​Joint statement by Borough President Oddo, Congressman Max Rose, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, Senator Diane Savino, Senator Andrew Lanza, Assemblyman Michael Cusick, Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, Assemblyman Mike Reilly, Assemblyman Charles Fall, Councilman Steven Matteo, Councilman Joe Borelli, and Councilwoman Debi Rose:
 
“In addition to a running text thread to allow all Staten Island elected officials to communicate with each other simultaneously, and to collectively share information, we have established what will be a daily conference call to coordinate our efforts. Today’s call focused on securing the needs of our two hospital systems, attempting to unclog the flow of county specific information and data, expressing our ongoing bewilderment and concerns about schools not officially closing, and our strenuous belief that this next week is critical in terms of containment efforts. To that end we all agreed on the following:
 
“After reading the bleak predictions and emphatic counsel of medical and scientific experts across the country, after seeing other cities and nations imposing curfews or shutting businesses and gathering places, and after hearing widespread accounts of people willfully ignoring social distancing in establishments across the city, state and nation, we strongly encourage Staten Islanders to re-evaluate their social distancing behavior.
 
“We want to help keep our small businesses viable, but Islanders need to understand that they are not invulnerable and their behavior puts OTHER people at risk, including potentially the vulnerable populations in their own homes and within their own families.
 
“As so many have advocated: Stay home as much as possible; keep 6 feet of distance from others in public; and minimize in-person social contact. Please, for everyone’s sake, use common sense. This upcoming week is critically important in terms of attempting to contain this virus. Those who can should just stay home.”

Joint statement by Borough President Oddo, Congressman Max Rose, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, Senator Diane Savino, Senator Andrew Lanza, Assemblyman Michael Cusick, Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, Assemblyman Mike Reilly, Assemblyman Charles Fall, Councilman Steven Matteo, Councilman Joe Borelli, and Councilwoman Debi Rose:
 
“Following a meeting today at Borough Hall, we are calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to close New York City Public Schools, grades 3-K through 12, for one week to allow for all school buildings to be completely sanitized and to allow for further assessment of the COVID-19 situation, to be reassessed at the end of that week. Essential to this plan is developing a program to allow for children who need shelter and food to be cared for during this time.
 
“In addition, we are reiterating our position on closing Senior Centers throughout the City to safeguard older adults who are in the high-risk category, pending an appropriate course of action to ensure safety and nutrition for all seniors in the program.”

On Wednesday October 23rd, Borough President Oddo joined at Staten Island University Hospital for the Topping Off Ceremony of the hospital’s new power plant.
 
Ground was broken in September 2018 for the 12,600-square-foot facility, which is seated 18 feet above mean sea level and 2 feet above the 500-year flood level, in conformance with FEMA’s flood elevation requirements. Once the entire flood mitigation project is completed by the end of 2020, the power plant will replace the hospital’s original utility plant, constructed in 1977 at seven feet above mean sea level on the hospital’s north site.
 
“We made so many mistakes but it is wonderful to be a part of something that we did right” said BP Oddo, thanking two great partners in government for their partnership on pushing to get this project to become reality in the wake of Sandy, Assemblyman Michael Cusick and Senator Andrew Lanza. When Sandy struck Staten Island in 2012, water surrounded the hospital’s electrical power plant. Had it been completely flooded, the facility would have gone black.
 
Funding for the project came from a $28 million appropriation acquired by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio through the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant Program’s Disaster Relief Fund and a $12 million award by New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo under the Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
 
The Gruppuso Family Women and Newborn Center will expand newborn care on Staten Island in a state-of-the-art facility. The center is scheduled to open in early 2022.