In the spirit of classic PSAs, last year, Staten Island Borough President James S. Oddo held a contest asking Staten Islanders to get out the message of cleaning up our borough by recording their own anti-litter PSA. The contest – which had 6 finalists – was eventually won by Staten Island Tech student Aria Mutkowski. Again this year, BP Oddo is asking for homemade PSAs to get the word out.

Starting today, and running through June 18, residents are urged to get creative and film a PSA with the message of children teaching adults not to litter. The anti-litter videos, which he expects will be made using camera phones or more professional cameras, should be at least 15 seconds long and not exceed three minutes in length.

“What better way to reach Staten Islanders than by tapping into the creativity of Staten Islanders?” said Borough President Oddo.  “Anyone with a smartphone or camera can join in and show off their community spirit, while showing, in a pithy way, why litter is wrong and hurts our community. We’ve found that kids teach parents, so we’d like to see this translated into this year’s PSAs.”

To enter the contest, Staten Islanders are encouraged to post their videos on the Borough President’s official Twitter (Twitter.com/StatenIslUSA) page with the hashtag #SILitterPSA or email the link for their submission to Anthony Basile at abasile@statenislandusa.com by 5 PM on June 18, 2015. 

After receiving all submissions, he and his staff will pick their favorite PSAs and then leave it to the public to pick the winner. Those five best PSAs will be voted on by Staten Islanders. ​

Borough President James S. Oddo has announced the dates and locations for the 2015 Summer Sunset Concert Series. The series is made possible by the Borough President and Council Members Vincent Ignizio, Steven Matteo and Debi Rose. In addition, he announced two other special events – a free Doo Wop concert and the popular Back to the Beach festival.
 
All Thursday night concerts will begin at 7 pm. The concert schedule is as follows:
July 2nd – Conference House Park
July 9th – Clove Lakes Park
July 16th – Lemon Creek Park
July 23rd – Corporal Thompson Park
July 30th – Historic Richmond Town
August 6th – Bloomingdale Park
August 13th – Snug Harbor Cultural Center
August 20th – Willowbrook Park
August 26th - Historic Richmond Town (make up)
August 27th – Silver Lake Park
September 3rd - Clove Lakes Park
 
SPECIAL SATURDAY NIGHT SHOW: Freedom Circle: August 15th – An Evening of Doo Wop, featuring Vito Picone and the Elegants and The Expressions
 
“I am happy to partner with my colleagues from the City Council to present these concerts in various parks around the Island,” said Borough President Oddo. “We are excited to offer this free entertainment to Staten Islanders while giving some of our homegrown talent a chance to show off their musical skills.”
 
Vito Picone, headliner of the Doo Wop show on August 15th, said, “We’re looking forward to going back again this year; it was an honor last year. Nothing feels quite like going home. The fans had signs welcoming us back. There’s nothing like being part of Staten Island.”
In addition, BP Oddo and Massimo DiDonna, of the Bini Foundation, announced that Back to the Beach would return again this summer, on July 11 and 12.
 
“We’d like to thank the Borough President for the opportunity to partner on Back to the Beach again. It’s a great festival and it allows us to continue to raise money for the community and be there in times in of need,” DiDonna said.
 
“Back to the Beach is a uniquely Staten Island venue,” said BP Oddo.  “These are all great Staten Island moments, please come out. You will not regret it. We'll have a wonderful summer.”