Staten Island

Staten Island Town Brawl Goes Pretty Much As You Would Expect

Local tea party people warned in advance that Monday's Staten Island health care town brawl with Congressman Michael McMahon would be lively. And voila -- "Health care reform foes dominate meeting with Staten Island congressman," writes the Staten Island Advance. The peeps seem to have gone for the ... More >>

World Food Situation Dire; School Bake Sales Now a No-no

​An Australian scientist says that the world's food situation is so bad that we will have to produce more food in the next 50 years than we ever have in history. A growing population and climate change will make the task more difficult. [ABC News] Small farms are all the rage, according to a ... More >>

Things to do this weekend for (mostly) free

​ Leaf peeper map of New York State Saturday Korean festival and parade Dance, taekwondo, food, music and cooking lessons. Chile Pepper Fiesta, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens Music, chile-chocolate cooking, Qigong lessons, and hot stuff samples. Free with admission to the Gardens ($8 adults, $4 ... More >>

Health Care Town Brawl (with Tea Partiers!) (on Staten Island!) Monday

Hey, great: Health care town brawls are being revived -- and in Staten Island! "This is the kind of thing that the whole Tea Party movement is geared around," says Frank Santarpia, an organizer for the Staten Island Tea Party, about Monday's event, sponsored by Congressman Michael McMahon at the Pe ... More >>

Local Candidate Smiles, Votes

​ We thought campaigns had stopped sending these, so we were pleased to receive this picture of Staten Island council candidate Debi Rose entering the voting booth at Summerfield Methodist Church on Harbor Road this morning. Staten Island has never elected a black person to anything, but this ... More >>

New School Bus Policy Terrifies Parents on Staten Island

This year some public grade school students are not eligible for school bus service, which prompts concern on Staten Island. "City forces seventh- and eighth-graders from their comfort zone -- namely, the yellow bus," reports the Staten Island Advance. "At 7 a.m. in the wintertime," they lede, "Anna ... More >>

Staten Island 9/11 Memorial Defaced; Bronx 9/11 Memorial Restored

​As long as we're looking for 9/11 outrages, here's a defaced memorial: Kathryn Cronin, 56, of York, Pennsylvania visited the "Postcards" tribute in Staten Island and started beating it with a metal pipe*. She defaced images of two or more 9/11 victims, and has been arrested on charges of thir ... More >>

Staten Island Skinhead Arrested for Trying to Burn Down 7-11

​One of the things that makes Staten Island a unique part of our gorgeous mosaic is, while the rest of us are all cosmopolitan and tolerant, Staten Island has skinheads -- and we don't mean conscious peace punks, but skinheads like they have in Russia and at Idaho survivalist compounds. Witnes ... More >>

Tomorrow: Our 10 Best Indian Restaurants

​ Check here tomorrow for Fork in the Road's 10 Best Indian restaurants. We've ranged around the city, stuffing ourselves with Chettinadu fish curry on Staten Island, dosas in Flushing, khandvi and other regional snacks in Jackson Heights, and pongal in New Jersey (true Desi-land). We're pitch ... More >>

Sheepshead Bay Remembers: Old Roll-n-Roaster Commercial

Well, Movable Type is a fucking mess today, and who knows when the previous post will be visible. Bitter experience has taught us that the best way to make sure MT is working is to post something you might regret. So here's an old commercial for Roll-n-Roaster, the "not-so-fast fast food restauran ... More >>

Staten Island, Anthony Weiner Town Brawls Bring a Little American Rage to Our Communist City

​That Staten Island Health Care Town Hall seems to have had some of the now-traditional bellowing, but not enough to work up a good segment for Glenn Beck. The Staten Island Advance said the New Dorp event was "a chance for many to vent frustration over the plan," which sounds promising at fir ... More >>

Giuliani Speaks at Staten Island Golf Event, Criticizes Obama and "Nationalized" Health Care

Staten Island golf events are tumultuous affairs, apparently. Last week a local golfer sued because he perceived he'd been tossed out of a tournament unfairly. This weekend, Rudolph Giuliani, a good friend to Staten Island, spoke at the Richmond County Country Club event to raise funds for the CIAO ... More >>

Banned for Cursing, Staten Island Golfer Sues Club, Association

​Gotta love Staten Island -- even the golfers are contentious. Christopher DeMenna of Bay Terrace is suing Richmond County Country Club and the Staten Island Golf Association because they banned him from a tournament after he cursed out an official. In September 2007, it seems, DeMenna got int ... More >>

Vox Populi: Staten Islanders Complain of Bad Drivers, "Guidos," "Doot-Da-Doots"

​We love the Staten Island Advance. Today they asked readers, "what are your most annoying encounters with road rudeness?" You may not know this, but Staten Island is much like Jersey, and its inhabitants rely mostly on motorized vehicles to get around. While the first commenter says, "get a ... More >>

Staten Island Pol Gets Real Estate Taxes Frozen; Staten Islanders Attack Pol, Russians, Etc.

One thing we love about our Staten Island paisans: they aren't easily appeased, especially by politicians. Today the Staten Island Advance gave credit to local assemblymember Janele Hyer-Spencer -- last noted here for winning funds for a new community center, and thus stirring up Staten Island's st ... More >>

Mayor, Cops Warn Against Illegal Fireworks, Rooftop Parties, Fun

We know homemade fireworks are illegal in this town, but we were hoping that, with tourism down this summer, they might go a little easier on 4th of July street pyrotechnics. Alas, Mayor Bloomberg and the cops remain on our ass about it -- in fact they're even against rooftop parties to watch the Ma ... More >>

Lessons in Bloomy Speak: It's a Hard Landing, Not a Crash

From the Mike Bloomberg City Hall Lexicon:A packed Staten Island ferry that loses power just at it is pulling into the dock and bangs very hard into the pier , thus injuring 15 passengers or less, is a hard landing, not a crash. A crash is a packed Staten Island ferry that bangs very hard into the p ... More >>

Staten Islanders Displeased with Bike Lanes

People complain about bike lanes elsewhere in the city, too, but Staten Island seems to have more trouble with them than most. The Staten Island Advance tells us that new bike lanes are planned for the borough even as "half of the paint forming the Bay Street [bike] route has worn away" because of t ... More >>

Our Ten Best--Pizzas

New York City boasts the best pizza in the world. Period. But which ones to choose for Our Ten Best? There are so many kinds: We've got thin Neapolitan slices, and thick Sicilian slices, with Staten Island slices in between. We've got individual pies, and gang-size pies. We've got clam pies, and zit ... More >>

Staten Island School Excludes, Scars Kids with Poor or Cheap Parents

It was the kind of scarring childhood experience that might be discussed at length in a therapist's office someday: When I was growing up on Staten Island and didn't have enough money to attend my school's end-of-the-year carnival, I pressed my face against the school-yard fence and watched all the ... More >>

Carter Center Latest Staten Island Development Catastrophe

Staten Island seems to have the kind of problems with development that the rest of the city had years ago. We mentioned in passing the troubled state of the Lighthouse Museum, which the Staten Island Advance and others consider a frustrating boondoggle. Recently the paper covered the magnificent but ... More >>

Why Don't Staten Island Tourists Get Past the Terminal?

Did you know that Staten Island had tourism? It makes the attempt, anyway, via SINY, Staten Island USA, and NYC & Co. But the Staten Island Advance frankly admits that it hasn't been working -- tourists may take the ferry over, but they don't wander too far inland. Part of the reason is poor sal ... More >>

Janet Redmond-Mercereau Guilty of Murder

After jury requests for information that extended the wait for a verdict, Janet Redmond-Mercereau, the Staten Island woman accused of killing her fire marshal husband, has been found guilty of second-degree murder. She had claimed that she did not know who shot Douglas Mercereau in his bed in Decem ... More >>

Authorities on the Trail of the "Staten Island Vandals"

The Staten Island Advance! Exclusively! Takes us "inside the clubhouse of alleged Staten Island vandals." This would be a bunch of youthful mooks who robbed and vandalized a few places near their encampment, at which they apparently "used a generator to power a television so they could play vide ... More >>

Staten Islanders to Tie Up Verrazano Bridge with Pennies on Monday

Hey, you can have your Tea Parties -- Staten Island's having a Penny Protest! As few outside the forgotten borough noticed, the recent Albany MTA bill added a dollar to the Verrazano Bridge's $9 toll. So local "self taught artist" Scott LoBaido proposes that at noon on Monday, drivers protest the hi ... More >>

Staten Island Thieves Smarten Up, Use ATM Cams to Steal $500G

Staten Island, home of the world's worst bank robber, is now the target of a savvier band of thieves who are wanted by the NYPD for stealing from than $500,000 from local Sovereign Bank customers. According to the police, the pudgy-looking thieves (see photo) installed card skimmers and pinhole came ... More >>

Quick Hits

Well, it is a nice shot, but $329,000 is a little over our standard freelance rate. Best of luck, Luis Caldera. Great medical PR headline of the day: "Overeating to blame for U.S. obesity epidemic." The face transplant lady still loves her husband, who shot her face off. Brownsville Recreation C ... More >>

Chuck Schumer Avenges Humanity Against Urban Wildlife!

At last, one of our elected representatives is fighting back against nature, which as we previously reported is at war with New York, sending cows, wallaroos, feral parrots and other agents to smite us. Chuck Schumer strikes on two fronts: first, he has put in a bill requiring airports to report bir ... More >>

Senator Lanza Keeps Staten Island Secession Alive

The dream of Staten Island secession would seem to have died with John Marchi, but the Times tells us today that state senator Andrew Lanza is working on a Staten-Island-Out-Of-New-York plan, which he has been proposing since last year. He decries the "legacy of neglect" under which the forgotten bo ... More >>

John Marchi, 1921-2009

John Marchi, longtime state senator from Staten Island and two-time Republican mayoral candidate, died Saturday while vacationing in Italy. Marchi was first elected to the state senate in 1956 and retired in 2006. He chaired the state senate's finance committee during New York's fiscal crisis in the ... More >>

Russians Invade Staten Island Community Center, Elderly Bigots Fight Back

When Assemblymember Janele Hyer-Spencer announced that she'd scored $4 million in public funds to finance a new community center in Staten Island, complete with pool, we figured her constituents would be pleased. But it was weird when the Staten Island Blog said, "although the Russian community i ... More >>

Hotel Latest of Staten Island Builder's Projects to Fizzle

It's not just Manhattan that's getting hit hard by this economy. The Staten Island Advance tells us the Staten Island Hotel, jewel of the forgotten borough's hospitality industry, has gone into foreclosure. Its builder, Leib Puretz, is heavily invested in Staten Island real estate, with extensive pr ... More >>

International Fugitive Found Cleaning Boats on Staten Island

Have we told you lately that we love the Staten Island Advance? This is from one of this morning's stories, headlined "Police chase suspect through Staten Island cemetery": "It's unknown at this time what crime the person committed, but there's a lot of police activity in the area." And occasionally ... More >>

In Case You Haven't Looked Out Your Window Yet...

...we got snow. Weathermen predict over a foot of it. The storm extends greatly beyond our districts and has been playing havoc in the south. We're sure it will be a nuisance for us too, but then, these days, what isn't? Enjoy it before rush hour turns it into black slush. Update 9:50 a.m.: The MT ... More >>

Was Staten Island Pol's Cartoon Racist? You Be The Judge!

Artist's rendering. It's too bad no one is letting us see the allegedly racist email cartoon that Salvatore Ballarino, a member of Staten Island's Community Education Council appointed by borough president James Molinaro, is reported to have forwarded to colleagues. True, the comic strip sounds ba ... More >>

Quick Hits

99 Problems but a cookie ain't one His assailants in the Staten Island Election Night Hate Crime Spree have all pleaded guilty. Now victim Ali Kamara has been arrested for stealing a car. About 11 years ago 172 Stanton Street started to crumble. City officials hustled the tenants out and demoli ... More >>

Bobcat Captured in Staten Island

Okay, this is more like it: someone in Staten Island caught a bobcat. The 45-pound kitty was stalking the Grosmere section and a citizen decided to take matters into his own hands, drawing the creature into a game cage "using raw chicken liver as bait," a tip you may want to save. The animal is said ... More >>

COLLISION COURSE

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The Brief Return of Hannah Upp

Sarah Palin for New York Tourism

Staten Island Cop Posers Tape Released

BREAKING: S.I., Git Ready to Wrangle

Loehfelm's Fresh Kills Dumps on Staten Island of His Youth

Advance Covers Phone News of a Bygone Era

Staten Island Man, Mauled By Pit Bulls, Dies

I Try On Gene Simmons' Family Jewels