Posted July 2, 2007
If you're a true fan of island cultcha and haven't seen it already, I strongly advise making a stop by the Our Lady of Mount Festival feast this and next weekend in Rosebank, U.S.A. For one thing, Rosebank's an awesome neighborhood. Secondly, the grotto itself is a pretty amazing piece of folk art. Finally, the beer and wine are dirt cheap as is are the food and entertainment. It's sort of like the Giglio festival in Williamsburg only much lower profile.
Anyway, the activities start 7:30 p.m. this Friday, July 6th, and run through the next two weekends, ending with a parade through Rosebank and a celebratory mass at St. Mary's Church on July 16th. For more information, call (347) 204-5203.
Posted Sept. 9, 2006
9/11 FIVE YEARS LATER
-- Alas, it's that time of year again. I'll avoid the cliche that it seems like yesterday, because, to be honest, the last three and half months of 2001 still linger in my memory as an endless emotional marathon, alternating grief and fear giving way to white-hot, unquenchable rage and, finally, the utter numbness of a holiday season spent mingling with family members puzzled as to why their New York relatives got all flinchy whenever they heard a jet engine overhead...
That said, the pain associated with the date has diminished for me. On Sept. 11, 2003, at roughly the same time in the morning, my wife and I signed the paperwork that gave us title to our first ever house. Although we didn't plan it that way, the date was appropriate for me. On Sept. 10, 2001 I went to bed a struggling freelance writer who, after a decade of bouncing from city to city, was wondering if it was time to make the next bounce. Twenty-four hours later, I was a freelance writer certain of at least two things: New York City was my permanent home, and I needed to treat it as such. The newsletter you are now reading is just one of several things that can trace their existence to Sept. 11, 2001.
Anyway, as an immigrant, I've come to recognize and respect the island's unique perspective as to the events of that day. Heading over to Brooklyn, I've watched the members of Rescue 5 tidy up and prepare their memorial along Narrows Road for Monday's remembrance. While the Rescue 5 site doesn't offer an info on that event, I recall from the closing session two years ago that it was timed for when the firefighters took the call. In other words, plan to be there before 8:48 a.m. if you want to take part.
If Monday morning is no go, Borough President Molinaro will be hosting both a memorial triubute and a memorial blood drive next Monday. The tribute takes place at the Staten Island September 11 Memorial on the St. George Esplanade and starts at 6:30 p.m. The blood drive started yesterday and ends on the 11th. They're aiming for 275 donated pints. For more information on either event, call Joanne Nuzzo at (718) 816-2133 or visit the BP's web page.
SLOW-APALOOZA
-- The Stapleton Coalition Against Reckless Speeders will be holding an event next Saturday, Sept. 16, to draw attention to the persistent speeding problem on St. Paul's Ave. I'm in the leadership of this group and have been shamelessly pumping its efforts, because I see traffic safety as the No. 1 uniting issue in a neighborhood that, truth be told, isn't known for its unity. Truth be told, I live on a fairly quiet stretch of Van Duzer which, barring the occasional high speed police chase, doesn't leave me cringing in fear whenever I step off the curb. Other neighbors aren't so lucky, however. To dramatize the chronic accident problem on lower St. Paul's Ave., SCARS will be conducting an afternoon-long speed monitoring exercise in front of St. Paul's Church. We'll be clocking the speed of passing cars with a radar gun and then relaying the information to some fellow members who will (tactfully) publicize the info via a chalkboard or poster set up. We're calling it the "human speedboard." The objective of the event is threefold: 1) get a sense of the average car speed on that stretch of St. Paul's, 2) see if an actual speedboard would reduce those speeds , and 3) take our cause to the streets while having a little fun in the process. Toward that final end, we'll be having a barbecue to make sure our members -- and any interested passers-by -- stay well-fed.
If you're the type of person who is good at planning such events, we could use your expertise at the logistics meeting. That meeting will be held next Thursday, Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m. at the St. Paul's Church parish hall. Even if your schedule precludes you from participating, feel free to stop by. Kickoff time is 2 p.m. next Saturday. See you there.
For more information, and a Barbara Fisher slideshow of last weekend's three car accident on Occidental St., got to the SCARS page below.
BEACH CLEAN UP
Every September, the American Littoral Society of New York hosts beach cleanup events around the state. It's part of the International Coastal Cleanup, a worldwide one-day effortto clean up beaches and document the types of trash come washing ashore. Twelve sites on Staten Island will be a part of the clean up. Almost all are on the southern side of the island, but the North Shore Waterfront Conservancy is sending a delegation to help with the Fort Wadsworth beach cleanup if you'd like to meet some fellow minded north shore conservationists. To get more info, visit the ALS website or call the local cleanup coordinator Barbara Cohen at (718) 471-2166.
ART
-- Staten Island OutLOUD reads the poetry of Peruvian writer Cesar Vallejo at the Nature Center (700 Rockland Ave.) tonight at 7 p.m.
-- Last plug for the 56th Annual Fence Show at Snug Harbor (not, as previously listed, the Snug Harbor Fence Show. Hosted by the Staten Island Museum but held at Snug Harbor, this island tradition gives artists a chance to show off and sell their work while also giving islanders a chance to decorate their homes with something a little unique. The show is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 17 (noon until 5 p.m.) and is free to attend. The rain date is a week later, Sept. 24, same time.
-- COAHSI is offering at grant application workshop at its headquarters (Snug Harbord Cultural Center, 1000 Richmond Terrace, Bldg. G) Monday morning. Those looking for premier and encore grants should stop by at 10 a.m. Those looking for original work grants shoulds top by at 11 a.m. Call (718) 447-3329 for more info.
-- Do any of your friends own a house in Virginia?
OFF-ISLAND
-- N.Y. Brewfest, your best chance to get a full sampling of the best beers brewed in an around the Empire State, will take place at the South Street Seaport tonight, from 5-10 p.m. Live music by The Bagpie Dudes and the Jim Moran Band.
Posted Aug. 23, 2006
TRAFFIC
-- The Stapleton Coalition Against Reckless Speeders will be holding a meeting tonight at St. Paul's Church (225 St. Paul's Ave.). The group is planning a follow up to its "Slow Down" sign campaign, so if you've got a fresh sign slogan or attention-getting idea, bring it to the meeting.
-- Was Sen. Marchi's $250 million funding plan for local streets a "back-door" for Nasdaq? ISC has dropped its own transportation upgrade plans in response, prompting South Shore councilman (and candidate for Marchi's soon-to-be open senate seat) Anthony Lanza to smell a secret deal up in Albany.
MOSQUITO SPRAYING
-- This week, through Friday, the New York City Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene will be spraying larvicide via helicopter to fields and marshlands in non-residential portions of Staten Island. The spraying will occur between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.
PARKHILL DAY UNITY FAIR
African Refuge, together with the Consortium of African Community Service Providers, and the Parkhill Day Committee will be hosting an all-day street fair on August 26th. The fair, which intends to showcase the work of local businesses and service organizations, will take place on Parkhill Ave., between Osgood and Palma, and will run from 10 a.m. to 8Ź p.m. It will also feature plenty of live music and dance, writes resident Fatima Policarpo, along with well as children's rides and games and (of course) food! The goal of the fair is to promote unity and education while bridging the cultural and social divide within this diverse community. Attendance is free, and the organizers welcome everyone to come share in this special day. If you are a social service provider, NGO, business owner, or artist interested in having a booth at the fair, please write to Fatima at mdefatima13@yahoo.com
PRO BILLIARDS BENEFIT
The Woments Professional Billiards Association is teaming up with the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation and the House of Billiards to present a 9 ball tournament pairing professional players against amateurs willing to donate a $20 entrance fee. Among the featured players: Carol Clark, aka "Staten Island Sweetheart," the #1 ranked player on the Northeastern Women's tour, six-time world champion Allen Hopkins, and Tony Robles, aka "The Silent Assassin." The tournament will take place at the House of Billiards (308 Front St.) on Saturday, August 26th, starting at 1 p.m. Admission is $15. Call (718) 273-8800 for more info.
S.I. YANKEES
-- A pretty dramatic finish last Sunday at the park. Although their bats appeared sleepy, the Baby Bombers found a way to load the bases in the bottom of the tenth inning. That set things up for Mitch "Country Boy" Hilligoss whose bases loaded, two out grounder down the third base line freed up teammate Kevin Smith for the winning run.
The two teams held a rematch the next night at Keyspan Park. There, the Yankees took advantage of sloppy Cyclones play to rack up a 21-6 victory and the series sweep.
Tompkinsville resident (and newsletter subscriber) Vince DiMiceli has been covering the Cyclones all season for the Brooklyn Papers. He has a page which features a video recap of both games courtesy of his handheld JVC digital camera. If you've got Quicktime, it's worth a visit if only to hear Vince labor his way through the second game's highlights.
The S.I. Yankees have a four game homestand this weekend, starting with the Hudson Valley Renegades on Friday (7:10 p.m.) and ending with the Cyclones on Monday (7:10 p.m.).
SNUG HARBOR FENCE SHOW
-- The 56th Annual Fence Show at Snug Harbor will take place on Sunday Sept 17 with a rain date of Sept 24. This exhibition, hosted by the Staten Island Museum, gives local artists a chance to display and sell their work. You have to rent space, though, which means you have to apply. Go to the S.I. Museum website to download an application or call the museum at (718) 727-1135 if if you have other questions.
ARTISTS' FELLOWSHIPS APPLICATION SEMINAR
-- The New York Foundation for the Arts and COAHSI will be holding a free seminar for artists interested in getting inside tips on how to navigate the foundation's online grant application process. The seminar will take place Saturday , Sept. 16, from 1-3 p.m. at the St. George Library (5 Central Ave.) and will cover more than a half-dozen categories, including copmputer arts, crafts, nonfiction literature and sculpture.
For more info, contact Ben Jacobs at (718) 447-3329.Ź
BEST OF S.I. CRAIGSLIST
-- Looks like a local writer isseeking an artist for a comic book collaboration project.
HUMOR
-- The Onion, aka "America's Finest News Source," holds up a mirror to the author of this newsletter, causing a milk-out-the nostrils moment Wednesday afternoon...
Posted June 30, 2006
MEETINGS-- The 120th Precinct Committee will be holding its monthly meeting at the Stapleton U.A.M.E. Church (49 Tompkins Ave.) Thursday night at 7 p.m.FIREWORKS-- Things have been kind of quiet in my neighborhood, maybe because islandwide the 120th Precinct is offering a $1,000 reward for any information leading to an illegal fireworks arrest. So far, the arrest rate is 200-300 percent higher than it usually is this time of year according to Mayor Bloomberg's latest radio interview on the John Gambling show. Call 311 if you have a tip.
PARKS
Partnerships for Park will be holding its annual Summer in The City parks benefit on Thursday, August 3, 2006.
FOOD PANTRY SHORTAGE
-- As noted in the Wednesday Advance, the food pantry at Stapleton UAME Church (49 Tompkins Ave.) is running low on food supplies -- so low that it might close its doors for the first time in two decades this Friday. If you have any extra canned fruit, canned vegetables, dry foods or anything else non-perishable lying around your own household pantry, feel free to drop it off. For more info, call (718) 273-2857
BEST OF S.I. CRAIGSLIST
-- If you're looking to go down to D.C., whether to celebrate the 4th of July or to take part in a public hunger strike against the Iraq war, a fellow islander is looking for a ride. In the true spirit of 1960s selfless idealism, the rider requests "some info, a pic maybe, just so I can be somewhat sure I'm not going to be murdered."
MULTIMEDIA
-- The Every Thing Goes Book Cafe will be showing "Forbidden Science," a mixture of movies, slides, and open mic performance to guide in the month of July. The finger stnapping starts at 8 p.m. with Movement, a live ambient music show featuring its own mix of music and video at 9.
Posted June 23, 2006
Stapleton
--On June 15, members of the Stapleton community gathered in the Family Life Center to listen to the consulting firm HR&A Inc. deliver its final recommendations on the revitalization of the once-prosperous North Shore community.
Hired by the SI Bank & Trust Foundation and the Independence Community Foundation, HR&A, Inc., together Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, Inc., has working over the last two years to assess upland StapletonÕs potential for an economic turnaround now that the city has committed $66 million to the redevelopment of the Stapleton waterfront.
The group met with city officials and neighborhood leaders to gather economic, social and structural information and history about Stapleton and presented their findings at a community open meeting in July of 2005. After the teamÕs studies and recommendations were presented, they fielded questions and opinions from the audience. The remaining time was spent on smaller group discussions among neighbors.
The team went back to the drawing board with the new information on hand and came up with more recommendations presented at a public meeting held on June 15, 2006. Below is a summary of their recommendations as listed in their hand-out:
- Mixed-income housing
- Increase access to waterfront and public space for everyone
- Services promoting economic integration
- Updated zoning
- Faade work and bringing new customers to Bay Street
- Clean up and care for Tappan Park
- Develop Municipal lot: maintaining parking space, continuing retail frontage and building mixed income housing
- Stapleton Houses: improve connections to streets, more senior services, integrate and improve other services
- Bank-Owned Land: mixed income development
- Initiate low and middle income homeownership education services
- Programs for Stapleton teens and immigrant groups
The meeting became an arena for people to vent their frustrations.
After the Q&A, people broke up into smaller groups and had conversations like last year. People who hadnÕt seen each other in a while said hello to each other, many approached Michael McMahon, the presenters and community leaders and shook hands.
My husband and I walked away from the meeting impressed with the outspoken opinions and different positions people took. We realized that there arenÕt many occasions for people to gather and hear each other. There arenÕt many conduits for people to have input, besides through community boards, which have no authority over any city agency anyway. Initiatives can only come from a private individual place and most of that kind of energy is spent on survival- unless that person is rich. Hence the frustration and flood of pent up opinions at a meeting like this.
Posted June 6
STAPLETON WATERFRONT
-- The Community Board 1 Land Use Committee has unanimously approved the first step in EDC's four part process to redevelop the Stapleton Waterfront.
Tom McKnight led a team of presenters representing both the Economic Development Corporation and the Dept. of Planning. McKnight said the EDC is first looking group all the land east of the SIRR tracks, and a few currently unused lots on the immediate western edge into a single Stapleon Waterfront District. This move would then set in motion the rezoning process of properties within that zone. Currently, the section is mainly zoned for manufacturing use. The district would rezone everything as commercial or mized-use commercial/residential. It would also allow for remapping of various cross streets (Sand, Water, Tompson, Canal, and Prospect), thus allowing the city to install full sidewalks, street trees, fresh pavement and full drainage on those streets.
Once the rezoning is complete, the city will also begin the process of disposession -- i.e. selling off various sizable portions of the current Homeport complex both to stimulate private development and to fund the overall beautification and upkeep of the district.
As reported in the Advance, the Land Use committee's approval comes with a stipulation: The EDC should relax its height limit on new multi-family residential construction. The EDC had imposed a 50 foot cap on buildings. That, along with an attempt to bring in alternate projects (e.g. a Chelsea Piers-inspired sports complex) means the overall district will result in the addition of only 350 new condominium-style units to the community. While some residents in the audience expressed concern over the potential impact on schools and streets, I think it's pretty clear that the style of the project is targeted toward a specific urban buyer profile (i.e. a childless, non car-owning renter forced to look beyond Chelsea or Park Slope for permanent housing) and thus the type of residents who consider the state of local schools and streets a non-issue. That said, members of the Land Use committee felt the city would attract a more competitive bidding process if it gave developers the freedom to build taller buildings and thus give themselves the opportunity to sell more units.
Judging by the tone of the presentation, the EDC is all for helping developers turn a profit. McKnight said the 50 foot limit came about because of community concerns raised at earlier feedback-soliciting sessions. At the same time, however, he saw the residential units as the key economic driver on the project and said his agency had rejected requests for 80/20 development [a move that would have helped development projects qualify for city bonds and federal tax credits] on the grounds that the overall project would increase not only open space and aesthetic value to the Stapleton community but also the number of jobs available to local residents. In other words, the best way to insure the broadest possible benefit to the community was to insure that private developers had a full stakein maintaining the overall integrity of the district. The city, meanwhile, would use its power to make sure no developer pulled a David Geffen and closed off non-residential access to any of the district's public amenities.
Such comments drew even more grumbles. Various attendees noted both the local need for low income housing, a need confirmed by an Independence Community Bank Foundation study of the current Stapleton community. They also noted the potential for economic and ethnic segregation once it became clear that one side of the tracks was for rich Manhattan and Brooklyn exiles and the other side was for those whose skin color or economic status marked them as immediately unwelcome. One audience member who identified himself as black (I couldn't see, because he was behind a pillar) noted that even the economic promise of more jobs for local residents was suspect. He pointed to the Richmond Bank Ballpark as a prior example in which high-paying construction jobs for local minority workers never seemed to pan out. "What does the black and latino community get out of this?" the audience member asked, drawing the most applause of the evening. "Frankly, I don't see us getting anything."
Unflustered by such feedback, McKnight noted that it wasn't the EDC's job to dictate hiring policies and that community members who felt the city should have a say in such matters were free to attend the future meetings, which would include the developers and their plans for the site. He offered a similar response to Mud Lane Society representatives who drew similar applause after expressing concern over the rumored loss of the municipal parking lot the corner of Prospect and Bay Streets. That lot was outside the district in question, McKnight noted, so community members would have to take their concens to a different city agency (Housing & Preservation) and that community members would have to attend that agency's hearings to head off any development plans.
Planning Dept. representative Len Garcia Duran, meanwhile, spoke most directly to the economic segregation concern. He emphasized that the zoning for the east side of the tracks had been explicitly altered to match (and hopefully blend with) the mixed-use zoning along Bay St. All lots would carry the same C 4-2 zoning currently used to encourage commercial activity in Tompkinsville and St. George. The city was also asking developers to devote the ground level units in each of the three residential building projects to retail use and was exempting all ground level units from density-curbing FAR restrictions. Short for floor area ratio, FAR is roughly the fraction of the available lot space taken up by the actual building. Currently, building designs in the district must leave at least half the lot unbuilt, a move the Planning Dept. expects will limit density and preserve water views for "upland" portions of Stapleton. With not restrictions at the ground floor level, however, developers will be free to fill the lot and thus create the impression a seamless, Bay St.-style storefront for pedestrians and other passersby.
"We've found that excluding ground floor units from FAR requirements has been a good way to encourage retail development on other projects of this type," Garcia Duran said.
Such moves coupled with the 50 foot height limit, however, gave rise to the committee concern that the Dept. of Planning wasn't leaving enough salable residential units for developers to recoup their investment costs over the short term and thus justify the risk of building on a site with such a troubled history.
According to Garcia Duran, the height restriction on all buildings in the district would be compounded by a 10 foot pushback requirement for any units above the 40 foot level. While opening up a space for top floor patios and decks, that requirement would further limit the amount of square footage developers could sell into the market.
As the presenters frequently noted, most of the $66 million in redevelopment funds promised by Mayor Bloomberg in November, 2004 would go primarily toward the types of infrastructure improvements (storm sewers, street realignment and an improved bulkhead) needed to attract private investment. Beyond that, EDC was planning to follow the Battery Park model, using property taxes and sales taxes generated by the district itself to pay for the continued upkeep and improvement of the site. Given that plan, members of the Land Use committee worried that 350 condominium-style units left little cushion, especially in the middle of a soft housing market, to insure the long term sustainability of the project. Hence the request for a lifting of the 50 foot height limit.
McKnight said the next public meeting in regards to the Stapleton Waterfront Project would be an informational presentation at Planning Dept. Headquarters (22 Reade St., Manhattan) in July.
MORE WATERFRONT
-- I had to duck out early from Monday night's meeting (some of the questions were getting a bit repetitive anyway) so I missed a lot of the after-discussion. I got a call from Ron Maisel who said the committee also expressed sympathy to one speaker's suggestion that the Staten Island Railroad station be modified to allow for handicapped access (If I remember correctly, this may have been Ron's suggestion, but I didn't note it in my notebook). Anyway, the key concern is that the site will depend heavily on the rail line to bring both residents visitors to the waterfront and without an elevator, the site would be unaccessible to a sizable minority of city residents. The railroad is, of course, outside the EDC's (not to mention the city's) planning jurisdiction, however, so this is a concern that will have to be raised with the MTA.
I also received an email from Muddy Cup founder Jim Svetz. He's a member of the original Stapleton Homeport Task Force, a collection of local citizens Nominated by councilmember McMahon back in 2002-2003. Jim says the task force met on Wednesday night and discussed landscape design. "The plan is in its final stages," Jim writes. "It is presently in what they call utilization review with the city of NY which is a lengthy review process, after that it will go to a city council vote this fall."
Jim adds that it is possible that the first site improvements could begin as early as the end of 2006.
MEETINGS
-- Writing in the Sunday Advance, Karen O'Shea previewed Monday night's meeting while noting that a second meeting will be planned for June 15 at the Central Family Life Center, 59 Wright Street. This meeting starts at 7 p.m. and will focus on the Independence Community Foundation's study of the existing Stapleton community and the organization's recommendations for how to make sure the above-mentioned development benefits both sides of the tracks.
-- The Sunrise Terrace Neighborhood Association will be holding its annual general meeting on Friday, June 9, at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. According to a flyer just received, the meeting starts with a 6 p.m. Easter Egg Hunt (?!?) but moves into the regular business of meetings and elections at 6:30 pm. For more info or to reserve a set, call Lisa Stephens at (917) 912-2791.
BEST OF S.I. CRAIGSLIST
-- Beer Pong at the Sidestreet Saloon.
Posted May 25, 2006
FILM
-- There's a big week of film coming up. The Staten Island Film Festival launches on June 1 with a gala screening of "The Celestine Prophecy." The film, adapted from the best-selling book directed by island resident Armand Mastroianni, has attracted lackluster reviews, sort of like "The Da Vinci Code." Still, it features Hector Elizondo and Jurgen Prochnow, star of the greatest film ever made, aka "Das Boot." Prochnow also shows up in "Da Vinci Code," so it'll be a good chance to compare and contrast the two productions.
Best of all, it's the New York City premiere. The St. George Theatre will be hosting it. Call (718) 442-2900 or visit the St. George Theatre website to purchase tickets in advance. For more information, including the exact time, call (718) 447-1400.
-- The Curtis H.S. (105 Hamilton Ave.) will be hosting a festival preview on Tuesday, May 30th, in the school library. With the help of the festival, they've recruited a collection of local filmmakers whose works will be showing in the festival. The filmmakers will discuss their work, how to get into the business and what it takes to push an idea from concept to the big screen. The forum will start at 5 p.m., but the school recommends showing up a half hour early.
-- Meanwhile, Every Thing Goes Cafe plays Slamdance to the SI EDC's Sundance. This weekend it's the Student Film Festival, featuring student-made works, each 20 minutes or less. The next weekend brings the "People's Alternative Film Experience." it promises "experimental art or otherwise 'non-conventional'" works produced by "Staten Island artist originals."
MEETINGS
-- The Young Democrats of Richmond County will have their next monthly membership meeting tonight (May 25th). The meeting starts at 8 p.m. and will be at Jody's Club (372 Forest Ave.).
BEST OF S.I. CRAIGSLIST
-- Are there any avant-garde marxist types on Staten Island? C'mon. We can hear you breathing.
DAY DE DADA
-- On June 3, the Every Thing Goes Cafe (208 Bay St.) turns into the Cabaret Voltaire, the 1916 Zurich hangout for artists, slackers, and anti-war malcontents, a group that eventually came to be known as the inner circle of the Dada anti-art art movement. In commemoration of that gathering, the cafe will be hosting an open mic starting at 4 p.m. Later this summer, the celebration peaks with the 90th Anniversary reading of Hugo Ball's Dada Manifesto, first publicized at the Caberet Voltaire, on Bastille Day, 1916. That celebration will happen over in Mahattan at Le Petit Versailles [346 East Houston St.] from 2 - 4 p.m. For more info, visit www.daydedada.com.
Alas, the 90th anniversary reenactment of the Somme Offensive failed to secure the necessary noise permits.
Posted May 19, 2006
LOOKING NORTH
-- This week Looking North offers two food reviews, including a report on the second week of the St. George green market. Also, just added, a lengthy Q&A with Stapleton furniture designer Jim Murphy. Jim's got the big furniture show coming up this weekend and talks candidly about the business side of design.
BOROUGH HALL CENTENNIAL
-- May 21 marks the 100 year anniversary of Staten Island's borough hall building. Designed in the French Renaissance style by architects John Carrere and Thomas Hastings, the building symbolizes the ambitions of the island's late-19th century political leadership and the inevitable compromises that come with being a mere borough in a larger city. A good chance for history buffs and Staten Island chauvinists to rub elbows and conspire for future events. There will be a speech commemorating the anniversary at noon on Sunday followed by guided tours.
"SLOW DOWN" CAMPAIGN
-- Over the weekend, members of the Stapleton Coalition Against Reckless Speeders installed 112 "Slow Down" signs on front lawns, fences and private residences along Van Duzer Street and St. Paul's Ave. The purpose is to send a united message: This is a neighborhood not an expressway. Drive accordingly. The signs should stay up for a month depending on the attrition rate. We still owe a few people some signs. If you'd like to join the list, visit the Stapleton Coalition Against Reckless Speeders page and send in your info.
MEETINGS
-- The Young Democrats of Richmond County will have their next monthly membership meeting on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at Jody's Club (372 Forest Ave.). The meeting starts at 8 p.m.
FUNDRAISERS
-- Mac O'Callaghan and her daughter Marjorie O'Callaghan Ryan report that they will be co-hosting a fund-raiser this Saturday, May 20, for the re-election campaign of Civil Court Judge Barbara Panepinto. The fund-raiser will run from 4 to 7 p.m. and will be at Marjorie's house, 203 St. Paul's Ave. Any contribution is acceptible. The only request is "the more the merrier." Call (718) 981-0330 or (718) 720-0095 for more info.
FILM
-- In case you missed it the Staten Island Film Festival will be hosting the premiere of The Celestine Prophecy Movie. The showing will be at the St. George Theatre (35 Hyatt Street). To purchase advance tickets go to TicketWeb.
BEST OF S.I. CRAIGSLIST
-- Tired of "sloppy bus service" on Staten Island? Well, help a fellow islander "do something" about it.
THEATER
-- "Guys and Dolls" continues its run at The Music Hall at Snug Harbor with a Friday performance (8 p.m.) and a Sunday performance (2 p.m.). Apparently, there's a special show and dinner package for the Friday performance. No details in the postcard I got, but I'm guessing it involves the world's best cheesecake. Call the box office for more info: (718) 815-SNUG
ENVIRONMENT
-- The Sanitation Dept. is doing another free compost giveaway this weekend. Just stop by the Fresh Kills Composting Facility (440 to Exit 5, take the frontage road until you hit the gate) anytime between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday or Sunday. BYO shovel and container. NYC residents can also purchase a $20 backyard bin. Good for the occasional Garrison Keillor moment: Standing in the backyard, listening to the neighbor's reggaeton CD at 110 decibels, turning the compost. Makes a man feel connected to the earth...For more info, call 311.
Posted May 12, 2006
"SLOW DOWN" CAMPAIGN
-- If you live along St. Paul's Ave., Targee Street or Van Duzer Street and would like a free "Slow Down" sign for your front yard or fence, please give a call to (718) 815-2329. The Stapleton Coalition Against Reckless Speeders will be installing signs this weekend at addresses that have already agreed to participate in the campaign. The goal is to send a united message to both motorists and political leaders, so we're trying to get as many participating homes and businesses as possible. To get a look at the sign, visit the SCARS web page at the address below.
ST. GEORGE GREENMARKET
-- Kind of a thin vendor turnout at the first weekend but some good discoveries nonetheless. Looking North food reporter Pekes Canfield delivers a report
ATHLETICS
-- The Alzheimer's Foundation of Staten Island is holding its 18th Annual Alzheimer's Run this Saturday. The race starts 9:30 at the Midland Beach Promenade and will be followed by a full breakfast and beach volleyball. If you can swing by the foundation office (789 Post Ave), you can save $5 on the registration cost today. If not, late registration is $20 per person. Call (718) 667-7110 for more info.
BEST OF S.I. CRAIGSLIST
-- New gym coming to Victory Blvd.? The listing says "Sunnyside" but the information suggests that giant white brick building for lease at the corner of Austin Pl.
-- Last week for defensive driving classes.
THEATER
-- The Music Hall at Snug Harbor plays host to the oldest permanent floating crap game in New York this Friday as a two weekend run of "Guys and Dolls" kicks off. The first show is 8 p.m. Friday, May 13. The second is 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets will run you $25 unless of course you were willing to "make things interesting."
FIREFIGHTER EXAM
The FDNY is recruiting. Not everybody gets the call, of course, but you can increase your chances considerably by passing the next written Firefighter Exam, slated for October, and the next physical agility exam, slated for next spring, and thus putting yourself on the list of eligible candidates. Once you're on the list, you can then start focusing other basic requirements -- at least 21 years of age, 30 units of college credit or two years of military service, and a passing grade in the CFR-D civilian first responder course. You have to be at least 17 1/2 years of age to take the test and no more than 29 years of age to get into the qualified applicant pool.
A federal investigation into the department's ethnic and gender skew should be resulting in a report at the end of the month. In the meantime, a FDNY representative at this week's Community Board 1 meeting stressed that the department is making a concerted "push"to increase the number of female and minority applicants. To that end, the FDNY has female and minority group members willing to come out and deliver a little straight talk to potential applicants if needed. For more info or to schedule a visit from one of these recruiters, call 718 999 FDNY
BOROUGH HALL CENTENNIAL
-- May 21 marks the 100 year anniversary of Staten Island's Borough Hall. Designed in the French Renaissance style by architects John Carrere and Thomas Hastings, the building took two years to build and was originally intended to be the centerpiece of a Parisian-influenced civic center. Alas, as so often happens in these parts, the attempt to take part in the "city beautiful" movement had to be scaled back due to budgetary and political concerns. Still, the timing of the construction is notable. San Francisco, a city which lost its entire downtown to earthquake and fire 100 years ago last month, features many rebuilt municipal buildings in the same style. That's because the top architects of the day, Carrere and Hastings included, came out of the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. That might explain the weird through-the-looking-glass feeling I get whenever I find myself at the St. George Greenmarket on a brisk Saturday morning with the civic buildings on my left and the Verrazzano Narrows suspension on my right.
Those who still nurse dreams of secession will, of course, see the entire Borough Hall complex in St. George as a colonialist symbol, a reminder of the island establishment's ill-fated decision to move the seat of local politics from centrally-located Richmondtown to the more Manhattan-proximate St. George. If you fall into this group, you might want to attend Historic Richmond Town in protest. Both sites could use the added attention.
The opening ceremonies for the centennial start a noon, Sunday the 21st. There will be an open house until 4 p.m. with guide tours running on the hour. Call (718) 816-2133 or visit the Borough President's web page for more info.
FILM
-- The Staten Island Film Festival will be doing its kickoff press conference next Monday. The festival will run from June 1st through June 4th, and list of films looks pretty formidable and includes local works such as "Staten Island Catapult," a Gregorio Smith-directed documentary about a disgruntled commuter and his quixotic attempt to build a catapult sturdy enough to hurl him from Staten Island to Manhattan. Speaking as a guy who's a sucker for the Nova documentary in which the two engineering teams attempt to knock down a mock Scottish castle with rival trebuchet designs, I'm more than a little intrigued. The movie will be making its premiere at the film festival.
Posted May 4, 2006
LOOKINGNORTH.COM
-- This week's main feature is a Q&A with "The Cup" owner Joe Carabetta. I heard via John Luisi that Joe was changing the name of the place from Muddy Cup to "The Cup." Joe breaks down the reason for the name change and other recent alterations.
VAN DUZER STREET TO GO ONE LANE
-- Staten Island Dept of Transportation Commissioner Thomas Curitore and members of his staff confirmed that the "channelization" of Van Duzer Street will begin on Monday, May 8. "Channelization" is the DOT's term for reducing traffic flow to one lane. Currently, cars speed along the stretch between Broad Street and Vanderbilt Ave. in two lanes. The Van Duzer Civic Association has been lobbying the city to introduce traffic calming measures along that stretch for three years, and it is believed that the one lane solution will slow traffic significantly and eliminate some of the Formula One style driving in that area. Curitore says the remedy will cost a number of parking spaces but will leave new space for bikes and a wide open right shoulder for delivery trucks and other short term stops.
"We're going to check back in six months and see how it's working" said Curitore at the Van Duzer Civic Association of the project.
TRAFFIC TICKET BLITZ
-- The 120 Precinct traffic squad was out in force yesterday along St. Paul's Ave. If you got a ticket yesterday, feel free to blame the Stapleton Coalition Against Reckless Speeders. The group lobbied the precinct's top cop, Inspector Richard Bruno, at last week's 120th Precinct Council meeting. They also mentioned the recent spate of auto accidents along lower St. Paul's Ave. to Traffic Sgt. Brian Rabite at the Van Duzer Civic Association meeting. Less than 24 hours later, I'm getting reports of 3, 10, 20 or more traffic citations. Don't get caught in the dragnet. The speed along that entire stretch is 25 m.p.h.
MEETINGS
-- Community Board 1 meets next Tuesday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. at All Saints Church (2329 Victory Blvd.).
EVENTS
-- Friends of Fire will be holding their annual Fine Craft and Art Fair, Saturday, May 6, 2006 11-5pm. For more information, call Steve Nutt at 718 727 0698
-- The Five Boro Bike Tour will be passing through the North Shore on Sunday between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. For those who missed it last year, this was an utter traffic nightmare near the ferry -- something I can say with a small measure of authority since I was one of the people charged with keeping bicyclists out of the main intersection leading into the terminal. The site says they are working with NYC DOT to insure the ferries run smoothly this. That's nice. I still think an entrepreneur with plenty of ice could make a small fortune selling cold drinks to the bicyclists who will inevitably be waiting for the ferry to pick them up. Just a thought.
SHOPPING
-- The Greenmarket returns to the Borough Hall Municipal Parking Lot in St. George this Saturday. Load up on all the shiitakes and other goodies you missed over the winter.
BEST OF S.I. CRAIGSLIST
-- Some S.I. Ghostbusters are looking for a few good paranormal investigators.
FILM
-- Every Thing Goes Book Cafe will be hosting a double showing of the documentary "Still We Ride" on Sunday, May 8. The first showing will be at 1 p.m. The second at 4 p.m. The documentary focuses on the August, 2004 Critical Mass bicycle protest prior to the Republican National Convention in 2004, an event that drew 264 arrests and set the tone for the police response to subsequent impromptu protests during the week-long event.
-- ETG will also be playing host to the ETG Student Film Festival on May 24-27 and the People's Alternative Film Experiment, on the weekend of June 2-3.
Posted April 19, 2006
NEWS RECAP
Let's see [paper rustling sound] what do we have in the news lately?...
-- Stabbing
-- Guns
-- Sex
-- Traffic
-- Love
-- Death
-- Holy Intrigue
Other than that, not much to report.
MEETINGS
-- The Stapleton/Clifton/Concord Local Area Committee (Community Board 1) meets tomorrow night (Wed., April 19) at 59 Wright St. Meeting starts at 7 p.m.
-- Take back the streets! The Stapleton Coalition Against Reckless Speeders will be meeting this Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at the St. Paul's Church Parish Hall. The primary topic of discussion will be the group's upcoming "Slow Down" sign campaign. SCARS is looking to put signs on the house or lawn of every resident who lives along Van Duzer St. & St. Paul's Ave. It's an ambitious goal, yes, but they already have 20 percent of the population onboard. If you live on one of these two streets but can't attend, go to the page below to supply SCARS with contact information and they'll make sure you get a sign.
-- The Young Democrats of Richmond County will have their next monthly membership meeting on Thursday, April 27, 2006 at Jody's Club (372 Forest Ave.). The meeting starts at 8 p.m.
EARTH DAY
-- Stapleton Trash Patrol will be holding a special Earth Day clean up event on Saturday. The show starts at 10 a.m. and will focus on the vacant lots and side streets surrounding Tappen Park. Meet at the corner of Canal and Wright Street. One bag of trash that's all we ask.
-- Every Thing Goes Book Cafe will be hosting a series of Earth Day events starting at 11 a.m. Saturday. The series starts with a seminar type discussion focusing on eco-awareness, the use of "earth-friendly transportation alternatives" and "free energy" followed by some neighborhood cleanup activity. Later in the day will be a film biography of folk singer/green activist Pete Seeger (5 p.m.) and the 30 min. up-with-bicycles documentary "Still We Ride" (6 p.m.) The Red Storm Drum and Dance Troupe close out the evening at 8 p.m.
-- The Dept. of Sanitation would like to give you back your Christmas tree in the form of yummy plant-nourishing compost. If you're a city resident with a bucket pick up your compost at the Fresh Kills Composting Facility on West Service Road between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. A $20 donation also gets you a composting bin for the backyard.
BEST OF S.I. CRAIGSLIST
-- One woman's lament against S.I. road rage.
-- Are you female, disease-free, and "open minded?" Meet your all-expenses-paid rideshare to Atlanta.
-- Relax. He left his limb & trim chainsaw is back home with the wife.
TOMPKINSVILLE TOUR
-- The Preservation League of Staten Island will be hosting "Tompkinsville: Towers and Turrets," a historical tour of Tompkinsville on Sunday, April 30th. The tour will include the newly created Fort Hill Park and the original Daniel Tompkins mansion. Registration begins at noon at P.S. 16 and attendees can choose between the $25 self guided tour or the $35 guided tour. Advanced registration is recommended for the guided tour. To register in advance, call (718) 980-1551. For all other information, call (917) 886-4389.
Posted March 29, 2006
TRAFFIC
-- Two semi-related stories in the Advance. First, Mayor Bloomberg promises to "pull the trigger" on road widening in the Old Town area at the first meeting of the Staten Island Traffic Task Force. His office also proposes a list of 10 "high priority" intersections that will receive Task Force attention this year. Six of the 10 are north of the expressway, but only one, the intersection at Bay and Victory Street, deals with traffic issues east of Ward Hill. The office says the Task Force will deal with "at least" 10 intersections, so if you think the Mayor is leaving out a trouble spot [St. Paul's Ave./Beach St. & Cebra Ave., for example], send the mayor a message.
Second, judging by the early Advance forum traffic, it looks the pro-NASCAR folks scored a forfeit victory over the anti-NASCAR folks at the first public hearing on the NASCAR track.The next meeting will be in April [see below] and will focus on environmental impact.
MEETINGS
-- The St. George Civic Association will be meeting next Wednesday night, April 5, at the Staten Island Arts & Sciences Building (corner of Stuyvesant and Wall St.). The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will focus on the election of new officers.
-- The 120th Precinct Community Meeting will be this Thursday, 7:30 p.m., at the Brighton Heights Reformed Church (320 St. Mark's Place).
-- The Dept. of City Planning will hold its next meeting on the proposed NASCAR track on April 27th. The meeting will be at the Michael Petrides School (715 Ocean Terrace) and will start at 6 p.m. The Advance is providing a "do your homework" page for anyone interested. The Planning Dept. page, meanwhile, will get you to the PDF's on the scope of work and the meeting agenda on the city planning page.
BEST OF S.I. CRAIGSLIST
-- Free rocks in Clifton for anybody looking to get the garden in shape. Slow week.
KIDS
-- Cromwell Rec Center, in conjunction with the 120th Precinct Community Council and Parks and Health Plus, will be hosting a Bunny Hop at Pier 6 (Murray Hulber Ave.). Festivities will include face painting, bonnet making and Easter Bunny photo-ops.
MUSEUMS
-- Staten Island OutLOUD will be performing this Saturday, 8 p.m., at Temple Israel as part of the temple's Holocaust Remembrance series. The peformance, titled The Trial of the Murdered Poets, refers to the Stalin-era trial and execution of the Soviet Union's top Yiddish authors. Performers will read from trial transcripts, the authors' own poetry and traditional Yiddish music as a memorial to all victims of intolerance. For more info, call (718) 907-0709 or write to sioutloud@yahoo.com.
THEATER
-- The Music Hall at Snug Harbor is hosting a two weekend run of "Jesus Christ Superstar" starting this Friday, 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors, students and Snug Harbor members.
Posted March 24, 2006
IS BLOOMBERG BELGIAN?
-- 'Cause he certainly serves up a pretty big waffle. Some funny quotes in the Advance coverage of his recent appearance in Mariners Harbor in case you missed it.
FUNDRAISERS
-- The Mud Lane Society will be hosting its "Love Your Neighborhood" party on Saturday, March 25, at the home of Dr. Ted and Donna Brown (387 St. Paul's Ave.). The theme alludes to the original pre-Valentines scheduling. Unfortunately, 20-plus inches of snow forced a postponement. Admission is $40 per person and hors d'oeuvres will be served. The event will run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The honorees are David Goldfarb, St. George resident and the president of the city's Historic Districts Council, and Elizabeth Egbert, Stapleton resident and CEO and president of the Staten Island Museum. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served. If you would like to attend, please RSVP on or before March 20 by calling (718) 720 -5112.
-- Last call for the Staten Island Citizens Against the Track poker tournament fundraiser. Buy-in: $100. Payout: $10,000 in prizes. Date: Wednesday, March 22nd, at the Hillside Swim Club (151 Signs Rd.) Call (718) 273-8802 to reserve a seat.
LIFEGUARDS NEEDED
-- Frank Carcaterra of the Parks Dept. says New York City is recruiting lifeguards to watch over city beaches and pools. Starting pay is $10.71 and the workload during the summer is 48 hours per week. Applicants should be able to swim 50 yards in 35 seconds, have a minimum of 20/30 vision in one eye and 20/40 in the other, and be at least 16 years of age. The application form is available online.
COLLEGES
The College of Staten Island will be hosting a conference dealing with the Fresh Kills conversion project this Friday, March 24th, from 12-4 p.m. Co-organized by Project Fresh Youth Involvement and the College of Staten Island, Staten Island Project (CSI-SIP), this conference seeks to disperse information and to create initiatives that will make the borough of Staten Island a more unified, attractive community. The conference will consist of three panels. The first panel will give an overview of the master plan and will be presented by a member of the design team and a public outreach coordinator for the project. The second panel will deal with the environmental and health implications of the conversion. The third panel will consist of representatives of various city departments discussing the city's role in the conversion. For more info, please write to projectfyiconference@gmail.com
SMOKING CESSATION
-- Community Health Action is offering free smoking cessation counseling and NRT [nicotine replacement therapy] for any Staten Islander 18 or over. The service is available Monday-thru-Friday, 9 am to 4:30pm and includes free counseling and a six week course of nicotine replacement. Counselors have been trained by the New York City Department of Health, and the NRT is being provided through a grant from New York State Department of Health. For more information, call Barbara Sullivan at 718-448-8802.
BEST OF S.I. CRAIGSLIST
-- Phil Fiumano, the producer/host of the local cable variety show New York Rocks (Channel 35, Fridays 11 p.m.), is looking for an assistant to help with the basic booking, tape logging and organizing duties.
-- Somewhere a medium pitch men's softball team needs players.
MUSEUMS
-- Snug Harbor Cultural Center will be holding the opening reception this Saturday for "Zeuxis: Facets of Perception," a collaborative still life project involving the work of more than 30 artists of local and national repute. The reception runs from 2-5 p.m. on March 25th.
-- Staten Island OutLOUD will read from Living Buddha, Living Christ, a book by the Buddhist monk Thick Nhat Hanh, at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art this Saturday. The reading starts at 2 p.m.
COMEDY
-- JP Justice hosts a Vegas-style double helping of "Grown Folks Comedy" at the Muddy Cup this Sunday. This week's featured guest is Pierre from "How to Be a Player." Elijah Bullock hosts the pre-show. The first show starts at 8 p.m., the second at 10 p.m. Tickets are $13 at the door. Two drink minimum.
Posted March 6, 2006
STAPLETON COALITION AGAINST RECKLESS SPEEDERS
-- For those who have been getting this newsletter over the last few weeks, I've been flacking hard on behalf of the newly forming grass roots group looking to take on the persistent speeding and automobile accident problem along Targee and Van Duzer Streets and St. Paul's Ave.
Last Thursday, roughly 20 neighbors braved the icy rain to gather for the group's inaugural meeting at St. Paul's Church. Everybody had a chance to introduce themselves and offer their worst traffic horror story. In my personal opinion, I think the winner was Svetlana Rzhevsky of 506 Van Duzer St. Her house, located at the sharp bend where Targee becomes Van Duzer St., has been hit at least five times since moving into the neighborhood.
We also came up with a name for the group: Stapleton Coalition Against Reckless Speeders, or SCARS, and set a second meeting date to lay out a reasonable short term organizational agenda. We are hoping to double the attendance total (not hard, I think, since many people I'd contacted personally said they would make the next event). If you would like to attend or be a part of the SCARS mailing list to keep up with future activities, please send me a note
MEETINGS
-- The Van Duzer Street Area Civic Association will hold its monthly membership meeting March 7 at Trinity Lutheran Church. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. and will include a guest from International Speedway Corporation to discuss the proposed Nascar track on the west island.
-- The St. George Civic Association meets Wednesday night, March 8, at the Staten Island Arts & Sciences BuildingThe meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will focus on the nomination of new officers.
FUNDRAISERS
-- Staten Island Citizens Against the Track, an anti-NASCAR group, is holding a poker championship March 22nd. The buy-in is $100 and organizers are promising up to $10,000 in prizes. Interesting. The tournament will kickoff on Wed., March 22nd, at the Hillside Swim Club (151 Signs Rd.) Sign-in at 7 p.m., first deal at 8 p.m. Call (718) 273-8802 to reserve a seat.
BUSINESS
-- I never found a good linking event or story to tie in with Mardi Gras in New Orleans last week. This week, however, I stumbled onto this little tidbit in an MSNBC about hurricane insurance.
- Some US home insurers have recently said they will not offer further cover in densely-populated coastal cities such as New York as experts put the risk of a major hurricane hitting the US Eastern Seaboard as high as 81 per cent this year.
BEST OF S.I. CRAIGSLIST
-- If anybody knows a New York Knick about to receive a serious pay cut, there's a private parking lot available on Targee St. that'll let them stash their 23 whips for $1800/mo.
MUSEUMS
-- "The Artist and the Baseball Card," a four month exhibition of art and artifacts surrounding the national pastime at the Staten Island Museum's kicks off this Saturday. The exhibition is curated by Syracuse art professor Murray Tinkelman and is coordinated by Carol Tinkelman. The opening reception will be at the museum on Thursday March 23 from 5:30 - 8 p.m. Call (718) 727-1135 for more info.
March 1, 2006
TRAFFIC SUMMIT
-- St. Paul's Church in cooperation with the Van Duzer Street Area Civic Association, Trinity Lutheran, and First Central Baptist Church, and the Neighbors of Staaten will be hosting a 1-2 hour meeting Thursday night on the issue of traffic safety in Stapleton. For those who haven't been following this story in the North Shore Newsletter, the meeting comes in the wake of a January automobile accident that took out both a parked car and a telephone pole in front of St. Paul's Church. The driver was exceeding the speed limit and, according to some accounts, was heavily intoxicated.
The purpose of the meeting, which will be hosted by St. Paul's rector the Rev. William A.F. Blasingame, is to 1) gather together and identify neighbors who would like to see the imposition of traffic calming measures on St. Paul's Ave. and the nearby Van Duzer St. corridor, 2) establish a group that can represent the neighborhood on this issue at political meetings and media events which tend to pop up at a moment's notice, and 3) develop a strategy to get this north shore traffic safety on the mayor's Staten Island Transportation Task Force agenda.
On that latter note, the meeting will feature guest speaker Priscilla Marco, current president of the Van Duzer Street Area Civic Association. Her group has been successful in building public awareness of the speeding problem in that corner of Stapleton and has managed to get both a stop light placed at the intersection of Van Duzer St. and Hillside Ave. and a permanent traffic speed monitor near the corner of Osgood and Van Duzer.
They still have a few more items on the wish list, including another traffic light and a reduction of Van Duzer to single lane traffic south of Broad Street. The real concern, however, is making sure island planners recognize that if, as media reports suggest, Staten Island is to add another 10,000 residents over the next decade, the current traffic plan that uses as Targee, Van Duzer and St. Paul's as a poor man's expressway between southeastern portions of the island and the St. George Ferry is a recipe for disaster.
Yes, midweek meetings are a major drag and, yes, traffic is only one of many pressing problems here on the North Shore in general and Stapleton in particular. As noted by both politicians and city planners at the Stapleton Redevelopment meeting on Jan. 31st, however, the community's true weakness is a lack of cross-community grass roots political involvement. Traffic speed is the one issue that spans both the ethnic and economic divide. Put another way: A car that skids out of control after doing 50 mph in a 25 mph zone can hurt you regardless of what church you go to or how much money you have in the bank.
The meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday night at St. Paul's Church (225 St. Pauls' Ave.) For more information, please call (718) 273-9572.
-- Speaking of transportation, the Advance is teasing a juicy story about nepotism at the city DOT involving a cousin of Congressman Fossella. No link yet.
MEETINGS
-- The Van Duzer Street Area Civic Association will hold its monthly membership meeting next Tuesday, March 7 at Trinity Lutheran Church. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. and will include a guest from International Speedway Corporation to discuss the proposed Nascar track on the west island.
-- The St. George Civic Association's executive board meeting has been pushed back a week to Wednesday, March 8, at the Staten Island Arts & Sciences Building (corner of Stuyvesant and Wall St.). The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will focus on the nomination of new officers.
FUNDRAISERS
-- Staten Island Citizens Against the Track [SCAT] in coordination with Gateway Rotary will be holding a fund-raising poker tournament on Wednesday, March 22, 2006. The buy-in is $100, and re-buys are available for an additional $100. In addition to raising money to oppose the construction of the Nascar track out in Bloomfield, organizers plan to give away $10,000 in prizes. The tournament sign-in time is at 7 p.m. and the location will be the Hillside Swim Club, 151 Signs Rd. To reserve a seat call (718) 273 8802.
BEST OF S.I. CRAIGSLIST
-- If you're an anime artist, frndav3@aol.com would like to collaborate and is willing to pay for your services.
-- Coincidentally.. Alison McLean, aka glaistig, *is* an anime artist albeit with a dream to get more into children's book illustration and is looking for commissions. She's 23 and has an artistic fascination with fairies.
KIDS
Staten Island OutLOUD is helping the Staten Island Children's Museum (Snug Harbor Cultural Center) launch a Dr. Suess retrospective this Saturday with a live riding of And To Think That I saw it On Mulberry Street. The reading starts at 2 p.m. and owes its existence to funding by COAHSI, the NYS Council on the Arts and the sponsorship of the St. George Civic Association.
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