Additional reporting by With Rachel Holiday Smith Staten Island voters could see a new political party on their general election ballots: “Staten Island First,” THE CITY has learned. Mark Murphy, the Staten Island Democratic Party-backed candidate for borough president, is collecting signatures with two other Democrats to run in the general election on his new […]
James Oddo
Posted inStaten Island
NYC Looks to Bring Staten Island Yankees’ Old Baseball Stadium Back to Life Next Season
After sitting unused for over a year and a half — and costing the city over $500,000 in upkeep — Staten Island’s minor league ballpark is homing in on a new team in time for the 2022 season. The city’s Economic Development Corporation is in discussions with the Atlantic League — a quirky eight-team league […]
Posted inCampaign 2021
Ranked Choice Voting Turns to Old-Style Rank Politics in Staten Island Borough President Race
A Staten Island race mired in conflict suggests that the civility expected to accompany the new ranked choice voting system is already giving way to old-school, hardball New York politics. In theory, the system, in which voters rank up to five candidates in order of preference, takes away the motivation for negative campaigning so hopefuls […]
Posted inClimate Change
A Five-Mile Seawall Was Supposed to Protect Staten Island by 2021. A Fight Over Radiation Cleanup Stands in the Way
Radiation under a Staten Island park from a 1940s landfill — and a fight over who should clean it up — has again halted progress on the East Shore Seawall, a key climate resiliency project. The radiation in the planned 5.3-mile seawall’s path comes from Great Kills Park, where radium-226 was first found during an […]
Posted inPolitics
Staten Island’s Odd Couple: Rep. Max Rose and Borough President James Oddo’s Unlikely Alliance
Last month, after thanking a Kentucky church for donating masks, Staten Island Borough President James Oddo felt an urge to comment on Rep. Max Rose’s pitching form. “I saw that picture of our congressman throwing out a pitch at a Little League game. Congressman: That’s what a bicep looks like and that’s what a tricep […]
Posted inHousing
Home Developer in Street Fight Over Plans for Former Catholic Retreat on Staten Island
A developer is reviving a years-long fight to build over 160 homes at the former site of a beloved early 1900s Catholic retreat center on Staten Island — reigniting a bitter street fight with Borough President Jimmy Oddo. South Shore developer Savo Brothers is suing the commissioners of the Board of Standards and Appeals in […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Staten Island GOP Politicians Rally Around Reopening NYC
Need to know more about coronavirus in New York? Sign up for THE CITY’s daily morning newsletter. Staten Island Republicans — with one major exception — want to speed up the end of the Pause and are making reopening the pandemic-struck city a rallying cry. GOP officeholders and candidates in the only borough to go […]
Posted inStaten Island
Staten Island Pledges to Fix Failure to Track Community Board Diversity
Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. Staten Island Borough President James Oddo vowed Wednesday to compile demographic data on community boards after THE CITY revealed the borough failed to collect and report the information. “We will be drafting a letter […]
Posted inHow to New York
Does Your Community Board Reflect You and Your Neighbors? Find Out.
Additional reporting by Clifford Michel Sign up for “THE CITY Scoop,” our daily newsletter where we send you stories like this first thing in the morning. Six out of 10 community board members in The Bronx’s Morris Park are white in a neighborhood where only 22% of people are. At Midtown Manhattan’s community board, men […]
Posted inAffordable Housing
Staten Island Revamp Advances Without $3,000 ‘Affordable’ Rents
A key City Council subcommittee approved new zoning rules for Staten Island’s Bay Street area Thursday — making progress toward the mayor’s affordable housing goals while nixing the borough president’s proposal to let high-rent apartments count. In the bargain, Councilmember Debi Rose brokered a City Hall pledge to reconstruct a demolished community center and build […]