 Borough President Vito Fossella condemned the city’s decision to send Staten Island’s Sanitation crews to Brooklyn for snow removal.
“Staten Islanders became second-class citizens a couple of days ago because the city took a lot of Staten Island city crews and city personnel that were handling snow removal and moved them to Brooklyn,” said Borough President Fossella, standing behind a mountain of snow and some solid ice during a press conference on the corner of Laredo Avenue and Pompey Avenue in Eltingville. He said the intersection is “just one of the many, many spots across Staten Island that we can show you.” “This is just one example of an egregious crosswalk that is covered in snow with no indication of if it will be removed,” he said. “And we can use those crews who were deployed elsewhere. They’re doing the same exact thing in Brooklyn that they could be doing here.” Borough President Fossella acknowledged the crews who are working around-the-clock shifts, noting they may be faced with additional work as there is potential for a weekend snowstorm. “They’re doing their best to clean the roads, but there is more work to do -- a lot of bus stops, a lot of fire hydrants are still covered in snow,” he said. “No matter where you go on Staten Island, there are little pockets like this and somebody higher-up decided to take crews from Staten Island and bring them elsewhere. It’s a slap in the face to the people of Staten Island who just want clean streets, safe streets. With that said, there was a mistake made and I hope the city rectifies that and gets those crews back to Staten Island to help people get around. If that other storm hits, it’s going to be worse, it’s going to add insult to injury.”  Borough President Vito Fossella, State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton and Assemblyman Charles Fall united in a bipartisan, state-level effort to combat the siting of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) facilities in residential neighborhoods and to announce the introduction of legislation to stop their construction on Staten Island.
They stood outside the construction site of a BESS facility at 2166 Forest Ave. in the heart of Mariners Harbor, a dense residential neighborhood that sits between a strip mall and a deli, and across the street from Lowe's and Kohl’s, as well as two gas stations. Borough President Fossella said they have been calling on the city to say, “we don’t want them here.” “It seems like those cries have been falling on deaf ears to date, so we’re going to take another arrow out of the quiver and approach it from a state level,” said Borough President Fossella at a press conference at the site. “There are other parts of the country where there is a minimum distance between a home or a business. We just keep banging that drum as loudly as possible to say that we don’t want these things near people’s homes or businesses. We believe they’re unsafe.” The elected officials also pointed to large-scale fires near BESS facilities across the country, including one in Warwick, N.Y., which ignited last month and took 24 hours to extinguish. It was the third fire at the site since 2023. To combat the construction of sites on Staten Island, Senator Scarcella-Spanton is introducing legislation which would require Community Boards are notified when a battery storage system is planned for a nearby neighborhood. The legislation would also require annual safety inspections for the BESS sites. “We see how quickly they can go up in flames and we want to make sure that they are not by your homes, by your businesses and collectively, we’re all working together with our community partners to make sure we pass this legislation,” said Senator Scarcella-Spanton. 'You Should Feel Safe Wherever You Pray': Condemning Acts Of Vandalism At Staten Island Churches1/15/2026
 Borough President Vito Fossella; NYPD Borough Commander Assistant Chief Melissa Eger; District Attorney Michael McMahon, and State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton gathered to condemn recent incidents of vandalism at Staten Island churches.
The altar and statues were damaged during a morning mass at St. Ann’s R.C. Church in Dongan Hills on Jan. 9. St. Sylvester’s R.C. Church in Concord was vandalized during their Christmas Day morning mass. Two days later, there was a burglary in the rectory at St. Roch’s R.C. Church in Port Richmond. “We stand here in solidarity with our Catholic brothers and sisters and all those of faith to say on Staten Island, you should feel safe at your church or wherever you pray,” said Borough President Fossella during a press conference outside of St. Ann’s Church yesterday. “Religious freedom is at the cornerstone of who we are and we will defend it firmly and peacefully without apology.” Assistant Chief Eger said the individuals responsible for the vandalism at the churches have been arrested. NYPD Community Affairs Officers and patrol officers have increased their presence and have been making regular visits to houses of worship across Staten Island. “So, I want to emphasize that none of these incidents indicate the targeting of churches due to religious affiliation,” said Assistant Chief Eger. “These acts were of opportunism and theft, with a separate incident involving a mentally ill person.” Rev. Jacob Thumma, the pastor of St. Ann’s R.C. Church and St. Sylvester’s R.C. Church, appealed for increased mental health services and prayers for his congregants and the suspect in the incident at St. Ann’s. “This instant highlights an urgent societal concern -- the need for enhanced services and compassionate care for those suffering from mental illness,” said Father Thumma. “We must continue to invest in mental health resources that support families and provide timely interventions before crises occur. We ask the public to join us in prayer for the individual involved in this incident, that he may receive the healing he needs, and for the injured police officers and their families. We also pray for those in our congregation who were shaken by this event.”  Borough President Vito Fossella and Catholic Youth Organization officials unveiled a new set of rules for parents and spectators who disrupt games.
The rules are a response to a spate of spectator altercations during CYO games, most recently a courtside fight between two mothers in the middle of a basketball game in the gym of St. Teresa’s School on Dec. 20. In the following weeks, Borough President Fossella assisted the CYO in reaching a reasonable standard to hold parents and other spectators accountable for unruly behavior at games. The intent is to create a recurring sense of normalcy and good spirits at the games, particularly for the young athletes. Altercations had previously been handled on a case-by-case basis, “but at this point forward, there will be an objective policy.” Under the new rules, spectators who are ejected by a referee for disruptive behavior during a CYO game will now face a one-year ban. If that same individual commits a repeat violation, they will be hit with a lifetime ban. Additionally, any spectator who engages in a physical altercation will also be subject to a lifetime ban, permanently barring them from ever attending another CYO competition. Borough President Fossella said the majority of play is “nothing but a positive experience due to the coaches and the volunteers who step up to make sure young kids have a good time and to learn.” “The mission was about the kids,” said Borough President Fossella at a press conference in the CYO Community Center Gym at Mount Loretto. “The mission was about teaching them responsibility. The mission was about them having a good time. The kids are the center of this universe here. And every once in a while, some spectators get out of control and ruins it for the kids and ruins it for everybody else.” He said more than 4,000 student-athletes are on CYO teams, creating lifelong friendships. He called upon the leadership of all youth sports leagues to join the conversation. “We hope this is a way is to put the focus back where it belongs, on young children having a good time, learning a skill, learning a sport,” said Borough President Fossella. Michael Neely, county director for the CYO, said the two individuals involved in the fight in St. Teresa's School have been "indefinitely suspended” from all games going forward. “We strive to do what we can for the kids,” he said. “I think this is a very important message and I appreciate Borough President Fossella’s input on this. He’s been front and center with me for the last couple of weeks, kind of trying to talk me off the ledge a little bit, but it’s pretty upsetting and I really want to publicly thank him and his staff. I also want to thank my staff, too, for helping me through this time.”  Borough President Vito Fossella penned a letter to President Donald Trump in support of efforts to posthumously honor Staff Sergeant Michael J. Ollis with the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration.
He wrote the letter after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth recommended Staff Sergeant Ollis for the honor. "Staff Sergeant Ollis is the very example of the American spirit -- tenacity, patriotism, courage, and service to your fellow man," said Borough President Fossella. "His ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country, saving the life of somebody else, is an incredibly heroic action that resonates in our hearts to this very day. We hope Staff Sergeant Ollis can be bestowed the Medal of Honor, a medal he is so deeply deserving of, so that the generations to come can look to him and learn from his profound example." A graduate of the Petrides School, Staff Sergeant Ollis sacrificed his life while protecting a Polish soldier from a suicide bomber at their base in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom on Aug. 28, 2013. He was only 24. In the years since, Staten Islanders, including his parents, Robert and Linda Ollis, have advocated for his sacrifice to be officially recognized and honored at the national level. Staff Sergeant Ollis was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, the Silver Star, and the Bronze Star, as well as the Polish government's highest military award, the Polish Medal of Honor. (Photo courtesy of the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com/Jan Somma-Hammel) |