​On Thursday, April 19th, BP Oddo joined Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza to cut the ribbon on the new Borough President’s Hall of Science at the Petrides Complex. The facility is a two-story, 15,000 square foot space, which features hands-on science exhibits and stations aimed at students from K-12. Students from across the Island will be able to use this science lab as part of their STEM curriculum.
 
BP Oddo allocated $500,000 in capital funding to turn the space into an immersive STEM learning environment. The facility includes eight science stations with different themes, including an arch bridge, Lite Brite pixy pegs, Bernoulli blower, hyperbolic-funnel, Ferrofluid Magnetoscope, water table, design challenge, and a race track. In addition, the upstairs area will serve as a "Makerspace," where students will learn science, math, and technology through hands-on activities.
 
“I’m excited to see students from across the Island experiencing hands-on STEM learning at the new Hall of Science,” said Borough President James Oddo. “This is a great transformation of a previously underutilized space at the Petrides complex, and this is an example of common sense that isn’t too common at times across government. Kevin Moran and everyone associated with this project should be proud and deserve our appreciation for willing this Hall of Science into existence. Our students are going to benefit from this living and breathing science lab.”
 
“I am thrilled that students in Staten Island will have this new opportunity to experience hands-on, innovative science instruction,” said Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza. “I thank the Borough President for his partnership on this new state of the art science center and continued commitment to our students and schools.”
 
The space had been previously used to store Department of Education archives.

​On Thursday, April 12th, Borough President James S. Oddo hosted “A Conversation with the Class of 2018” in the Black Box Theater at Susan Wagner High School. This year, the format of the event was changed to allow for a more personal, one-on-one conversation with BP Oddo. Students were asked to bring questions about issues on Staten Island that affect them and to come prepared to talk about their own experiences and where they see themselves going in the future.
 
Topics that the students were interested focused mainly on the opioid epidemic. They gave BP Oddo and his staff ideas about how to revamp the anti-drug message to make it more effective for younger generations.  
 
“You all have great opportunities ahead of you, and I want you to take advantage of them,” BP Oddo said to the group of students. “I am so impressed by all of you and your passions. I hope you will take your passions and help Staten Island become a better place to live.”
 
Students from College of Staten Island High School for International Studies, Curtis High School, Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning High School, Michael J. Petrides School, Moore Catholic High School, New Dorp High School, Notre Dame Academy High School, Port Richmond High School, St. Joseph by the Sea High School, St. Joseph Hill Academy, Staten Island Technical High School, Susan Wagner High School, and Tottenville High School participated in the conversation. 

On Thursday, April 5th, Deputy BP Ed Burke joined Council Member Steven Matteo and representatives from the Parks Department to break ground on the reconstruction of the New Dorp Beach Friendship Club. The first floor of the building, which was badly damaged during Sandy, is undergoing a full $2.1 million renovation.
 
This project will reconstruct the interior of the first floor. Its restoration will include a remodeled kitchen so that daily meal service at the center may resume. Additionally, the first floor renovations will accommodate space for members to enjoy recreational activities.

Throughout the process, BP Oddo and Council Member Matteo pushed the administration to rebuild the facility. They also allocated the final funding for the new kitchen, which allowed the project to move forward.
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“When this project was dead, they revived it; when this project was delayed, they expedited it; and when the project was underfunded, they put more money in it,” Deputy BP Ed Burke said about BP Oddo and Council Member Matteo's dedicated to the project. “This will be a great place for friendships to form and continue. We’re looking forward to the return of the Friendship Club.”
 
“The damage to the New Dorp Community Center caused by Super Storm Sandy took away a sanctuary for seniors in this community,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver. “We took a step forward as we broke ground to reconstruct and restore this space so that its members can once again find much needed meals and companionship here.”
 
Additional funding was provided by the Mayor’s office and FEMA. The project is expected to be completed in September of 2019.

As the snow melts and litter begins to resurface, Borough President James S. Oddo is pleased to announce that his Clean Team is kicking off its operations this month. The Clean Team picks up litter at locations around the borough three times a week through the month of November. Over the past four years, the Clean Team has cleaned hundreds of locations around Staten Island.
 
BP Oddo is asking the public to report locations to his office for a cleanup. Cleanup requests can be sent in through the following ways:

1. Send a message or post to his official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/statenislandusa
2. Tweet us a location at @statenislusa
3. Use the BP Assist mobile app, which is available here: www.statenislandusa.com/bpassist
   
4. Report it at: http://www.statenislandusa.com/contact.html
   
5. Call our Borough President’s Helpline at 718-816-2000
   
6. Email the location to Anthony Esposito at aesposito@statenislandusa.com

“This remains a campaign without an exit strategy,” noted BP Oddo. “The fight to reclaim our streets from those who litter continues. We ask the public to help us, not only by not littering, but also by letting us know when they see a dirty location so we can send our Clean Team out to beautify the area.”
 
In addition to restarting Clean Team operations for the year, BP Oddo will host his 2018 “Litter Summit” next week. The meeting, which city agencies and other stakeholders will participate in, will help BP Oddo craft his anti-litter plan for the year.

Borough President Oddo announced today that at the request of several Staten Islanders diagnosed with Lyme disease, he will be co-sponsoring the borough’s first Lyme disease patient support group forum to be held on April 24th at the JCC. The patient-run forum is open to the public, and participants will be invited to share their stories about the effect of Lyme disease on their health and quality of life.
 
At the patients’ request, the program for the meeting will be a conversation by patients and among patients, with opportunities for one-on-one discussions. There will not be health care experts nor physicians on the program, as the patients would like to focus on individual stories and patient perspective.
 
“A group of ten Lyme disease patients came to me asking for help to establish a support group where they would feel comfortable sharing their experiences,” said BP Oddo. “Having been involved in Lyme disease awareness for many years, I immediately saw the value in this initiative and respected the patients’ interest in helping others suffering from this disease.”
 
In February 2018, the Borough President invited a group of Lyme disease patients to Borough Hall. It was there that the patients and the Borough President’s staff came up with the notion of holding an open forum for those suffering from the disease. Their goal was to provide a venue for Staten Islanders who want to communicate with other Lyme disease patients but don’t currently know how. The forum is designed to not only give comfort to others, but also to create an organizational structure for a support group network that will hold future sessions. Once established, the Lyme Disease Support Group will hold future meetings with medical professionals; however, their core mission is to create a comfortable venue for patients to share their stories.
 
The event will take place from 6:30-8:30 on Tuesday, April 24th at the Bernikow JCC (1466 Manor Road). Light refreshments will be served at the meeting. Please pre-register for the event by contacting Kelly Pereira at 718-816-2226 or by email at kpereira@statenislandusa.com.

​On Tuesday, March 27th, BP Oddo and District Attorney Michael McMahon hosted a Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Breakfast at the Excelsior Grand. The second annual ceremony, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the conflict, honored those who served in the U.S. Armed Forced during the Vietnam War era.
 
The event was hosted by local celebrity Brian “Q.” Quinn of the Impractical Jokers. In addition to the BP Oddo and DA McMahon, speakers included General Loree Sutton, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Veterans Services, and Shannon Daly, a former U.S. Marine who graduated from the Richmond County Veterans Court.
 
At the event, Dennis and Mary McCloone presented the White Table, a POW/MIA recognition ceremony.
 
"We hope you know that we honor and acknowledge your service and respect you. Welcome home,” said BP Oddo. “Moments like this give this job meaning for me.”
 
“When America’s Vietnam War veterans returned home, many were not treated with the respect and appreciation they deserved for their service and bravery. Nevertheless, Staten Island’s Vietnam Veterans continued to serve their nation in the decades to come by playing an active role in fighting to make our community stronger and better for all. I am honored to once again join Borough President Oddo in giving these American heroes the heartfelt thanks they have so rightfully earned,” said DA McMahon.
 
Following the event, all of the Veterans were presented with lapel pins as a symbol of recognition of their service. Over 125 Vietnam Veterans attended the breakfast.

On Monday, March 26th, BP Oddo held a press conference at Borough Hall to discuss the importance of sleep and the dangers of drowsy driving. This discussion is part of the next phase of his “Sleep Well, Staten Island” initiative. He was joined by Alec Slatky of AAA, who discussed the group’s recent studies on the connection between drowsy driving and crashes.

“In the last 20 or 30 years, we as a society have done great work on educating the public about the dangers of drunk driving. I think a similar campaign needs to happen, certainly here on Staten Island considering the amount of driving commuters we have on a daily basis, promoting an awareness on how many of us are sleep deprived and what that means in terms of our driving, our driving habits, and the dangers that poses to society,” BP Oddo said.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has recently completed two traffic studies on the large percentage of crashes that involve drowsiness and how driving drowsy produces a crash risk equivalent to driving drunk. Their study has found that 3 in 10 people have admitted to driving when they were so tired they could not keep their eyes open. They found that drivers who have gotten less than five hours of sleep are at four times the crash rate of someone who has had at least seven hours of sleep. They also found that approximately 9-10% of all crashes are caused by drowsy driving.

Drowsy driving is preventable by getting the recommended amount of sleep every night and pulling over to rest when you feel too tired to drive. 

“We know drunk driving is socially unacceptable, and we need to make drowsy driving just as socially unacceptable,” Alec Slatky stated. “There are so many factors to watch out for on the road, and drivers need to be able to function at maximum capacity at all times. We need to make sure drivers are taking their safety and the safety of others seriously, and a big factor in that is sleep.”

In support of Borough President Oddo’s initiative, DMV Executive Deputy Commissioner and Acting GTSC Chair Terri Egan said, “We should always remember to take precautions to avoid drowsy driving. A few seconds of inattention can lead to tragic results. Getting enough sleep is one of the key ways to prevent drowsy driving, especially when you’re going on a long trip.”

For more information on “Sleep Well, Staten Island,” click here.