Borough President Vito Fossella Allocates Funding For Track At Morris (I.S. 61) Intermediate School6/26/2024
  Borough President Vito Fossella and his office assisted Howard Gutter, a longtime Mariners Harbor resident, with restoring a sense of normalcy to his neighborhood following the three-story stacking of numerous containers on the property directly behind his backyard.
Over the past few years, Mr. Gutter and his neighbors have had to endure what appeared to be a container ship in their backyards. What started as a tire shop storing a few containers of used tires at 2246 Forest Ave. had grown into a three-story metal monstrosity while deteriorating their quality-of-life. Not only were the stacked containers a blight on their views, but some of the stacked containers allegedly contained tires, drawing concerns over possible fires. Mr. Gutter tried repeatedly to have the property owners remove the eyesore and potential fire hazard from his backyard, without any success. He contacted our office and, in collaboration with the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB), particularly Community Engagement & Programming Officer Frank Fontana and the DOB Padlock Unit, progress was finally made. DOB issued an order to the property owners to remove 16 of the containers by May 31. “Thank you so much again for all your help," said Mr. Gutter. "I kept calling around, and nothing got done. Finally, I reached y’all guys, and you got things done. I didn’t mess with the shop until they started stacking these tires three-stories high. The problem with those toxic tires, and nobody was policing what they were doing -- it wasn’t right. I just wanted the containers moved.” Borough President Fossella recently visited Mr. Gutter for a first-hand look at his backyard before the containers were removed. “All Mr. Gutter wanted to do was enjoy his backyard and the view, and that was unfortunately taken away from him,” said Borough President Fossella. “We were more than happy to help. Any time we can help a Staten Islander with a quality-of-life issue -- that is what we’re here for. We thank Frank Fontana and our partners at the Department of Buildings Padlock Unit for working with us to help this man out.”  Borough President Vito Fossella joined with a bipartisan coalition of elected officials, along with community groups, to protest a planned migrant shelter at Faith United Methodist Church in Port Richmond.
He said they were told “out of the blue” and “in the dark of night” that the proposed shelter would house 15 single males seeking asylum in the United States. “Some people in this community, volunteers, wake up every day trying to figure out, ‘how do we make Port Richmond better? How do we make the North Shore better?’” said Borough President Vito Fossella at a press conference outside of the church. “And then along come the agencies, [which] say, ‘Guess what? Here’s a way we can make it better: 'We’re gonna dump a migrant shelter right in the middle of your neighborhood.' How is that any degree of common sense?” Borough President Fossella said the elected officials vow to continue fighting the proposed Port Richmond shelter and any others proposed for or placed on Staten Island in the future. “We stand united in one voice to say this is wrong for the people of Staten Island, this is wrong for the community of Port Richmond,” he said.  Borough President Vito Fossella announced a $1.9 million capital allocation to Richmond University Medical Center to acquire a second state-of-the-art da Vinci Robotic Surgical System during a press conference in the Lucille and Jay Chazanoff Surgical Pavilion.
The da Vinci system, which is used in hospitals around the world, offers several advantages in the operating room, including greater prevision and access to surgical sites, mitigating infection, pain, and the need for opiates. It also improves recovery time and outcomes. It can be used for bariatric, thoracic, gynecological, urological, colorectal, and hernia procedures. Additionally, the efficiency associated with the da Vinci system helps avoid delays in scheduling surgeries. “RUMC is home to so many healthcare professionals who want the best for the people of Staten Island,” said Borough President Fossella. “When I did a walk-through with RUMC recently, they told me they needed another robotic system to deliver the best quality-of-care to Staten Islanders. It’s a game-changer.” Dr. Daniel Messina, RUMC president, said the addition of a second robotic system “will truly advance the surgery” provided for patients. “This is the same robotic system you will find in the most esteemed healthcare systems and academic places -- and not just here regionally, not just in the United States, but around the world,” said Dr. Messina. “Now, you can find it right here on Staten Island in Richmond University Medical Center." Dr. Messina said more than 80% of the surgical staff are trained in performing robotic surgery. Of the nearly 11,000 surgeries performed at RUMC last year, there were 8,000 performed using the da Vinci Xi Robotic Surgical System. “I can tell you there was a big tug-of-war for the one system that we had and now with the support of our Borough President, we will avoid that situation,” said Dr. Messina. “Robotic surgery continues to be the future of surgery and that future was part of the planning process when we designed our new surgical pavilion. Thanks to Borough President Fossella, we now have the technology that will take us to the next level.”  Borough President Vito Fossella joined his fellow elected officials as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced a $10 million investment to install enhanced license place readers at the Bayonne Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing.
They are already in use at the Goethals Bridge. License plate readers collect digitally readable images of vehicle license plates that are used to locate stolen vehicles or vehicles used in other criminal activity, or to identify vehicles involved with missing persons such as children and the elderly. While the Port Authority Police Department has been deploying mobile readers at the Bayonne Bridge and the Outerbridge Crossing, permanent readers use higher resolution cameras that are installed at locations optimal for more precise collection of data, which can be shared in real-time with law enforcement partners for investigations and prosecutions. License plate readers are a tool to combat stolen cars, and while car thefts are down over the last two years, the scanners should drive those numbers down even more. “We will continue to highlight the need for tougher measures and additional tools to stop thieves from stealing cars,” said Borough President Fossella at the Port Authority’s press conference on Monday at the Goethals Bridge. “Progress has been made, and we need to remain vigilant. We have maintained that license plate readers would be an additional and effective tool to reduce car thefts even more. We thank the District Attorney, NYPD and the Port Authority for their efforts and willingness to install these readers.” In addition to those already in use on the Goethals Bridge, the Port Authority’s investment will bring the total number of license plate readers to 40, which will include 24 new readers at the Bayonne Bridge and Outerbridge Crossing. They are expected to be installed by 2026. |