Staten Island

This Week in the Voice: The Endless Bummer of Staten Island

​All the way out on the south shore of Staten Island lies a quiet, tucked-away community called the Cedar Grove Beach Club, a "poor man's Bermuda" for the few Staten Islanders who knew about it and summered there. That's all over now, as the city's Parks Department plans to turn the 200-acre p ... More >>

Faith Kramer, Health Teacher Who Let Kids Say "Furburger," Settles with City for $45,000

​The 26-year tenured Staten Island health teacher who allowed students to use slang sexual terms when she taught a lesson about AIDS filed a $1 million suit against the city for wrongfully suspending her, and has now agreed to settle the case for $45,000 -- an amount comparable to a first-year ... More >>

Yet Another Bias Attack Proves Staten Island Not a Friendly Place

​Staten Island is the smallest borough in New York City. Amazing, then, that it's had such a preponderance of bias attacks lately, including a new one under investigation involving a 15-year-old Mexican boy.

MTV Is Doing a Staten Island Version of Jersey Shore

​That's what I just heard, and as someone who has Italian-American friends in Staten Island, I'm certain that this will be another wow-apolooza. In fact, no coaching or scripting will even be necessary. These people act up like gangbusters!

Police Seek Suspects in Staten Island Hate Crime

The NYPD is asking for the public's assistance in identifying two suspects wanted in connection with a Staten Island assault that occurred on Wednesday, July 7. A 50-year-old hispanic man was walking on Port Richmond Avenue toward Harrison Avenue at about 4 p.m. when he bumped into a black female. T ... More >>

Honeychiles' Cajun Cooking, A New Restaurant Inside Williamsburg Dive Charleston

Fried shrimp po'boy​Charleston, the dive bar/music venue on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, used to offer free pizza with each drink. It was a good deal, but not nearly as tasty as what's going on in the kitchen now. Honeychiles' is a new restaurant within the bar, opened by Jesse Crawford and ... More >>

Morning Links: BP Spill Far Worse Than Exxon-Valdez, Ex-Inmate Gets $300,000 Payout for Squashed Balls, the World Cup Begins

​• Prepare to feel depressed: According to new estimates, "an amount equivalent to the Exxon Valdez disaster could be flowing into the Gulf of Mexico every 8 to 10 days." Ugh. President Obama is asking to meet with BP execs next week, and Congress is pressuring BP to stop paying shareholders ... More >>

'Rocks Off Concert Cruises Presents the Budos Band'

Tornado Watch in Effect For New York City

​New York City's five boroughs -- the crowded streets, big buildings, Central Park, Staten Island and the rest of this huge beautiful mess -- are under an extreme storm alert, including a tornado watch until 8 p.m. Sunday night, according to the National Weather Service. It's the first such wa ... More >>

Gear Up: Friday Is National Bike to Work Day

​The signs sometimes do align, as in the case of tomorrow, which is our humble nation's official Bike to Work Day. It's been bike month all of May, in fact, but if you've been focused on other things -- masturbation month, anyone? -- well, it's not too late to get involved.

Citizens Seek Missing Mayor: APB On Bloomberg After Ferry Crash

​The Staten Island Ferry Crashed. Do You Know Where Your Mayor Is? Last weekend, Mike Bloomberg waited until the show was over at the White House Correspondent's dinner in Washington before heading back to town to check into an attempted car bombing on the most crowded street in his city. Thi ... More >>

You Get What You Pay For: Staten Island Ferry Crashes Into Dock

​It's running almost constantly, provides a beautiful view and best of all, it's free. But the magical Staten Island Ferry had a little mishap this Saturday morning, when it crashed into the dock, injuring multiple people. Hopefully no one using the ferry to trek to work on this rainy Saturday ... More >>

Staten Island Man Being Shamed -- Shamed! -- for Stealing Cheap Shit

​A Staten Island resident would like to relay a message to the thief who plucked the outdoor lights from her Great Kills Lawn: If you're going to steal something, at least make it something good, a-hole!

Casting Director Seeks Staten Island Millionaires; We Say, Go With Grannies

​Are you or do you happen to know a Staten Island millionaire? If so, you may want to get in touch with Vinnie Potestivo, 32, who's currently casting the fourth season of Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker, reports SILive. (We admit a certain sick pleasure related to that programming. "We" meaning ... More >>

Things to do this weekend for (mostly) free

​The National Weather Service says it's pretty much definitely going to rain all weekend, so indoors is good. Go see the Wizard of Oz today and tomorrow at the Film Forum (double feature, with Captains Courageous)

Kreator

Local Rodent Oracle Predicts New York Will Resist Wrath of Winter

​While Punxsutawney Phil was predicting an extension of the freezing hell of winter in Pennsylvania, the avatar of our local wildlife cult, Staten Island Chuck -- known as "Charles G. Hogg" to schismatics -- made his appearance to the natives of the isolated island community this morning. Th ... More >>

Staten Island Man Threatens Suicide on Facebook, Goes Through With It

​"I can't go on anymore. I just hung myself." An unnamed man in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island put this and other disturbing notes on his Facebook page this afternoon, the Staten Island Advance reports. Friends saw the notes and, unable to reach him by phone, contacted authoritie ... More >>

Have You Seen... Staten Island SUV Smash-and-Grabber

​Well, here's an industrious, if misguided, little robber: He drove an SUV through the window of a laundromat on Hylan Boulevard in Staten Island, then popped in through the hole he made and stole all their quarters, or whatever cash was on hand. Cops says he's white, 35-45, 5'7", 170 pounds. ... More >>

Homeless Man Luis Reyes Found Dead in Abandoned Staten Island House; May Have Frozen

Homeless man found dead A homeless man was found dead in an abandoned Staten Island house on Sunday. Terry Troia of local charity Project Hospitality says the man, a Mexican day laborer named Luis Reyes, probably died of exposure. There was no heat or hot water in the house on Morningstar Road, of ... More >>

Man Bolts Chain Gang in Staten Island; Caught in Ferry Terminal

​A guy bolted from cops as he was walked from the St. George police station to a paddy wagon in St. George this morning. Police rushed to shut down the Staten Island Ferry and Staten Island Railroad trains while they looked for him, which was a good idea, because they found him at the Ferry te ... More >>

Staten Island Provides Yuletide Suicide-Attempt Story

​Here's a holiday perennial we expected would come around eventually: the Christmas suicide. Fortunately the victim has in this case survived. Christopher Lombardo, 47, of Staten Island set himself on fire at his home at 222 King Street yesterday, but then thought better of it, ran outside a ... More >>

Things to do this weekend for (mostly) free

​East Meets West Holiday Parade Little Italy and Chinatown Merchants Associations are sponsoring a parade from Mulberry to Mott Street, featuring marching bands, martial artists and acrobats, Italian American singers and Lion and Dragon Dance troupes.

9/11 Kin Want Landfill With Attack Victims' Remains Moved to Burial Site

​If, God forbid, we should be killed in a terrorist attack, and our remains scattered to Kingdom Come and even Staten Island, we request that our relatives and friends not attempt to have the ton of debris among which our remains may be scattered removed to a burial site, costing our fellow ci ... More >>

Ingrid Michaelson

Staten Island Bank Robber Caught

​Last week we showed a picture of a man who robbed the Northfield Bank at Hylan Plaza in Staten Island. So did the Staten Island Advance, and one of its local readers recognized the perp as a "homeless man suspected in a number of recent petty thefts in the New Dorp area," says the paper. The ... More >>

Staten Island D.A. Tries Shame to Stop Christmas Shoplifters, Again

​Last Christmas season, Staten Island D.A. Daniel Donovan cracked down on shoplifting at the Staten Island Mall by putting pictures of offenders in an attractive video display. This year he's doing it again. You can see the video at the D.A.'s web site, complete with 1980s movie theater trai ... More >>

Staten Island Movie Unlike to Lift Borough's Image

Staten Island gets a bum rap and God knows we try to show the Forgotten Borough in a positive light. But japes like SNL's Gossip Girl: Staten Island threaten to undo all our good work. (See Islanders' reactions here.) And the new film Staten Island by first-time director James DeMonaco won't h ... More >>

Another genius robber

​This is turning into a trend. Like our own two robbers on Staten Island, the young man in the picture helpfully provided the police with a picture of himself taken with the cell phone he stole.

Italian-American groups, Jerseyans object to MTV's Jersey Shore "guidos"

​Italian-American heritage groups and residents of the Jersey shore are threatening boycotts over a new reality series, Jersey Shore, which MTV is promoting as a look at nine of the "hottest, tannest, craziest Guidos" displaying big hair, good abs, and various forms of lack of continence in a ... More >>

New Rules for Staten Island Ferry: No Earbud Leakage, Bird Feeding

The rules have been tightened for behavior on the Staten Island Ferry. No loud noise, including "plainly audible" earbud leakage. You can't hand out pamphlets, either. Also, no "feeding animals, exposing oneself, or fishing from a ferry or ferry dock." A full list can be found here; they are mostly ... More >>

Advance Sees Gay Marriage Backlash; From Where? We Ask

We have to admit, we laughed when we read the Advance headline, "Staten Island senator faces backlash over same-sex marriage vote." Backlash? In Staten Island? Where "the first openly gay club in more than a decade" opened in August, and preachers inveigh against homosexuality on the Ferry? (Well, ... More >>

Staten Island Wastewater Plant Evacuated, Fumes Sicken 3

​Early this morning a sewage plant in Port Richmond, Staten Island was evacuated after a DEP worker and a couple of electricians were overcome by fumes there. Investigation suggests that the ill effects werre caused by a petroleum product that smells like gasoline and was not supposed to be i ... More >>

Have You Seen... Bank Robbers in Harlem, Staten Island

​ We've been having a bunch of bank robberies around these parts. Can you help out? On November 4, the woman at left hit the Banco Popular Banco Popular located at Broadway and 145th Street. She's said to be white, about 40, 5'2" and pock-marked, and to have a distinctive tattoo on her left a ... More >>

Staten Island Railway Ridership Plummets

​The local economy is so bad it's eating into train ridership. MTA's figure, recently reported down 4 percent, appears to be leveling out, and MTA even holds out hope that it's not as bad as it looked. But things are worse in Staten Island. The 14-mile Staten Island Railway is on pace for a 6 ... More >>

Staten Island Dumbasses Pose for Camera While Robbing Dunkin' Donuts

​ We love Staten Island. These two guys broke into a Dunkin' Donuts in St. George in the wee hours of November 13, and stole about $3,000. However, they did not take precautions as to the security cameras, as this still from the Staten Island Advance shows. (Guy #2 is in the lower right hand ... More >>

Have You Seen... Staten Island Cash Register Thieves

These cowboys have been flying around Staten Island's North Shore, usually on Forest Avenue, since August, pulling their dark-colored 2002-to-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee up to nail salons, dry cleaners, hair stylists, and others among the remaining businesses in that part of the island, and snatching ... More >>

Somebody Got Murdered: Murder in Staten Island

View Larger Map DATE: Nov. 14, 2009, 5:37 a.m. LOCATION: 23 York Ave., Staten Island. Staten Island isn't known as a murder hotbed, but this weekend, two men were shot and killed in the borough. The first of the fatal shootings took place early Saturday outside of the above address. The victim, id ... More >>

Somebody Got Murdered: A Second Weekend Homicide in Staten Island

View Larger Map DATE: Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 12:27 a.m. LOCATION: In front of 44 Yale Street, Staten Island. In the second of two weekend murders in Staten Island, two men were shot, one of them fatally, while they sat in a Lexus outside the above address early Monday. One victim, a male, 24, was ... More >>

NASCAR abandons Staten Island

​International Speedway Corp. (ISC), whose plans to build a NASCAR track on Staten Island set off a "near riot" at a public hearing, announced the sale of the site to a Texas company at a $30 million loss yesterday.

Post-Parade Chaos on the Staten Island Ferry

Not necessarily happy with today's Yankee parade: some Staten Island commuters caught in the crush of revelers who were making their way back to the Forgotten Borough afterwards. "'It was chaos,' says commuter who was stuck in overcrowded Whitehall Ferry Terminal," reports the Staten Island Advance. ... More >>

Straphangers Award "Pokeys" for Slowest Buses; M42, B63 Big Winners

The NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives have announced their eighth annual Pokey Awards for the city's slowest buses, and the surprise winner is the M42 that lumbers between the Javits Center and First Avenue on 42nd Street. By the sponsors' calculations, the M42 achieves a ... More >>

Have You Seen... Staten Island Livery Car Stabber-Robber

On Sunday a little after midnight this guy at caught a ride from a livery driver near the Ferry Terminal on Staten Island. He had the driver take him all the way out to Mariners Park on the other side of the Island, then started hitting him in the head. They both tumbled out of the car around Neth ... More >>

Blogger Dan de Lara (a/k/a Asian Dan) Professes His Love for Battles, Irving Plaza, and A-Trak

We recently published the Voice's Best of NYC issue, our annual opportunity to bestow arbitrary awards like Best Rapper Twitter Feed and Best Radio DJ. In turn, we asked a few of our favorite New Yorkers to name their favorite local things. Dan de Lara may hail from the forgotten borough, but th ... More >>

URBAN LEGEND

Staten Island sure is scary

Times: New Storefront Art Shows Like Old Kind, Except Fancy, Curated

​Last week we mentioned that some city-owned rental space, even in buildings one imagined would be very rentable (the Staten Island Ferry terminal, for example) were being offered free to artists to use as exhibition spaces. Today the Times tells us the city's not the only landlord to give ov ... More >>

Court: city, not God, responsible for Staten Island sewage flood

Lucyann Sciacca of Staten Island, representing herself in Small Claims Court, won $5k in her suit against the city for damage done when raw sewage flooded her basement during a 2007 storm which left Staten Island a Federal Disaster Area. The city has defended itself against $1.3 million in previous ... More >>

Staten Islanders Take (Traffic) Law into Own Hands, DIY Speed Bumps

​The folks on Staten Island are the freewheeling DIY types, as was revealed by the homemade speed bumps that recently appeared on Locust Avenue in New Dorp. The residents, who worry about fast and reckless drivers on their street where their children play, and have seen the apparently feeble s ... More >>

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 >>