​On Monday, June 18th, BP Oddo joined with staff at Staten Island University Hospital to cut the ribbon on the new cardiac rehab facility at the hospital’s South site. Cardiac rehab is a medically supervised program consisting of exercise training. It is recommended for patients who have had a heart attack, bypass surgery, heart failure, and other cardiovascular disease. SIUH’s cardiac rehab will also include educational programming, psychological support, smoking cessation, pulmonary rehab, and other services.
 
There has been no cardiac rehab facility on Staten Island for several years, forcing recovering heart patients to go to other boroughs or New Jersey for this important service. The initial request to open a cardiac rehab on Staten Island came out of one of BP Oddo’s Heart Health Roundtables in 2016. BP Oddo then worked with those in the health and wellness community and allocated taxpayer funds to turn this idea into a reality.
 
BP Oddo said, "I'm very grateful for this. Staten Islanders should have this. If we can build on this, once it's successful, we are committed to doing that."
 
Richmond University Medical Center will also be cutting the ribbon on their own cardiac rehab in the near future.

​On Wednesday, June 13th, Borough President Oddo joined with members of the NYPD to congratulate the 7th grade students who participated in the "Too Good For Drugs" program at I.S. 34 and Our Lady Help of Christians School. The “Too Good For Drugs” curriculum is co-taught in the classroom by a police officer and a teacher. The program, which is in its fourth year, takes place in 5th, 7th and 9th grade classes in public and parochial schools across the borough.
 
This is the first year that “Too Good For Drugs” was taught to all 7th graders. These students had already been part of the program in 5th grade.
 
Officer Hadley, who taught the Too Good For Drugs program at IS 34, told the students, "It's been so great to teach you in 5th and now 7th grade. It's been an honor to watch you grow and learn. We are proud of you for making good decisions."
 
BP Oddo addressed the students about the importance of speaking up if they see a friend or loved one making bad decisions involving drugs and alcohol, "Your voice is the most important one in the mission to help those who are struggling from this epidemic."
 
At the end of the ceremony, students took a pledge to abstain from tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

On Tuesday, June 12th, Borough President James S. Oddo joined with literacy advocates to announce that the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York voted to approve the charter for Bridge Preparatory Charter School. The school will open on Staten Island beginning in the 2019-2020 school year. As a result of the Regents’ approval, Bridge Prep will be the first public school in New York State and one of only a few nationwide, designed to specifically meet the needs of students with dyslexia and other language-based disabilities.
 
The ability to read is not one that comes naturally to anyone and many children and adults have had their lives altered by reading difficulties, which know no class, race, or intelligence level. The schools that children attend make a difference in their reading and academic achievement.   Bridge Prep will offer Staten Island students suffering from dyslexia or other language-based learning disabilities and their families a unique educational choice. Through a needs-based support structure, expanded learning opportunities, and creative educational experiences, the school will provide rigorous instruction based on a balanced, cross-cultural, and multisensory instructional approach to improve academic outcomes for all of its students. In addition to the use of the Orton-Gillingham approach to literacy, the school will have several other unique features, including a daily emphasis on Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Executive Functioning skill development, an emphasis on physical fitness, and specially designed creative learning extensions for student learning. 
​
The school will open with 86 seats across grades 1 and 2, and will add a grade and new seats each year until it reaches its initial grade span of 1-5 by the 2022-2023 school year, serving approximately 242 students. A final location for the school in the borough is yet to be finalized and will be determined in the coming months.
 
BP Oddo said, “Our journey in opening Bridge Preparatory Charter School has been a long and consistent effort as we heard from parents, advocates, and students and began to understand the frustration that many of our children were feeling—they were bright and intelligent, but could not seem to learn to read and process as easily as their peers. It has been with these children and families in mind, and with an extremely dedicated team of people who knew we had to connect children to literacy in a manner in which they can learn, that we announce the New York State Board of Regents’ historic decision to approve Bridge Preparatory Charter School for opening in 2019. I am grateful that the Board of Regents has approved the charter and that struggling readers will soon have a dedicated school to help them learn and succeed.”

“The Regents’ decision was a bold and equitable step toward ensuring a better educational experience for so many students who are left behind in the traditional school structure and will provide students and families on Staten Island with a unique and specially designed learning environment, that is truly designed with all students in mind.” said Bridge Prep Founder Tim Castanza. “Providing all students with a caring, supportive and inclusive school community is critical for the success of public education and is embedded in our core. At Bridge Prep, our community can expect an educational experience that builds student resiliency and fosters social and emotional growth, where they all students, families and staff feel valued, safe and respected. So many members of the Staten Island community were instrumental in helping Bridge Prep become a reality and our journey to becoming a school was a result of incredible collaboration between families, community members and local, City and State leaders. While there is a seemingly endless list of people to thank, we are especially grateful for the support and leadership of Borough President Oddo, whose commitment to assuring that the needs and voices of students on Staten Island were heard and met with action, is unrivaled and to Dr. Christine Cea, Staten Island’s representative on the Board of Regents, for her continued advocacy and belief in our mission.”

Beginning in November of 2014, Borough President Oddo began meeting with parents, advocates, and students children to better understand the challenges they face every day. In early 2016, the Borough President and his staff became convinced that the best course forward to help address the needs of this cohort of students would be the creation of a new public charter school, and to that end, the Borough President convened a Planning Team for the school, consisting of literacy experts, advocates, educators and parents. The group began working on the charter application for the school in 2017.

On Saturday, June 9th, BP Oddo once again hosted “Kids Day at the Carousel” in Willowbrook Park, a free event for children and their families. This event featured inflatable attractions, chalk art, crafts, temporary tattoos, photo spots and music.
 
The Staten Island Zoo presented animals from their educational unit, the NYPL hosted story time for the younger children, and Rock-A-Silly band performed. 
 
“It is wonderful to see families out enjoying everything our parks have to offer,” said BP Oddo.
 
Over a thousand people attended the event.

BP Oddo is pleased to announce the lineup for his 2018 Summer Sunset Concert Series. All concerts will take place at 7pm. The Thursday night concert schedule is as follows:
 
June 28th—Silver Lake Park (Forest Ave. at Haven Esplanade) featuring Midnight Mischief and Freepass
July 5th—Midland Beach Splaza (Fr. Capodanno Blvd. at Seaview Ave) featuring Brothers Dynamite and The Resistance
July 12th—Bloomingdale Park (Ramona Ave. and Lenevar Ave) featuring Generations and Joan Caddell and the Midnight Choir
July 19th—Snug Harbor Cultural Center (1000 Richmond Terrace) featuring London Fogg and JazzOut4tet
July 26th—Westerleigh Park (Neal Dow Ave. and Maine Ave.) featuring 8 Track and JD and the All Stars
August 2nd—Wolfe’s Pond Park (Cornelia Ave. and Chester Ave.) featuring Echoes of Time and The Dreamers
August 9th—Fort Wadsworth (210 New York Avenue) featuring 42nd Division Infantry Band
August 16th—Historic Richmond Town (441 Clarke Ave.) featuring Anthony DeRoss and Julia Gargano
August 23rd—Conference House Park (298 Satterlee Street) featuring Cause & the Effects
 
A special concert with headliners Vito Picone and the Elegants celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the release of their number one single “Little Star” will take place on Saturday, August 11th at 7pm at Midland Beach Splaza (Fr. Capodanno Blvd. at Seaview Ave). Opening acts include Vinnie Medugno, Midlife Crisis Trio, and The Expressions.
 
In addition, BP Oddo is announcing the dates for this year’s Back to the Beach festival, which is sponsored by the Carl V. Bini Fund. Back to the Beach will take place on Saturday, July 14th and Sunday, July 15th on the Midland Beach Promenade. Fireworks will follow the festivities on Saturday night.
 
“We are excited to continue to provide great music for Staten Islanders to enjoy,” said BP Oddo. “This is a wonderful way for people to spend time in our parks and experience some of the homegrown talent our borough has to offer. I’m also thrilled to host the 60th anniversary celebration for ‘Little Star’ and celebrate our good friend Vito Picone. Good music should be enjoyed!”
 
The Summer Sunset Concert Series is sponsored by BP Oddo and Council Members Debi Rose, Steven Matteo, and Joe Borelli. 

For more information on the concert series, click here.

The Borough President's office released the draft of a borough-wide data strategy to combat the opioid epidemic. The preliminary report, entitled “Critical Measures for Tracking the Opioid Epidemic and Accelerating the Response on Staten Island,” reflects community input, research, and close collaboration with local experts, front-line workers, family members, clinicians, and individuals in recovery. The full draft can be found here.
 
Following the release of this draft, the second public comment period will be open through June 14, 2018. The Borough President’s Office is seeking input from Staten Islanders on the proposed measures and what can be done to move them in the right direction. Members of the public can comment here.
 
“The highlight of this endeavor has been the level of engagement and collaboration by our local partners who, notwithstanding the demanding day-to-day responsibilities on the front lines of this epidemic, have been informing our work and guiding us every step of the way,” said Borough President Oddo. “The way the borough’s treatment providers, first responders, government entities, hospitals and healthcare professionals, non-profits, and so many others have come together to serve a common cause during this challenging moment in our history pushes our office to do everything that we can to support them and their efforts to save lives. To that end, with the release of this draft report, we move closer to our goal of developing a borough-wide data strategy to align and thereby strengthen the collective response to this epidemic.”
 
In February, BP Oddo launched this initiative—in partnership with faculty at Johns Hopkins University and Northwell Health—to take a comprehensive look at the opioid crisis on Staten Island and develop a data strategy that would enable an accurate assessment of the progress made to date. The goal of the project is to identify a core set of measures to guide and align all of the invaluable work being done in the borough every day.
 
The road to this draft started with an open call for ideas, which generated nearly 100 submissions from Staten Island residents suggesting the measures that they believed were essential to tracking progress and planning efforts to address the opioid crisis. Then the office turned to the borough’s local experts—NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, District Attorney Michael McMahon’s Office, the New York City Police Department, the Staten Island Performing Provider System, Northwell Health/Staten Island University Hospital, Richmond University Medical Center, Staten Island Partnership for Community Wellness, and many more in a long list of key partners—to learn from their work and experience on Staten Island. 
 
To synthesize local input and a rapidly growing body of scientific evidence, the office assembled an Opioid Data Working Group of nationally renowned experts on data strategies and best practices to address opioid-related harms. The Opioid Data Working Group featured:
 
•  Anthony C. Ferreri, DBA (Chair). Dr. Ferreri is the former CEO of Staten Island University Hospital and is now Senior Advisor to the Borough President.
 
• Chinazo O. Cunningham, M.D., M.S. Dr. Cunningham is Professor and Associate Chief of General Internal Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
 
• Marc N. Gourevitch, MD, MPH. Dr. Gourevitch is Professor and Chair of the Department of Population Health at the NYU School of Medicine.
 
• Jonathan Morgenstern, PhD. Dr. Morgenstern is Assistant Vice President for Addiction Services at Northwell Health and Professor of Psychiatry at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine.
 
• Nora Santiago, M.S. Ms. Santiago is Urban Policy Analyst and GIS Specialist at CUNY College of Staten Island.
 
“Staten Island is using data strategically in the fight against the opioid epidemic,” said Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, Director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. “If critical efforts can come together across the Borough to move these measures, many lives will be saved.”
 
Michael Dowling, President and CEO of Northwell  Health, said, “Northwell Health and Staten Island University Hospital are prepared to step in and do what we can to assist the borough president in combatting this public health crisis, which has already destroyed countless lives on Staten Island. Working collaboratively with law enforcement, government and community leaders, Northwell and its substance abuse treatment providers can bring clinical and research resources that can help turn the tide of this epidemic.”
 
District Attorney Michael McMahon said, “Make no mistake, the drug epidemic on Staten Island still rages across our borough. This crisis knows no bounds, and has taken a heavy toll on people of all ages, races, and socio-economic backgrounds; we see it firsthand every day. Bringing together our treatment, government, first responder and law enforcement communities will better align our efforts, ensuring we complement each other’s work and aim at the same target: ending the horrific scourge of addiction and overdose on Staten Island. Thank you to Borough President Oddo for spearheading this effort, and I look forward to the development of this important initiative”
 
Following this final public comment period, a final report will be released in June. 

Borough President James S. Oddo has announced that he is continuing the Patrick F. Daly Award after reviving it last year in honor of the 25th anniversary of Mr. Daly’s death. This award goes to two educators who exemplify the values of fallen principal Patrick Daly, who was gunned down in Red Hook, Brooklyn while searching for a student who had left the school building 26 years ago.

“I’m happy to continue this award in honor of Mr. Daly,” said BP Oddo. “This award gives us a great opportunity to pay tribute to Mr. Daly’s legacy and sacrifice while also recognizing outstanding educators in our community.”

Anyone who may wish to nominate a teacher, guidance counselor, assistant principal, or principal may do so. The award will be given in Mr. Daly’s memory, honoring his legacy of service to the community, his steadfast commitment to his students, and his leadership.

"On behalf of the Daly family, I would like to thank the Borough President for keeping my father's memory and legacy alive as he continues to recognize the achievements of the many outstanding educators serving Staten Island’s students with this award," said Pat Daly, son of the fallen educator.

Nominations will be accepted through July 2nd. For full details, click here.

BP Oddo is excited to announce his office will once again host “Kids Day at the Carousel,” a free event for children and their families, on Saturday, June 9th from 12 to 5pm. The event will take place at the Carousel for All Children in Willowbrook Park.
 
Rides on the carousel will be sponsored by the Borough President’s office. In addition to free carousel rides, the event will feature inflatable attractions, chalk art, crafts, photo spots, and music. The New York Public Library will host story time at 1:30pm. The Rock-A-Silly band will perform from 3-4pm.
 
“It is wonderful to see families out enjoying everything our parks have to offer,” said BP Oddo. “Last year, hundreds of kids and their families came out to have a great day at the carousel, so I am happy to continue the fun this year.”
 
The event is co-sponsored by the New York Public Library.