrial building at 814 Richmond Terrace.
2023
First batches
Started brewing beer in the new brewery.
2025
June: doors open
The Richmond Terrace brewery, taproom and Knead open.
2026
Aug. 21: nine years
Nine years.
Your mug lives here
Your seat at the bar and your name on a mug. Members get their first Šnyt of the day free off any LUKR tap, 10% off merchandise, event discounts (Pizza Party included), a members-only mixer, a take-home mug and merch nobody else can buy.
$225
Free
Open
Enrollment is open at the moment. It won't always be.
Press & Awards
Silver: Day Tripper, German pilsner
New York State Craft Brewers Competition, 2026
Bronze: Killsner, pilsner
New York State Craft Brewers Competition, 2025
Bronze: Heavy Handed, IPA
New York State Craft Brewers Competition, 2024
Craft Beer & Brewing reviewed Killsner in its Fall 2025 “Endless Lager” issue. Heavy Handed scored 95 in the same magazine's December 2024 BJCP blind taste test. Time Out New York covered the Richmond Terrace opening in 2025, and beer journalist Joshua M. Bernstein wrote the first look at the new brewery.
Time Out New York · July 2025
A massive brewery and taproom just opened in Staten Island →
Staten Island Advance · June 2025
Kills Boro Brewing Co. opens new Staten Island taproom after 5 years of construction →
Staten Island Advance · May 2026
Restaurant inside Staten Island brewery launches new menu →
Staten Island Advance · March 2026
New Staten Island craft beer supports veterans, students and families with every can sold →
Follow Along
