On Wednesday, March 29th, Borough President James S. Oddo hosted “A Conversation with the Class of 2017” at P.S. 48. At the event, student reporters from Island high schools asked BP Oddo about quality-of-life issues affecting Staten Island, which opened up a back-and-forth dialogue between BP Oddo and the students.
 
Topics that students were interested in were varied and ranged from the opioid epidemic to education to transportation. 

In addition, Chris Pansini of the YMCA Counseling Service spoke to the students about his own battle with addiction and emphasized the importance of treatment.
 
“You are the future, and it's inspiring to see how civically engaged you are,” BP Oddo told the students. “I appreciate how passionate you are about these issues and hope that you will help us work towards making Staten Island a better place to live.”
 
Students from Curtis High School, Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning High School, Michael J. Petrides School, Monsignor Farrell High School, Moore Catholic High School, New Dorp High School, Port Richmond High School, Ralph R. McKee Career & Technical Education High School, Staten Island Technical High School, St. Peter’s High School for Boys, Susan Wagner High School and Tottenville High School participated in the forum.

The “Conversation” concept was born in 2015 and has become an annual event.

​On Friday, March 24, Borough President James Oddo, City Councilman Joe Borelli, NYC School Construction Authority President Lorraine Grillo, Department of Education Deputy Chancellors Corinne Rello-Anselmi and Elizabeth Rose, District 75 Superintendent Ketler Louissaint, and PS 37 Principal Florence Gorsky announced plans to construct an annex at PS 37 to alleviate overcrowding conditions.
 
In March of 2016, almost a year to the day of Friday’s announcement, BP Oddo, Councilman Borelli, Lorraine Grillo, and Kevin Moran from the DOE, Councilman Borelli went to look at possible sites and to come up with solutions to help. Together, they pushed for better facilities and expedited solutions.  On Friday they will announce a solution that will add much needed space to PS 37.
 
The school will be expanded so that all grades – including the intermediate grades currently housed in pods on the campus and the high school grades, currently a few blocks away in pods - will all be at the same campus. The new school will feature a cafeteria, resource room, medical suite, 16 additional classrooms, and more. 

​On Monday, March 13th, BP Oddo joined with Council Member Joe Borelli and NYC Parks Borough Commissioner Lynda Ricciardone to announce the completion of upgrades to Wolfe’s Pond Park. The upgrades include the installation of adult outdoor fitness equipment and the renovation of the existing hockey rink. The upgrades, which cost $200,000, were funded by BP Oddo and Council Member Borelli.
 
In addition to attending the ribbon cutting ceremony, BP Oddo and Council Member Borelli tried out some of the fitness equipment and played a quick round of hockey on the renovated rink.
 
“We are proud to be the Borough of Parks,” noted BP Oddo. “We want to see Staten Islanders out in our parks and make sure they are up to date. When you're out getting your cardio, you can now get in some pull-ups on the new adult fitness equipment in the park.”
 
BP Oddo and Council Member Borelli plan to fund further updates to the park in the future.