With three tall walls sheltering the spot from the wind blowing off the water, the stretch of dirt behind a deserted furniture store on Richmond Terrace was littered with old mattresses and empty bottles, wood pieces that could be used to build a bonfire and discarded clothes: All the trappings of a place to live - or at least to spend the night - under the cold, open sky.

In the dark, pre-dawn, the Rev. Terry Troia and a group of volunteers pushed their way into the area with flashlights, looking for homeless people who might be hunkered down.

Nobody.

Their careful search of 10 West Brighton blocks for homeless - in the thick brush along the railroad tracks, in the spaces between giant, empty trash containers in an open construction site, inside cars, on icy park benches and on the perimeter of an abounded cemetery - was part of the massive, annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE) sponsored by the Department of Homeless Services, which engaged more than 2,500 volunteers across the city, including some 150 on Staten Island, in similar quests.

"Obviously there are mattresses, clothes; people have been sleeping here," said the Rev. Troia, piercing the darkness with her flashlight. "It's important we know where people are so we can come out and make contact with them."

In this, the fifth year of the survey, with more shelter beds available than in the past, she said she hoped there would be fewer homeless found than the 152 who were without shelter on a similarly frigid, night last winter, according to city calculations.

That number - which was determined by taking the actual number of homeless people discovered by volunteers and using statistical models to extrapolate an estimate - was up by 13 percent from 2007 but still down from the count of 2005, when there were found to be 231 homeless Staten Islanders.

The city will release this year's tally in upcoming weeks.

"No one should ever have to endure the cruelties and discomforts of life on the streets," said Homeless Services Commissioner Robert V. Hess, in a statement about the count, during which decoys are also used to help gauge the accuracy. "With the hard work and dedication of our volunteers, HOPE is a single-night endeavor that counts in the lives of many vulnerable New Yorkers."

On Staten Island, volunteers gathered at Temple Emanu-El in Port Richmond and the New Dorp Moravian Church to receive training on how to approach people, ask questions and determine, if they are indeed homeless, whether they would like to receive services.

Then, at midnight, they fanned out like a blanket.

"I hope I don't find anybody, but if I can make a difference in somebody's life, than that's good," said Linder Hampton of West Brighton, who had come to volunteer with her 26-year-old son - her fifth year doing the count. "This is very important. It could be any of us; there are people from good homes who are on hard times. You can't be judgmental."

In a few hours at the St. George Ferry Terminal, she and a team of five other volunteers encountered 55 homeless people, most of them fast asleep on the benches. A story in Sunday's Advance detailed the increasing population of nomads at the terminal.

"Most of them were asleep; my heart did go out to them because they were turning and trying to get comfortable," she said.

Some of them who were awake said they did not want to move into a shelter, but a few people agreed to let a van come and take them to a place where they could get a shower and a hot meal.

"I didn't realize there were so many people like that," she said. "I know it used to be that way, but I guess that's where people go."

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