Staunton Island

Updated 30 October 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Staunton Island is the central island of Liberty City in the 3D-era games Grand Theft Auto III (2001), Grand Theft Auto Advance (2004) and Liberty City Stories (2005). Despite a name that points to Staten Island, it is mostly modelled on Manhattan. It is the commercial centre of the city and the second area players unlock in each game.

What is Staunton Island?

Staunton Island is the middle of the three areas that make up the 3D-era Liberty City. Wikipedia describes the GTA III city as an industrial area, a commercial centre in the style of Manhattan and a stretch of suburbs, and Staunton is that commercial centre. In all three games set there, it is the second area to open, after Portland and before Shoreside Vale.

What is Staunton Island based on?

The name suggests Staten Island, but GTA Wiki says the layout mostly follows Manhattan. Its southern and central districts copy Lower and Midtown Manhattan, while the north mixes in parts of the Bronx and Riverside Park. The wiki adds that Rockstar has named other East Coast cities, such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and Detroit, as possible influences. The GTA III manual, as quoted by the wiki, presents the island as the central business district, run by money and corporate power.

What are the districts of Staunton Island?

GTA Wiki splits the island into three bands. Downtown, in the south, is Torrington, home of Kenji's Casino in 2001, and Bedford Point, with the courthouse, a cathedral, an opera house and the Liberty Tree newspaper offices. Midtown is Belleville Park, a large park ringed by smart hotels, and Newport, with the shopping mall, an Ammu-Nation, a Pay 'n' Spray and a marina.

Uptown is quieter. Fort Staunton is a residential neighbourhood, Liberty Campus holds Liberty City Community College, Aspatria has the stadium and a riverside path, and Rockford at the northern tip has the Porter Tunnel entrance and, in 1998, the ferry terminal.

Other sights listed by GTA Wiki include the Liberty Memorial Coliseum, Liberty City Cathedral, the city cemetery and the Love Media building, headquarters of Donald Love's business. For weapons, the Newport Ammu-Nation sells the usual range, Phil's Army Surplus in Aspatria sells military gear, and in 1998 Phil Cassidy runs a gun shop near Bedford Point.

Who controls Staunton Island?

In 2001 the Yakuza run Kenji's Casino in Torrington and hold Belleville Park. GTA Wiki says the Yardies took Newport over from the Sindacco family, and the Colombian Cartel shelters in Fort Staunton. Before the Mafia war of 1998, the Forelli family held ground in Belleville Park and the Sindaccos held Newport.

What happens on Staunton Island in GTA III?

GTA Wiki says the island opens after the mission Last Requests. It is where Claude goes after he breaks with the Leone family, and where he works for the Yakuza boss Asuka Kasen and later for the media owner Donald Love. Our Claude page has that story in full. In Advance, set in 2000, the wiki says the island opens after the mission Show the Money.

What happened to Fort Staunton?

Fort Staunton looks very different across the two Liberty City prequels. In Liberty City Stories, set in 1998, Wikipedia says it starts out as a Little Italy district under Forelli control. Donald Love then has Toni Cipriani blow it up with explosives so that Love's company can win the money to rebuild it. That is why the district is full of building sites by 2001. GTA Wiki notes that the GTA III version has a small park and several construction projects run by the Panlantic Construction Company.

The island plays other parts in that game too. GTA Wiki says it opens after the mission Driving Mr Leone, and Wikipedia's plot summary places the killing of Mayor Roger Hole in Belleville Park and has Toni and Salvatore Leone fleeing to Staunton Island later in the story.

How do you get to Staunton Island?

The Callahan Bridge reaches the island from Portland near Bedford Point, the Porter Tunnel surfaces in Rockford, and the Shoreside Lift Bridge stands in the north near Aspatria. Which link works depends on the year. Our Portland page covers the unfinished bridge and the 1998 ferry.

Staunton Island trivia

Some buildings exist only in one year, according to GTA Wiki. The Big Shot Casino appears in 1998, Pachinko World in 2000, and Kenji's Casino and the opera house in 2001. The wiki also treats Staunton Island as the 3D-era equivalent of Algonquin in GTA IV.