 Borough President Vito Fossella and Borough Parks Commissioner Joe Homsey walked along the FDR Boardwalk for a look at the ongoing construction to replace the nearly-century old, weather-worn wooden beams.
Last year, Borough President Fossella secured an agreement from then-Mayor Eric Adams to establish a dedicated fund for the repair and maintenance of the boardwalk. At the time, Borough President Fossella said years of wear-and-tear and delays in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ seawall project interrupted regular maintenance. “Here we are at the great South Beach Boardwalk -- it’s enjoyed by thousands of Staten Islanders and rightfully so,” said Borough President Fossella. “We were lucky to get a dedicated fund here for the first-time ever to make sure these repairs are made.” Borough Commissioner Homsey said replacing the beams will strengthen the foundation that supports the decking above. “These beams are original FDR beams, they’re nearly 100-years-old and after Hurricane Sandy and overuse, they’re ready to be replaced,” said Borough Commissioner Homsey, who showed off the new beams which were laid during the summer. “We replaced the beams and the headers that stretched across and now we have solid wood.” We hope everyone enjoys the spruced-up boardwalk.  Borough President Vito Fossella, State Senator Andrew Lanza, and State Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo called for a city and state Inter-Agency Task Force to investigate the decades-long discharge of raw sewage into the waters of Clove Lakes Park.
A series of dye tests conducted by the City Department of Environmental Protection on the plumbing of the Stone House Restaurant concluded its sewage system was leaking waste into Clove Lake, Martling Pond, and Brooks Lake -- the park’s interconnected waterways which have since been closed to boaters and fisherman. “If this was Central Park and this was the issue -- you had raw sewage in the lake at Central Park -- people would be flipping out, justifiably, and there’d be an all-hands on deck summit to fix the problem, but maybe because this is Staten Island, it’s a little less important,” said Borough President Fossella at a press conference outside of the Stone House. “We’re not here to point fingers, we want a solution. The people of Staten Island deserve a safe, fun, healthy public recreational facility. They’re not getting it right now. Let’s give them their park back, it’s a beautiful facility and it’s up to the city to solve it.” Borough President Fossella said hundreds of Staten Islanders use “this jewel of a park” every day, either for a simple walk or to play baseball or tennis. He called the sewage leakage a “clear and present danger” to the health of parkgoers. “In our experience, when you sit everyone around the table, you eliminate the finger-pointing and expedite the process to get the job done,” said Borough President Fossella. “The question is, it just a leaky pipe or does the whole system need to be replaced? That is the question the city needs to answer.”  Borough President Vito Fossella returned to the Michael J. Petrides School to unveil the new auditorium and easier access into and out of the parking lot, projects which were funded by our office.
“Here, we are in the auditorium of the Petrides School,” said Borough President Vito Fossella who was joined by Principal Anthony Tabbitas and Deputy Chancellor of the Division of School Operations Kevin Moran. “As you might recall, we were here a couple of months ago -- the chairs were from the 1960s.” The new auditorium has more than 1,000 seats. Principal Tabbitas expressed his gratitude to Borough President Fossella. “The Petrides School and the Petrides community are grateful for this beautiful theater that we have,” said Principal Tabbitas. “Our students will be able to perform on this stage for all our wonderful events. Thank you very much.” After showcasing the new auditorium, the trio stepped outside to the entrance of the school’s campus. An old guardhouse, which created gridlock entering and exiting the parking lot, was removed. The traffic backlog was among the chief complaints of parents dropping off and picking up their children from school. “Have you ever asked yourself the question, why is that still there -- so on the grounds we are standing on, right here, was a guardhouse that had been here for decades, serving absolutely no purpose,” said Borough President Fossella. “It was causing delays into and out of the campus. In fact, with about 1,500 kids here, we’re saving 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon getting in and out of this campus. Do the math. Already, the traffic is flowing, eliminating complaints.”  Borough President Vito Fossella stood in front of the graceful wings of the Postcards Memorial, which directly frame the spot where the Twin Towers once stood, to remember the 267 Staten Islanders who were lost 25 years ago and the First Responders who were lost in the years since because of their work at Ground Zero.
Hundreds gathered for the annual 9/11 Memorial Ceremony amid a backdrop of American flags fluttering in the breeze and as a broken skyline shimmered across the harbor. “We gather once more, before these postcards, these open letters of love and remembrance facing across the harbor, toward the place where so many of our brethren left us on that clear September morning, those who ran toward danger, those who never came home, and those whose lives were later claimed by the aftermath,” said Borough President Fossella. Bells tolled, heads bowed, and tears were shed as the names of the victims were solemnly read one-by-one by their family members. As the ceremony concluded roses were gently placed along the Postcards Memorial and the First Responders Memorial. “Many crossed into the heart of the storm and did not return,” said Borough President Fossella.  As we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Borough President Vito Fossella said health implications still exist -- and continue to be on the rise for first responders who spent months clearing the debris from Ground Zero and later at the former Fresh Kills landfill.
He joined a gathering of medical experts, responders, survivors, advocates, journalists, and elected officials at “9/11 at 25: Honoring the Past, Protecting the Future,” a panel discussion at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The program highlighted the fight to maintain health care for those who were exposed to toxins and covered their efforts to pass crucial measures, including the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, its 2015 reauthorization, and the reauthorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund in 2019. Borough President Fossella noted that 9/11 is embodied every day in the minds of those who lived through it and the stories must be told to the younger generations. “How do we keep it on the front burner?” asked Borough President Fossella. “How do we remind people who may not live or experience in New York, who perhaps weren’t even born, or they were too young to appreciate that 9/11 is still real and it’s affecting a lot of people and they need our help? The more you make it material, the more you show people living with this illness or that illness and put the human face on it.” He called the sheer number of streets named for 9/11 victims as somber reminders of the lasting impact of the attacks and said Staten Islanders have yet to move on from the aftermath of September 11 as the death toll continues to rise. “This was an attack on our sovereignty,” said Borough President Fossella. “We take care of our fallen, we take care of our wounded.” Borough President Fossella noted that in some parts of the country, the health issues across New York City were not treated nationally by the federal government. “They just didn’t want to be bothered,” he said. “Our response for 25 years is ‘it’s not a New York problem. It’s an American problem,’” he said. |