Staten Island’s culturals gear up for an influx of tourists

The following blog post was written by Jennifer Sammartino, Director of Communications and External Affairs for our office.

The Staten Island Ferry is among the top attractions that visitors to New York City want to experience and with that in mind, Staten Island should be flooded with tourists daily.

But that hasn’t been the case. Due in large part to tour operators telling visitors that there’s “nothing to see” on our side of the boat (we have actually heard them say this when they drop passengers at the Whitehall Terminal), traditionally only small numbers of tourists have gotten off the boat and explored the Island on their own.

That’s changing. Ever since the announcement of the renaissance of the North Shore Corridor sparked by the construction of the NY Wheel, Empire Outlets, Lighthouse Point and Urby, there’s a renewed interest on Staten Island. Seriously.

I would not have believed it myself, but I’ve had the privilege of representing Staten Island at several events focused on tourism and one event for journalists who write exclusively about tourism and hot destinations. People there literally pulled on my arm and asked to talk with me about the Island – I was stunned. We are the new frontier, folks, and we need to put our best foot forward.

The good news is that that’s happening. With the support of NYC & Co., the city’s tourism bureau, the island’s attractions and cultural organizations have gotten a crash course in all things tourism in the last year from experts who live it every day, from selling themselves to tour operators to marketing materials and best practices. That’s important because if you wait for the crowds to come to your doorstep, it’s too late.

With this in mind, our office is working extremely closely with NYC & Co., the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce and an active group of culturals and attractions who are genuinely interested – and working hard – to get it right. To this end, we are working on educating each other, information sharing, finding funding, marketing and hosting tours for tour operators and journalists whose efforts will drive tourists to our shores. In fact, I’ve had several travel professionals tell me how impressed they are with Staten Island’s mobilization.

We’ve gotten lot done in the last year – including a “destination profile,” a document that is especially helpful to tour operators. The genius of this document is that it provides a snapshot of the Island as a whole and doesn’t focus on just one or two points of interest. This is important for tour operators because they are interested in selling an itinerary – or series of “must see” things to their clients.

And it’s easy to spend several hours – or a day or two on Staten Island. The North Shore Corridor currently boasts Snug Harbor Cultural Center, the Staten Island Yankees, the Postcards Memorial, the Lighthouse Museum, the St. George Theatre, the Staten Island Museum, Flagship Brewery and other sites. All of these attractions can work well together to entice visitors to spend time here. And once the Wheel and Outlets are open for business, we expect some 7 million tourists to get off the ferry each year to see what we’re about.

Over time, the crowds will begin to move inland and beyond to experience Staten Island. Also remember that there are niche markets as well – folks who will come out to see a particular type of architecture (Seguine Mansion), visit the beach (Boardwalk Days), trek historical sites (Conference House) or pay homage to a hero (Garibaldi-Meucci Museum). In addition, Historic Richmond Town and the Staten Island Zoo have also carved out tour bus business for their sites.

Transportation – from crowded ferries to a lack of bus service- is an issue that many focus on. The reality is, however, that when the crowds begin to come, the transportation issues we are currently faced with will organically begin to work themselves out, just as they have in other parts of the city that have experienced a boom.  Our frustrations are not unique and they will not tank the opportunities that tourism brings to us.


There’s no shortage of fascinating places to visit or things to do on Staten Island – if you haven’t gotten to the Noble Maritime Collection or the Alice Austen Museum yet – get there. Marketing all of our gems appropriately is the next task at hand. We are currently engaging professionals in a variety of capacities to look at how Staten Island may best be served, especially in a day and age where people rely so much on their smartphones to guide them to their next meal. In addition, we look forward to continuing to work with all of our attractions to welcome visitors and ensure a great experience, no matter the length of their stay.

Dyslexia: It’s past time to meet the challenge

The following blog post was written by Rose Kerr and Laura Timoney, the Borough President’s Director and Deputy Director of Education.

The more people we speak to about dyslexia, the more people we meet who are affected by it.

We learned about dyslexia as part of our respective roles in the education community; one of us as a teacher and principal, the other as a CEC representative and special education advocate.  Since so many parents of children with dyslexia are quite vocal – and that is a good thing – you cannot be immersed in education and NOT be aware of it.

So in 2014, we met with parents and advocates at Borough Hall to learn more about this reading disability and its effects on students and parents alike.  The lack of services and programs directed to this population of students caused an outcry from parents that could not be ignored.  We wanted, we needed, to know more.

We quickly learned that Staten Island has very few, if any, resources to help students with dyslexia or other language-based learning disabilities, and discovered, to our surprise, that so many children are being bused to schools in New Jersey, Manhattan and Brooklyn to get the services they require to succeed.  But in order to attend these schools, children need to undergo expensive neuro-psychological testing to diagnose dyslexia, typically costing $3,000 - $5,000.  After that, parents must hire an advocate or a lawyer to go to an impartial hearing with the NYC Department of Education (“DOE”) to present their case to have their child placed in an appropriate school. 

If successful there, and many are, the tuition for these schools is typically $50,000 per year.  However, since every child under federal law is entitled to a “Free and Appropriate Public Education” (“FAPE”), the DOE is obligated to pay the tuition and transportation for all NYC students who attend these schools. 

In the meantime, both diagnosed and undiagnosed children continue to attend public schools on Staten Island, where they struggle and continue to fall behind in reading, and where they simply cannot get the help they need.  In some cases, students are given vouchers to get help outside of the school system, but there are very few providers who are trained in the services they need - which are teachers steeped in a specialized instructional approach such as Orton-Gillingham, a method which employs multisensory strategies.

Children are born with dyslexia and cannot outgrow it, although they can learn strategies to cope with it and be highly successful.  Dyslexia is certainly not linked to low intelligence – in fact, it appears that most dyslexics have average to above average intelligence and are highly creative; we have an obligation to ensure that children are being taught in ways which allow them to learn.  The education community, with an ever-increasing emphasis on reading and literacy, can no longer ignore dyslexia and we have no alternative but to address it in our schools. 

It takes time and training - a great deal of both - but we need to make this critical investment in our children right now.

Still smoking? Lung cancer is the leading cause of death in the US

We have been talking a lot about cancer lately, but for good reason. November is lung cancer awareness month, a time to reflect on the second most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women.

The crazy thing about lung cancer is that the vast majority of these diagnoses can be prevented.

Most are related to smoking (or secondhand smoke), or less often from exposure to radon or other environmental factors.

Of course, some lung cancers occur in people without any known risk factors and it’s not yet clear if these cancers can be prevented.

The bottom line here is that if you smoke, you really should quit. About 80 percent of lung cancer deaths are thought to be the direct result of smoking. The longer you smoke and the more you smoke, the greater your risk. Simple.

If you’re a non-smoker spending significant time around secondhand smoke, the news is bad for you too – it’s thought to cause more than 7,000 deaths from lung cancer each year.

While smoking rates have declined in the city, Staten Island is still reporting the highest in all of the boroughs, with 17.4 percent of residents smoking versus 14.3 percent city wide.   

Youth smoking rates are also higher on Staten Island, notes Health and Wellness Director Ginny Mantello, M.D. “It’s important to start early with education and awareness, especially since smoking is an addiction and a gateway - like alcohol - to youth experimenting with other substances later in life,” she said.

City wide, it’s reported that 15,000 public high school students currently smoke cigarettes, a third of whom are predicted to die prematurely as a direct result of smoking. If that’s not grim enough, more than 200,000 children are still exposed to secondhand smoke at home, an unacceptably high number.

While smoking is to blame for most lung cancers, some other risk factors include exposure to Radon, asbestos, and other carcinogens (most likely found in certain kinds of work environments), previous radiation therapy to chest, and other situations.

However, there’s a conversation to be had with your doctor to determine who needs to be screened for lung cancer. Over-screening can be dangerous as there are levels of radiation in the screening. 

“Only in recent years has a study shown that a test known as a low-dose CT scan can help lower the risk of dying from this disease,” Dr. Mantello noted.

To determine if you should be screened for the disease, be prepared to review these criteria with your primary care doctor:

-          Are you 55 to 74 years old?

-          Are you in fairly good health and able to tolerate surgery if needed?

-          Do you have at least a 30 pack-year smoking history?

-          Are either still smoking or have quit smoking within the last 15 years

If you’re still reading this, here’s a quick guide to reducing your risk:

•           Don’t smoke.

•           Avoid secondhand smoke.

•           Get your home tested for radon.

•           Be careful at work. Health and safety guidelines in the workplace can help workers avoid carcinogens.

Why Do You Wake Up at 4:30am?

The following blog post was written by Chris DeCicco, Counselor to the Borough President.

Someone I know well recently asked me, obviously tongue-in-cheek, if I believe my intensive workout regimen will prevent me from aging or dying.

Here’s the simple answer, indeed, the only answer: no, of course, not.

But I will readily admit that I do work out with an almost religious zeal, and go out of my way to make sure I eat in a healthy way.  Why?  Because I want to ensure when I do age, I will age well.  I want to give myself the best shot at entering my 70’s, 80’s, and beyond living an active life, mentally sharp and independent until the day I die.  That’s why I wake up at 4:30 every morning to work out.  That’s why I turn down dessert when it’s offered. 

It seems like almost every day new research is released showing that the benefits of exercise are even greater than we thought.  Not only does it have positive effects on our hearts and other internal organs, but also our mood, our energy, our ability to stay mentally sharp - and who knows how many other benefits have yet to be discovered. 

So many maladies facing Americans today are preventable, based on simple lifestyle choices we can all make – that is, if we choose to make them. 

Personally, for a long time, I didn’t make the right choices.  Working out was a bothersome chore, and when I did motivate myself to get on the treadmill for a few days in a row, I quickly became discouraged because I didn’t see the results I so unrealistically expected.  I didn’t understand that health, wellness, and fitness is not a sprint, it is a marathon properly measured in years and decades.

It requires an unrelenting effort - week after week, month after month, year after year. 

We spend a great deal of time at Borough Hall thinking and talking about these issues, because we want to share with Staten Islanders the steps they can take to improve the quality of their lives, both now and in the future. And we preach baby steps.  A person who has not worked out in decades and eaten poorly for years cannot make a total lifestyle change a short term goal.  While that may happen for a rare few, it certainly doesn’t happen often.  But, there are definitely a series of smaller steps that can be taken to bring you closer to your goals.

Here are a few tips that I can share from my own experiences that may be helpful:

1.     When changing your diet, begin by making small adjustments. If you drink sugary drinks, start by cutting those out and see how you feel. Once you have successfully managed that change you can then begin making additional changes that, taken together, will lead to big results. 

2.     When designing a workout regimen, look for something that is fun for you. Working out doesn’t necessarily mean spending hours on a lonely treadmill – unless you like that “alone time” to reflect, or perhaps listen to music.  Do you like to bike?  Then bike.  Do you like to dance?  Find an active dance program. The number of activities that can form the basis of a sustainable workout regimen are infinite and limited only by our imaginations.

3.     Workout with someone, or a group of people, that you like to be with. Especially in the beginning; it can get discouraging when you aren’t seeing progress. So find a friend - or group of friends - to commiserate with during those difficult first few months. 

4.     Focus on this: Living a healthier lifestyle can be fun. You will find yourself able to do things you were unable to do when less fit.  Is playing with your children or grandchildren something you are forced to avoid because it knocks you out?  Exercising and eating right may give you more energy, keep you more alert and allow you to enjoy your loved ones in a manner you may have been missing out on for years.

5.     Keep the big picture in mind.  You are changing your life in a meaningful way for both the short and long term.  If you miss a day of working out here or there, or eating a “cheat” meal on occasion, it’s not going to ruin all your progress and it’s not grounds for quitting  

6.     Find the time! We are all busy with work, families, school, and probably a myriad of other activities. But there are 24 hours in a day, and we must utilize those that work best for us. That is why I work out in the pre-dawn hours - it doesn’t interfere with either my job or my family. 

I follow my own advice on all six tips, they work for me, and I can’t imagine living any other way – but it’s a decision you have to make for yourself.   I believe that if you do, you’ll look back on it as one of the best decisions you ever made. 

We here at Borough Hall will continue trying to provide you with information about the tools that can help you on your journey.

What I Learned from Theo Epstein. What We All Should Learn...

We don’t know shit.

“And they began to use a pair of mantras around the office. The first— ‘We don’t know shit’ — kept them humble when they thought they were rolling.” 

This self-deprecating admission comes from a Washington Post article on Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations, Theo Epstein, and was one of a few beyond-baseball takeaways that stayed with me after reading it.  I know good counsel when I see it, and so even at the quarter century mark on my life in public service, I readily bought the self-counsel Theo Epstein was selling. 

In my business, hubris is the deadliest of sins.  So when I say, “We don’t know shit,” I am most definitely including myself.  And, of course, you.

I have no problem with people having strong opinions.  I like it actually.  On an Island where the apathetic are more numerous than dangerous drivers, where some elevate disengagement to a level of Zen-like bliss, I have always had, if not a great tolerance, a preference for the opinionated sort. I’d take them any day over a societal zombie with no sense of what it means to be an engaged member of a community.

But if you’re going to bloviate in my direction, I’d appreciated it if you had a semblance of knowledge about the subject matter at hand.

With the arrival of the internet, everyone in my orbit seemed to use that platform to air his or her viewpoint.  Professionally, I embraced social media early on and saw it as a great tool to pop the bubble that surrounds elected officials, to varying degrees, on every level of government.  It allowed me to engage the public more – and more directly - and to be better informed on just about every issue across the board.  And it gave me a more direct access to divergent points of view.  All right there at my fingertips.

Suddenly, I could read the thoughts of learned journalists throughout the world.  With the click of a mouse I could be kept better apprised of the goings-on of colleagues.  And lo and behold, revealed in an instant would be the inner-most thoughts of anyone who cared enough about any given topic to discuss it publicly.

This is an opportunity, I remember thinking.  This is a chance to broaden my perspective and learn something from those whose life-experiences differed from my own, who saw the world through a completely different set of eyes.  And I often did.  Cool!

But here’s the deal: we don’t know shit.

You see, a weird thing happened when I began to utilize this tool, this vehicle, in my search to become “better.”  I didn’t just come across new information and new perspectives, I found that I entered a world where everyone’s opinion was actually an undeniable truth, and if you disagreed with it, you did so at your own peril.  Even if your opinion differed in merely a small and seemingly insignificant way - you were wrong.  You were bad.  Perhaps you even warranted a dreaded “label.”

What was once merely a sharing of thoughts and opinions quickly became, “I am right and you are wrong.”  Then it got worse. It morphed into “I am right and you are a horrible human being.” To glean usable information, I now had to sift through gallons, lakes…. oceans of uninformed, ignorant, and insulting rants, all couched in a self-righteous tone that served to suck the oxygen of debate right out of the room.

It ended all discussion, for if anyone had the temerity to see things even slightly differently, each side acted as if the world stopped spinning on axis because of the sheer loathsome stupidity of the other’s opinion.

But here’s the deal: we know shit. Which is to say — despite the haughty attitude and itchy fingers eager to affix a label, apply a generalization or place someone, dare I say, in a basket — YOU know shit.

I recognize that your unique experiences, history and point of view, give you a keen ability to see angles that others don’t.  I recognize that perhaps you have an academic acumen which I cannot match, and must readily acknowledge.  As well, I’m forced to recognize my own deficiencies, which might be the result of ignorance, “privilege,” or just plain lack of experience.  And finally I’m led to the realization that we will have a better dialogue after I concede that not only do I know shit – you do, too.

Theo Epstein is going to the Hall of Fame. He knows A LOT of shit, and I think you do, too.  But if someone at his level of acumen believes part of his success is being vigilant about admitting he doesn’t know it all, shouldn’t you and I take note and grab onto that same belief?

I have worked my ass off in government for 25 years.  I have learned at the knees of great mentors.  People who don’t share my gender, race, religion or sexual orientation have blessed me with their wisdom and friendship and made me a better person.  I care deeply about the covenant I have with the people I represent, and I protect it vigilantly.

I am good at what I do.  But because I want to be as good at my job as Theo Epstein is at his, I’m going to work on the premise that I don’t know shit.  And I am going to keep working on that premise until the day I finish with this calling and walk off the stage, and then I won’t be heard from again. 

If We Don’t Tell Them, Nobody Will

The following blog post was written by Frank Santarpia, Senior Adviser to the Borough President.

My father was a veteran.  That’s a simple statement, but I freely admit it took me a long time, and a lot of growing up, to fully appreciate what that meant.  What it meant to our country, what it meant to our family, what it meant to my father, and in the end, what it meant to me.

Frank Peter Santarpia, born in 1925, son of Italian immigrants, believed in the greatness of America.  So did every man who fought beside him on that rock; so does every man who proudly calls himself a veteran today.  It is the job of those who did not serve in the armed forces -- and I did not -- to make sure that those who did are recognized, celebrated, and most importantly, thanked.

And that is the importance of Veteran’s Day, it sharpens our focus, and that is why I want to tell my father’s story.  Not because it was remarkable, but because for the American military, it was so very typical.

Easter Sunday came early in 1945, and many of the tens of thousands of Marines waiting nervously in troop transports a few thousand yards off the beaches of the Ryukyu Islands must have feared that this day's celebration of the Resurrection would be their last.  Others would note with irony that it was the first of April: April Fool's Day.  All of them, however, were blanketed by that one inescapable, overarching reality -- their lives might end before the sun dipped below the far western fringes of the Pacific Ocean.

Shortly before dawn, the first wave of United State Marines would slip over the sides of their troop transports, climbing down rope netting into the rocking landing craft below known as Higgins Boats.  The codename for the operation was Iceberg.  The invasion of Okinawa had begun.

My father enlisted in the Marine Corp on the day he turned 18 in 1943, and after a year of stateside training, he was shipped overseas.  On Guam and Iwo Jima, he trained for amphibious landings.  By that time, the United States Navy and Marine Corp had island-hopped almost all the way across the Pacific -- almost.  There was but a single island to capture, an island that would serve as an important forward base in what everyone believed was inevitable: the invasion of the Japanese homeland.  That one island was Okinawa.

PFC Frank Santarpia, 3^rd Platoon, I Company, 3^rd Battalion, 29^th Regiment, 6^th Marine Division, twenty years old, went ashore with the first wave in the gray dawn of that April morning.

There's not the time or space to recount here the gruesome details of the ensuing battle, but let it be noted that Okinawa was the most heavily defended island of the war.  By the time it was secure, 12,513 young American men were dead.  So, too, were the commanding generals of both the American and Japanese forces.  The wounded numbered 38,916, and my father was one of them; he was shot on May 16, during the battle for a cursed mound of earth the Marines nicknamed Sugar Loaf Hill. 

He received a Purple Heart, spent three weeks in a makeshift island hospital, and was sent back to his platoon before the operation was completed.  His regiment, the 29th, had been thrown into a meat grinder: their casualty rate was over 90%.  Within the 22^nd and 29^th, the two regiments that finally secured the hill on the 18^th of May, two of every three men fell.

As I said earlier, despite his remarkable courage my father's compelling story was far from unique – when I asked him, he would tell me that he was simply doing his job alongside tens of thousands of other Marines and soldiers.  In the same way as any other American fighting for freedom, past and present, his actions represented the norm, not the exception -- and to the day he died, any and every detail about that battle had to be coaxed from him.  He never talked about it voluntarily, and he never thought he did anything special. 

He was just a scared kid from Brooklyn.

Veteran’s Day is upon us, America, and it is time to start remembering.  It is time for us to perform a service for our country.  Maybe that service is simply telling our children or grandchildren about things that perhaps their schoolbooks never will.  Maybe we should tell them about war and tyranny and the great men and women who stood ready, stand ready to this day, to keep us safe. 

And I know that until I draw my last breath I will never forget, and when my grandchildren are old enough I will tell the story of those who fought and died for our flag and our freedom, and one in particular who took a bullet  on a Godforsaken piece of volcanic rock that was six thousand miles closer to Tokyo than it was to Ebbets Field.

We must tell them what it means to be a veteran, and why we owe them so very much.  Because if we don't tell them, nobody will.

“You Are What Your Record Says You Are”

Each year my staff works hard turning Bloomingdale Park into “BOO!mingdale” Park for a day, so young Staten Islanders and their parents might celebrate Halloween in a safe and fun environment. It has become a wonderful tradition, and the community always turns out in large numbers. I’m happy to report that this year’s event was another resounding success.

But I’m not writing today to discuss Halloween festivities; I mentioned it only because the operative word in the first sentence is “safe.”  While we provide a safe environment inside the park for families, the situation along the service road is anything but.  With its notorious lack of sidewalks it is downright dangerous - and it shouldn’t be that way.  

Former NFL coach Bill Parcells once said, “You are what you record says you are.”  That is nowhere more true than it is in government, where agencies can be – and should be - judged by a simple criterion: are they doing what is right for the taxpayers. In the case of Bloomingdale Park sidewalks, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) announced in late September that it would be installing the sidewalks on the service road between Bloomingdale Road and Lenevar Avenue.

Finally!  And let me be clear: NYSDOT is not usually in the sidewalk building business; their usual focus is on highways, like the Staten Island Expressway and the West Shore Expressway.

So NYSDOT has a winning record when it comes to sidewalks at Bloomingdale Park.  City agencies?  Not so much.  

The fact is that after many years of frustration due to the inaction and lack of any sense of urgency by city government, earlier this year I turned to the NYSDOT for help.  To their credit, Governor Cuomo and NYSDOT Commissioner stepped up to the plate and responded in a big way.  The new sidewalks will vastly improve safety for those who use Bloomingdale Park.

Isn’t it amazing that city government built a park, a park that was a huge hit in the community, but a park that was, due to a lack of sidewalks, downright dangerous for those coming from the direction of the service road?  How can the job have ever been considered finished while this unsafe condition continued unabated and unaddressed?

I can’t help but wonder, as well, why NYSDOT had to be the agency to swoop in to help, when city agencies have been aware of this problem for so many years and basically ignored numerous pleas from local elected officials.

Here is the scorecard on this issue:

New York State DOT: Got the job done! 

City agencies: Would not.  Could not.  Did not.

Thank you, NYSDOT, for hearing our pleas.  When completed, your work will make this park safer for all those Staten Islander who utilize it each and every day.

My first mammogram

The following blog post was written by Jennifer Sammartino, Director of Communications and External Affairs for our office.

I won’t lie. Going for my very first mammogram was nerve wracking. At 39, my doctor advised that I get a baseline mammo, which made me feel older than I am. Oh well.

I didn’t want to freak my mother out, so I asked a colleague about the experience and what to expect. She said it wasn’t “that bad.” This is very subjective. I was not looking forward to it.

So, on a hot summer day, I ran out of work, went home, took a quick shower, and headed over to my appointment. To my surprise, I was called in just a moment or so before my scheduled time, so the experience was off to a good start.

The technician was fantastic. We were about the same age and she had small kids and we chatted about our families. It took away some of the awkwardness of “take your top off.” Then I looked at the machine in horror. It was large and white and could have been some high-tech binocular from Star Wars. 

But it wasn’t so bad. The plexiglass panels were surprising gentle as the technician flattened me into screening position. I sort of felt like a car being jacked up on a lift, but her pleasant demeanor and the idle chit chat really helped me feel more at ease.

A few weeks later, I got a letter in the mail explaining that I had healthy breasts. While I had no reason to worry, it was a relief to get that letter.

A few weeks after that, I sat in on Borough President Oddo’s breast cancer roundtable, an annual meeting he holds at Borough Hall with breast health practitioners representing all phases of diagnosis, treatment and support on Staten Island.

The professionals around the table enthusiastically reported that mobile units are plentifully available for screenings (in many cases free to those who qualify) and hospitals and radiological facilities have appointments immediately. What’s more, the American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery program can also facilitate getting women to their appointments if transportation is a problem – so there’s really no excuse not to get a mammography if you are of age and haven’t had one in the last year. And as I have explained, there’s no reason to fret – it doesn’t hurt, it’s not super embarrassing and the odds are, you’re just fine. And if you aren’t, it’s better to known sooner so that you can make the appropriate treatment decisions to continue on with your long, healthy life.

On the flip side, if you want to get involved as a volunteer for any of the American Cancer Society’s local programs, please contact the Staten Island office at (718) 987-8872. And if you need support or guidance any time day or night, call (800) 227-2345.

Be aware of the signs of domestic violence

The following blog post was written by Allison Cohen, Deputy Director of Communications for our office.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and unfortunately this is an issue that many families continue to deal with. One in three women and one in four men are survivors of domestic violence. Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior that occurs between family members and/or intimate partners to gain power and control. Many people think domestic violence is only physical abuse, but it can take the form of psychological, sexual or economic abuse as well.

Recently, the numbers of reported domestic violence incidents have been on the rise in our borough. While more and more people are reporting these issues, others are still afraid to seek help due to a myriad of circumstances. There is no shame in being in this situation, and help is always available if you need it.

A healthy relationship is one where both partners treat each other equally, respectfully and supportively. It is important to be aware of indicators that your relationship is becoming unhealthy and abusive. Some common signs of this type of relationship are when your intimate partner:

• Accuses you of cheating and being disloyal
• Makes you feel worthless
• Hurts you by hitting, choking or kicking you
• Intimidates and threatens to hurt you or someone you love
• Threatens to hurt themselves if they don’t get what they want
• Tries to control what you do and who you see
• Isolates you from your family and friends
• Pressures or forces you into unwanted sex
• Controls your access to money
• Stalks you, including calling you constantly or following you

If you are in an abusive relationship or suspect that someone you know is in one, you should know that you are not alone and that there are resources on Staten Island to help you.

One of these resources is the Staten Island Family Justice Center, located at 126 Stuyvesant Place, which opened earlier this year. The Family Justice Center provides free criminal justice, civil legal and social services all in one central location. Victims can meet with a prosecutor, speak with a trained counselor and apply for housing and financial assistance in one place. Children age three and up can play in a children’s room while their parents receive services.

The center is open Monday to Friday from 9am-5pm. No appointment is necessary; if you prefer to call, the center can be reached at 718-697-4300.

In addition, anyone can call the Domestic Violence Hotline 24/7 at 1-800-621-HOPE. If you are in immediate danger, call 911. For more information about services available to domestic violence victims, visit http://www.nyc.gov/html/ocdv/html/home/home.shtml

When Storm Clouds Gather

The disaster that befell us on October 29, 2012 taught us, at a tremendous cost in both lives and treasure, that we cannot ignore weather warnings without potentially paying a deadly price.  Storms are serendipitous; they often fail to follow the script, and so we become jaded to the warnings and complacent in our preparation.  No one reading this, I’m sure, will ever forget what Superstorm Sandy did to our borough, and our city, that horrible night, but the sad truth is that the destruction of houses and property could never have been avoided. 

The loss of life?  That’s a different story.

Last week we were threatened by Hurricane Matthew, a Category 4 storm that wreaked havoc in the Caribbean and our southeast coast, including much loss of life.  Of course, the path of any storm is not predictable with 100% certainty, hence the “cone” of possible directions a storm might take.  Any time our area is in the cone we should, as the saying goes, hope for the best – but prepare for the worst.

Have we learned from Sandy?  I pray that we have.  When a Hurricane Watch becomes a Hurricane Warning we should use this time wisely.  We should take stock of our vulnerability and make preparations for the worst case scenario – even if it means facing the uncertainty of evacuation.

Coastal communities have designated hurricane evacuation zones based on their risk for storm surge and flooding.  Before a tropical storm or hurricane hits, city officials may ask you to evacuate if you live or work in one of these zones. When you know your zone, you and your family will know when to evacuate.  If you are not sure that you’re in such a zone, New York City has a hurricane evacuation finder here.

If you are required to evacuate, it is recommended that you shelter at the home of friends or family outside of the evacuation area. If you wish to go to a public facility, select any evacuation center from those listed on the hurricane page and click for travel directions.  Before you leave make sure you secure your home: close and lock windows and doors, and unplug appliances.  Wear sturdy shoes and comfortable, protective clothing, such as long pants and long-sleeved shirts.  Prepare a Go-Bag of essential items and important documents – see the list below - to take with you.

Hurricanes can cause extended power outages, flooding, and blocked roads. If you not asked to evacuate and are sheltering in place, you should:

·         Bring in anything that can be picked up by the wind (bicycles, lawn furniture, etc.). 

·         Close your windows, doors and hurricane shutters, if you have them.  Most folks don’t in our area, so if you have sufficient warning and the means and ability to do so, windows and doors with plywood.

·         Turn your refrigerator and freezer to the coldest setting. Keep them closed as much as possible so that food will last longer if the power goes out.

You should build an emergency kit in case you lose power or can’t go to a store. Make sure your kit includes:

·         Bottled water

·         Shelf-stable food

·         Flashlights

·         A radio and extra batteries

·         A first-aid kit and sanitation items

·         Important documents and records

·         Clothing

·         Medication and medical supplies

·         Pet food and pet items

It’s important to have a communications plan so you can stay in touch with worried loved ones who may not live in the area, and make sure that each family member has a list of important phone numbers.  It’s also a good idea to designate one out-of-area friend or relative as the point person for everyone to call and check in with.  Things are a lot less stressful if people know who’s safe.

Make sure your emergency plans are tailored to all of your family members and their needs, including seniors, children, individuals with medical needs, and people with disabilities – and by all means stay informed!  As the storm approaches, and for as long as you have the means to do so, monitor media reports and follow instructions from public safety officials. 

The destruction of property during any significant storm may be unavoidable – a house can’t simply be moved out of the danger zone - but property can be replaced.  The loss of human life, however, IS avoidable by making sure one gets out of harm’s way.  And a human life, of course, can never be replaced.

The Coast Guard: High Impact, Low Profile

The United States Coast Guard has been a presence on Staten Island for two decades, although sometimes their existence here resembles a closely guarded military secret.  I have written about them fairly often, outlining our collaborations, events, ceremonies, and most recently, a Coast Guard Appreciation concert, and I cannot fully express how rewarding this association has been to me.  That being said, it seems strange to me that this extraordinary branch of our military goes practically unnoticed right in our own backyard.

Before I get into the details of the USCG presence on our fair island, I would like to ask all of you a direct question:  Where, when and how have you interacted with the Coast Guard – either personally or professionally?  There is a specific reason I want to hear about it, and that is because we are in the process of applying to Admiral Paul Zukunft, the Commandant of the USCG, to attain the formal title of  Coast Guard Community.  I’ll explain further as we go along, but want you to understand that part of the application process is how the community has interacted with the local Coast Guard station in a positive and supportive way.

So, if you have in some way interacted or supported the Coast Guard and their efforts, please write to me at Borough Hall, 10 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301.  Your letters will be included in the application package, and you’ll know you were part of effort to formally recognize and memorialize our borough’s relationship with a branch of service that is incredibly important to our nation’s defense.

Every year on August 4^th Americans celebrate Coast Guard Day, and Staten Island stands tall and proud to be home to both the USCG Sector New York and USCG Station New York.  What would eventually become the United States Coast Guard actually began on August 4th, 1790 under the Alexander Hamilton’s Treasury Department: they were a Revenue Cutter Service.  In 1915, Revenue-Marine was merged with the U.S. Lifesaving Service and the Coast Guard was born.

This fifth branch of military service is unique in many ways – but one particular distinction stands out.  Although it is always a military branch, when it is not operating in service to the U.S. Navy it operates under the Department of Homeland Security, as it is today.  Indeed, it is the single largest component of the DHS, composed of 88,000 personnel including active duty, reserve, civilian and volunteer Auxiliarists.  There are 37 USCG Sectors in the United States and various territories, and their largest sector, Sector New York, is located right here at Ft. Wadsworth.

Consisting of Station New York, located on Bay Street, Station Kings Point (at the Merchant Marine Academy) and Station Sandy Hook, Sector New York is fully in charge of security for the Ports of New York and New Jersey.  Though they actively work with the NYPD and FDNY, the Coast Guard is top dog when it comes to port security.  On their website, they refer to duty at Station New York as “one of the most demanding environments in the country.”

We are applying for Staten Island to be an official Coast Guard Community, a title obtained through a rigorous application process and granted by the United States Congress and United States Coast Guard.  This designation would recognize that a special relationship exists between the Coast Guard and the people of Staten Island.  We should all be extremely proud to be the home of Coast Guard Sector New York, and I look forward to the day when Staten Island finally gets Coast Guard Community designation.

Tryin’ to Get Down to the Heart of the Matter

On a Friday evening last December. Dr. Robert Marchi thought he was experiencing a bad case of indigestion.  It persisted through the weekend, but cleared up by Monday.  However, Dr. Marchi made an appointment with his regular doctor, just to be cautious.

There were no sharp pains or other traditional warning signs of a heart attack, but his physician, also preferring to err on the side of caution, made an appointment with a cardiologist for him – again, just in case.  Dr. Marchi, the principal of P.S. 17 in Williamsburg for the past 16 years, was in generally good health, and had a regular gym routine that included a 10-mile stationary bike ride four days a week.

Of course, as you have probably guessed by now, the “indigestion” was not indigestion at all.  It was a heart attack.

Within days, heart surgery was performed and a stent was inserted.  Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR), that is, a supervised exercise program, was strongly recommended.  The problem was – and still is – that no such rehab facility exists on Staten Island.

I’m trying hard to understand why it is that we accept the need to crack open someone’s chest, cut into a person’s heart, stitch ‘em up, and then simply release the patient to find a rehab facility in some other borough.  Studies have shown that there is a significant decrease in mortality rates for patients who studiously follow their recommended CR: as much as 20 to 30 percent.  To not have such a facility on Staten Island is unconscionable.

In the case of Dr. Marchi, his decision was to return to his gym – not an easy decision to make and not one he was completely comfortable with.  “I was very apprehensive returning to the gym,” he told me, “for fear of having another heart attack while I was there.”

We have two hospital systems here on the island.  Two.  It is not too much to expect cooperation from them on this. A CR facility is not just a luxury – it is a necessity.  While such a joint effort may not be a large money-making proposition, insurance reimbursements guarantee that it won’t be a money-loser, either.  And with the value-based shift in covering healthcare costs, the time is, without a doubt, now.

“There definitely needs to be a facility located on Staten Island that provides the trained professional medical staff and the appropriate rehabilitation programs and equipment that can be properly monitored in a setting that provides total confidence to the recovering patients.”

Those are the words of Dr. Marchi.  He gets right to the heart of the matter – and I couldn’t agree with him more.

NOTE:  Decreases in mortality rate obtained from various sources including:

http://www.cmaj.ca/content/156/4/527.full.pdf

http://thefristclinic.com/hl/?/655517/Exercise-based-Cardiac-Rehabilitation-May-Decrease-Risk-of-Death-and-Future-Heart-Procedures

Do Not Go Gentle...

This past summer, as I always do, I took the time to attend various events celebrating two uniquely American holidays: Memorial Day and Flag Day.  As I have since I began my career in public service, I made sure I was in the company of those for whom these holidays take on a greater meaning than a backyard barbeque; those who have not forgotten that patriotism and community service are a large part of the underpinnings of our society.

What makes these events special – and important – is that they ask us to remember: to remember those who sacrificed, to remember why they sacrificed, and to remember that without those sacrifices we would not be the country we are today.

I stood proudly with Frank LaMarsh, Commander of the American Legion Gold Star Post on Cannon Avenue in Travis, for a Memorial Day service.  As I looked around at the sea of faces, I noticed it was a smaller sea than it had been in the past -- and realized it has been getting smaller with each passing year.  And older.

Similarly, at a beautiful and stirring Flag Day service led by Abe Spector at the lodge of the B.P.O Elks, attendance was down and the average age of the participants was up.  It was the same story as I stood with Gene DiGiacomo, President of the Thomas Tori Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America.

What does this mean?  I’ll tell you what I think it means: folks are more concerned with grilling a burger and popping open a cold one than they are with recognizing our flag, our country, and the brave men and women who died in service to an ideal.

I’m greatly disturbed by this trend.  This is not a lull, this is not a temporary downtick – it has been going on for far too long to be a bump in the road.  This is a trend that can lead us to but a single conclusion:  these patriotic organizations are, unless something changes soon, marked for extinction.

When this happens we will be a poorer nation for it.  Something great about America -- the love of its citizens for their flag, the respect of its citizens for the veterans who’ve kept us free, the pride of its citizens in their constitution -- will have died a little bit, and America will have seen the bright light of its promise dimmed a little bit.  And those who long for an America in twilight will smile.

I’m reminded of the words of the poet Dylan Thomas: “Do not go gentle into that good night,” he said.  Are we, as a nation, prepared to do exactly what he warns us against?  Are we willing to, in fact, go placidly into the twilight of the American epoch, to put behind us the nation that has done more good for more people than any political body in the history of this planet?  I cannot believe that we are, no, I cannot believe that.

We take too much for granted.  We believe we will always be free and prosperous.  We think that patriotism is an old-fashioned emotion, and that we are much too sophisticated to belong to one of those silly organizations populated by old men trying to re-capture past glories, re-fighting battles long after the last shots were fired, recalling foxhole buddies who never came home from Normandy, or Iwo Jima, or the Chosin Reservoir, or Ia Drang, or any of hundreds of locations that seem to have existed only in a distant past.

We need to look at these groups in a new way; we need to create within ourselves a sense of obligation, of responsibility, an acknowledgement that although they present us with no bill for their service, we are honor bound to offer them support.

The numbers are trending poorly and I want to help; I want to put the resources of Borough Hall behind crafting a strategy to stabilize their memberships, so that these organizations and traditions will be there for future generations.  To that end we will be gathering a group of veterans, advocates and interested citizens to have a discussion – a free exchange of ideas dedicated to helping them grow and thrive.

If enough of us make it a point to join one of these groups they may survive.  If enough of us simply pay attention to their missions and attend their events they may go on for generations.  But if enough of us choose to ignore them they will become less than a footnote in the history books, a slice of Americana from too simple a time.  A time when patriotism mattered and we expressed love for our country and gratitude for being able to live in it.  A time when it felt good to wave an American flag.

“Do not go gentle into that good night,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

These are the last lines of Thomas’ poem.  We should heed them.

Now On Deck: The Staten Island Ferry

I was a passenger on the Staten Island Ferry for the six summers I worked on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and then again for a few semesters while I was attending New York Law School.  In fact, the five of us from “The Rock” were called the “boat people” at school, at least until we began to squeeze into a little Honda Civic to commute to Worth Street.

Truth is, though, back then I never gave much thought to how critical the ferry was to our public transportation infrastructure – even as I was using it five days a week. 

Fast forward a number of years and I found myself on the City Council representing the mid-Island, while Mike McMahon - now our District Attorney – repped the North Shore.  He grabbed the mantle and took the lead on all things ferry-related, including the fight to expand service.  Mike was out of the Council for years when Richenda Kramer and Nicholas Zvegintzov, two members of the St. George Civic Association's Ferry Riders Committee,  decided the baton would be passed to me and requested a meeting to make the case, yet again, for expanded service. 

Though it was late in my Council tenure and the ferry was not really in my bailiwick, their arguments were so cogent and so passionate that it stirred a visceral reaction in me.  There was, I realized, a quickly closing window of opportunity to effect some real change before I left the Council.  That “window of opportunity” took the form of an amazingly productive relationship with Council Speaker Chris Quinn, and I knew my standing with my Council colleagues would allow me to maintain a veto-proof majority of support for my bill.

This is not rocket science, but when negotiating a piece of legislation – or, for that matter, when negotiating anything – one doesn’t start with what one will eventually be willing to settle, one starts by asking for quite a bit more.  For me, quite a bit more was 24/7 service.  At least, it was in the beginning; I was soon to change my mind.

I started thinking about how things were done in up-and-coming cities and communities throughout the country.  They weren’t forced to roll up their sidewalks at 1:00 or 2:00 AM as we were; they recognized the importance of round-the-clock access if they were to attract the young and hip kind of folks that would inject new life in older – and staler – areas.  Why should Staten Island be any different?  Granted, the ridership for the overnight service was low, but that was easily explainable: who would go to Manhattan knowing that if they missed their boat they’d be forced to cool their heels in a cavernous terminal for another sixty minutes?

Eventually, after strenuously making the case both publicly and behind closed doors, we enacted Local Law 88 of 2013, which mandated that ferries would depart St. George and Whitehall every thirty minutes, and even more frequently during times of peak demand.  Mayor Bloomberg, a staunch opponent, imposed a poison pill of sorts by insisting on a tiered expansion of service.  Not perfect, but it was the best we could do.

By 2015, the nail-biting commenced over whether or not the new Mayor, Bill de Blasio, would fund the full implementation of the law I introduced and nursed through passage.  Perhaps because of our two-decade old working relationship and his awareness how important this was to me, or perhaps because it was simply the right thing to do, the Mayor fully funded the expanded ferry service.  It was the last piece of legislation I enacted as a Council Member, and I give him abundant credit for this, particularly because sources later told me there was opposition on the agency level within his administration.

It was a great victory, but now a new game has begun - and the truth is there is still more Staten Island Ferry work to be done.

We met a few weeks ago with the Staten Island Ferry Quality of Life Task Force, a group dedicated to “addressing quality of life concerns on the Staten Island Ferry.”  Frequent ferry riders all, they presented me with a thorough report on conditions they confront every day – from overflowing garbage cans in the plazas to unsafe and unclean bathrooms on the boats to addressing the homeless population around the terminals, and everything in between.  Subsequent to that meeting, I wrote to Mayor de Blasio and DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg requesting a chance to meet and discuss these issues, in the hopes of working collectively to improve the everyday experience of ferry riders.

But our work cannot stop there.

The coming tourist wave dictates that things must change even more.  The opening of the Empire Outlets, the New York Wheel and Lighthouse Point will signal a new era for the Staten Island Ferry, one in which it will carry millions of tourists to our shores, even as  the ferry continues to grow into a world-class attraction in and of itself. Yet, we must never lose sight of the fact that the ferry is the most consistent means of mass transit our borough has, and we must ensure that Islanders travelling to and from work do not have their daily commutes drastically impacted by this North Shore waterfront revitalization. 

The time to address these concerns is not next week, next month or next year; the time is now.  I have already written and asked to begin these conversations, and to lay the groundwork to make these any and all necessary changes and much-needed improvements.  We’ll give more details in the coming days, but for now – stay tuned.