 Rita Bueti still brought to tears when recalling how Borough President Vito Fossella helped her son during his deployment to Kuwait.
Her son, Michael, joined the Marines because “he wanted to support his country and fight for his country,” but he quickly became depressed “because everybody was against the war.” While in Congress, he arranged a video call for families of the men and women serving overseas to talk about both their pride in their children and their fears. In the middle, Michael called his mom and asked, “what are we doing here, why am I here, I never should have come.” Then Congressman-Fossella overheard the conversation and asked if he could speak to Michael. “He took the phone, walked away and when he came back, he gave me the phone and my son was very appreciative that he spoke to him,” said Rita who ran into Vito at Disability Pride Month on Tuesday at the College of Staten Island. “I do believe you saved my son’s life because my son was very depressed. After the phone call, my son was much better. So, I want to thank Vito Fossella for doing that and always being very supportive of the military families and the developmentally disabled because I know he does a lot for them, as well.” We thank Michael for his service to our country.  Borough President Vito Fossella condemned recent acts of vandalism in the form of graffiti on the Postcards 9/11 Memorial, a sacred site which honors the memory of the Staten Islanders who were killed on Sept. 11 and in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
The words “Free Palistine” with Palestine misspelled and the anti-cop acronym, “ACAB,” were scrawled onto the winged walls of the Memorial. “In this great country of ours, The First Amendment, among other things, guarantees individuals the right to speak freely and express themselves," said Borough President Fossella. "It does not guarantee individuals the right to destroy and desecrate property, especially something as meaningful as the Postcards Memorial that honors all of the Staten Islanders who died as a result of the 9/11 attacks." Borough President Fossella immediately reached out to the New York City Economic Development Corporation, which maintains the site, and the graffiti was quickly removed. “We are grateful for the continued collaboration between our offices that have seen great improvements and beautifications to the site and are thankful for the help and partnership to preserve this memorial as a sacred place,” he said.  Borough President Vito Fossella celebrated a unique act of kindness and friendship between Zamier Davis, who strived to make the Honor Roll at Edwin Markham Intermediate School, and Wail Alselwi, the manager of Zack’s Finest Deli & Grocery in Port Richmond, who provided the incentive.
Zamier, a regular customer of the deli, made a habit of showing his report cards to Wail. He always made Merit Roll, but he wanted top honors. To provide the incentive, Wail made a promise to Zamier: Once he achieved Honor Roll, he would reward him with anything he wanted from the store for free. “I wanted to get better and after getting my average up to 80, I kept pushing and I made Honor Roll with a 90 average,” said Zamier during a press conference inside the deli last week. The heartwarming story first aired on "Good Morning America" and captured the moment when Zamier ran into the store with his Honor Roll certificate. Wail's response, “You did it, go grab whatever you want.” Zameir quickly ran through the aisles with sheer delight and brought several bags of Doritos Spicy Sweet Chili to the counter. Wail has now continued the academic incentive with other kids in the neighborhood. Borough President Fossella was so moved by the gesture that he presented Zameir and Wail with Certificates of Appreciation. “We all want our children to do well in school, we all want them to do well in life,” said Borough President Fossella. “Sometimes kids, like everybody, are encouraged to do things because of different incentives -- and everybody needs the right incentives to grow. This young man was at school and maybe not doing as well as he thought he could. So, this man right here said he was going to give him an incentive to make the Honor Roll at I.S. 51. He had no obligation, he had no reason, he had no point to help this young man, but he chose to and that’s the beauty of this story.”  Borough President Vito Fossella, Mayor Eric Adams, Police Commissioner Edward Caban, and New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda announced the culmination of months of successful enforcement actions against dozens of smoke shops on Staten Island.
“The people who own these facilities are both deceptive and dangerous,” said Borough President Fossella at a press conference. “They’re deceptive to the community and they’re dangerous because they basically attract young people at an early age and try to get them hooked on drugs.” For more than two years, Borough President Fossella has coordinated with the Sheriff’s office, forwarding constituent reports and providing updates on suspected illegal smoke shops. Borough President Fossella and Mayor Adams have jointly advocated for legislative intervention from the State to clarify the rules of enforcement and empower local law enforcement to crack down on illegal smoke shops. The 2024 New York State Budget included a provision enabling the Sheriff’s office to padlock storefronts found selling illegal marijuana, hold illegal smoke shop owners accountable, and immediately deputize the NYPD to assist in carrying out enforcement actions. On the heels of the expansion of enforcement powers granted by the State, the Sheriff Joint Compliance Task Force launched Operation Padlock to Protect, which conducts widespread compliance inspections. The inspections have led to arrests, summonses, seizures, and other enforcement actions, including evictions. Since the operation commenced, the task force has sealed over 535 illegal smoke shops, resulting in $43 million in civil penalties and $17.5 million in illegal products confiscated. On the day of the press conference, the task force inspected its last 20 reported Staten Island illegal smoke shop locations. Borough President Fossella vowed to continue the joint enforcement effort. “This doesn’t happen without teamwork, and it doesn’t happen without people working together to stand up for the good people of Staten Island,” said Borough President Fossella. “This is just the beginning. These places are like whack-a-mole. They shut them down once, they’ll open three blocks away. We are going to stay on it.” |