 Borough President Vito Fossella honored Robert and Linda Ollis as the 2025 recipients of the Albert V. Maniscalco Community Service Award during a small gathering in Borough Hall. Following the posthumous Medal of Honor awarded to their son, Staff Sergeant Michael Ollis, Borough President Fossella chose the couple for their steadfast commitment to not only remember their son but also uplift the community around them while doing so. They established the SSG Michael Ollis Freedom Foundation to support the veteran community. "You don't just carry on Michael's legacy," said Borough President Fossella. "You do do it with grace, humility, a tradition rooted in just a sense of service for others, and we will never forget Michael's sacrifice," said Borough President Fossella. Staff Sergeant Michael Ollis, who served in the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division, was killed in Afghanistan while protecting a Polish soldier. He was 24-years-old. As part of the ceremony, the Ollis' names were unveiled on a plaque in the main lobby of Borough Hall, and a framed portrait of their son was installed in the conference room next to Staten Island's two previous Medal of Honor recipients, Rev. Lt. Vincent R. Capodanno and Private Joseph F. Merrell Jr.   Borough President Vito Fossella issued a call to the city to increase its allocation of paving resources to Staten Island in the upcoming budget after two snowstorms left the borough’s streets riddled with potholes.
“We’re here to really call upon the city to recognize the conditions of the roadways and also to realign the interests of what really matters,” said Borough President Fossella at a press conference at the intersection of Thornycroft Avenue and King Street in Eltingville. “We have a situation where typically 200 lane miles are needed on Staten Island to be paved, to keep them in relatively good condition. The city is slated to pave about 150 miles of roads. So, on the surface we already know it’s a problem.” He said the borough is getting “the short end of the stick” as money is being spent here in areas that are not generally supported by Staten Islanders, specifically a $2B deal signed by the Department of Homeless Services to house people in hotels. “Their spending priorities, to me, are wrongheaded,” said Borough President Fossella. “This is part of the anti-car culture in the city, you know more bike lanes that we don’t want, make driving as miserable as possible, and just take that money that we need and we want and put it elsewhere." Borough President Fossella urged the city to "put Staten Island' as they hash out the budget. "So, let’s put Staten Island first, let’s put Staten Island’s streets first and when they’re contemplating the budget over the next couple of months, put the people of Staten Island first and not second as has been happening for the last few weeks from being shut out of the 2K program and getting proposed homeless shelters we don’t want.," said Borough President Fossella. "You just keep adding it up and Staten Island is getting the shift and it needs to stop and it needs to change.”  Borough President Vito Fossella was joined by District Attorney Michael McMahon and students from Staten Island schools to announce the 35th annual Notre Dame Club Bread Of Life Food Drive.
The Bread Of Life Food Drive works with more than 100 borough public and private schools with "Fight Hunger, Not Each Other" as the continuing catchphrase. Since its inception, the Bread of Life Food Drive has collected and distributed more than two million non-perishable food items to 25 non-profit organizations on Staten Island. “You come together to make things better," said Borough President Fossella during a press conference in Borough Hall. Rev. Terry Troia, executive director of Project Hospitality, one of the recipient organizations, shared a story of a phone call she received from the principal of a fourth-grade student who was so hungry she ate an entire piece of Easter candy, wrapper included. She visited the student’s home and found less than a quart of milk in the refrigerator and a single bag of potato chips in the cupboard as their sole source of food. Her mother also had a 10-month-old baby and was pregnant. “These are the kinds of situations that require the food that you are collecting,” said Rev. Troia. “What you do is fill those cupboards and refrigerators. You are saving that fourth-grader from having to eat that wrapper and that is very powerful.” The participating schools will collect food throughout the rest of the month. The food will then be boxed at Monsignor Farrell High School on March 28 and delivered to the recipient organizations. "It’s just an inspiring response from all the schools,” said Bread of Life Executive Director Joseph Delaney. |