Borough President Vito Fossella Congratulates Tony Arcamone on his Retirement From Parks Department

​Tony Arcamone’s career in the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation began when he was handed a makeshift broom to clean areas of Midland Beach on Jan. 27, 1986, and now more than 30 years later, he is retiring as an Administrative Parks and Recreation Manager.

Borough President Vito Fossella welcomed Mr. Arcamone into Borough Hall to thank him for his dedication to “The Borough Of Parks” and to wish him well in his retirement.

Born in Brooklyn, he moved to Staten Island at the age of 10 and attended New Dorp High School. His first tools when he began working for the Parks Department were an old canvas bag and a cut-down broom handle with a nail at the base. He was told to pick up the trash in the parking lot and along the promenade at Midland Beach. When the Parks Department was given a Surf Rake to clean the sand, he began studying for his Commercial Driver’s License. To this day, he tells his staff that his desire to be more efficient was his motivation for obtaining the license because “he’d rather sit behind the wheel of a piece of equipment than do it by hand.”

Mr.  Arcamone was named an Associate Park Worker in 1987, allowing him to use heavy-duty grass cutting tractors and equipment for raking the beach. Subsequently, he became a Provisional Associate Park Service Worker at the Clove Lake Garage and worked in additional roles at the beaches and pools until passing the Park Supervisor Civil Service exam in 2000. He then became the provisional Administrative Parks and Recreation Manager on December 26, 2000, the only one on Staten Island.

He recalls the toughest, as well as the proudest moments, of his career was collaborating with multiple city agencies after Staten Island was hit by Hurricane Sandy while at the same time handling damage to his own home. It was through the inter-agency network that he understood the true meaning of teamwork. He became an Administrative Parks and Recreation Manager after passing the civil service exam in 2017. Coming full circle, he is finished his career in Midland Beach -- the same place he began.

We thank you for your commitment to Staten Island’s parks.