Transportation Hearing!


If the proposed MTA Service CUTS are allowed to go into effect
this could be
the FUTURE of Bus Service on Staten Island:


New HILSIDE Housing Development Proposed!

Next Community Board #1 Meeting about the latest
New Brighton Hillside Development proposal:


Monday, October 6, 2008,
CB#1 Land Use Committee Meeting
at Community Board #1 Office,
1 Edgewater Plazza
at 7:00 pm.




A Dept. of City Planning application has been submitted to certify future subdivision and to authorize development and site alterations on zoning lots having a steep slope in order to construct seven single-family houses and seven two-family houses within the Special Hillsides Preservation District at East Buchanan & Fillmore St. and Eadie Pl. & Highview Avenue.

There is a Community Board #1 Area Committee Meeting about this on
Tuesday, 9/16/08,
at the Silver Lake Tennis House
(on Hart Blvd & Revere Street).
The meeting will start at 7:30
p.m.

It is an open public meeting, as many interested and concerned members of our communities as possible should attend.



Some of the information of some of the involved Block and Lot Numbers are linked below:

BLOCK 59
Lot #35 (proposed address would be 23 East Buchanan).

Also Lots #37, 39, 42, and 44
(proposed addresses 27, 31, 35, and 39 East Buchanan).

And Lots #46 and #48
(proposed addresses 23 and 19 Highview)
:

Jones Woods Finally Park Land!



Monday, March 31, 2008

Kudos to the Councilmen who Saved Jones Woods

During the 1970s and 1980s, the New Brighton Citizens’ Committees Inc. requested that the huge undeveloped hillside on the north shore of Staten Island know as Jones’ Woods become parkland. Many government officials said it was a great idea but didn't do it.

Jones’ Woods has wonderful high hilltop vistas and lush wildlife offering 360 degrees of beautiful natural greenery in certain places. Even though these huge woodlands were privately owned, in this densely populated diverse community they were utilized as public green space for many decades.

In the 1990s developers began to tear down the trees in the upper portion of Jones’ Woods. Portions of the hillside began to be eroded and the SI Advance documented actual mudslides onto Alden Place beneath the new construction.

Citizens of New Brighton came out in the hundreds to say that this last largest undeveloped hillside must not fall victim to this kind of over-development. Our civic organization worked diligently to call attention to the situation, and neighbors from all over Staten Island began to join us.

Elected officials made promises of support on many occasions. However, only Councilman Jay O’Donovan actually allocated money to this environmental preservation, though not enough to complete the purchase.

But then Michael McMahon made a campaign promise to complete the acquisition of Jones’ Woods as parkland. Now over ten years after his predecessor’s initial commitment, Councilman McMahon has indeed come through big time for the residents of Staten Island.

It was not an easy acquisition, to say the least. But when it comes to something like losing this much of God’s natural beauty to bulldozers, McMahon is not the type to let obstacles stand in the way of our commitment to this borough. Thanks to our extraordinary efforts, almost 15 acres of natural wooded hillside will remain just that for generations to come and enjoy forever.

In a republic, citizens are supposed to elect representatives that serve the public well in government. In this instance, Michael McMahon is that true public servant, the kind all the voters of Staten Island are blessed to have working for them.


-Lindy P. Crescitelli, New Brighton



New York City Councilman FIRST pledged to SAVE Jones' Woods as Parkland at The New Brighton Citizens' Committees Inc.'s General Membership Meeting






(Click article to enlarge it.)

The first specific MILLION DOLLAR pledge toward Saving Jones' Woods as Park Land
(SEE ABOVE) came at Our General Membership Meeting, after many well attended meetings we organized and other events this organization conducted including large well publicized Rallies, (largely documented by coverage in the News):



(Click articles to enlarge them.)

We even Organized a Lobbying Trip and Traveled to the NY State Capital in Albany to continue to raise awareness of this issue:








One of our founding members ...


MILDRED SIGNORIELLO, 88
06/16/2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Mildred Signoriello, 88, a longtime New Brighton resident who was a talented seamstress and dressmaker, died Monday at her home.

She was born Mildred DePaolo in Bergenfield, N.J. and moved with her family to New Brighton when she was a child. She attended Curtis High School.

Mrs. Signoriello worked as a seamstress and dressmaker, retiring in 1985. She was an officer and active member of the former International Ladies Garment Workers' Union, where she fought for workers' rights.

She was a member of the Christian Pentecostal Church, Concord, and the New Brighton Civic Association.

Mrs. Signoriello enjoyed crocheting, reading, working crossword puzzles and collecting antique lamps and porcelain figurines. She also was an expert Scrabble player and gardener, with roses her specialty.

She often spent winters in Florida, where a favorite pastime was hosting backyard barbecues. She loved to watch family and friends enjoy outdoor meals and go swimming in her pool.

Mrs. Signoriello's husband of 52 years, John, died in 1998.

Surviving are her sons, John Jr. and Vincent; her daughters, Rosine Signoriello and Annette Barba; 11 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

The funeral service will be tomorrow at 10 a.m. in Christian Pentecostal Church. The arrangements, which include burial in Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp, are being handled by the Harmon Home for Funerals, West Brighton.



Acknowledging & Working Closely With Our Uniformed Public Servants.


Here we present an award in acknowledgment of the fine work of some of
our uniformed public servants at our December Holidays Celebratory Event:





New Brighton Teen Shot ...


Tuesday, September 30, 2008

New Brighton teen shot
By DOUG AUER

A teenager was wounded in a New Brighton shooting last night.

During the night part of New Brighton was locked down as police searched for the assailants who shot a 16-year-old boy at around 10:10 p.m. near the intersection of Jersey Street and Benziger Avenue.

The victim -- whose name was not released -- was rushed to Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton. His condition was non-life threatening, police said.

Within seconds of the gunfire ringing out, a police unit patrolling nearby discovered the teen shot in the abdomen lying in the street.

The gunman was described as a black male in his 20s wearing a brown hooded sweatshirt.

Somewhere in the backyards of the 200 block of Benziger was where the fleeing shooter and his accomplices were last seen, according to police.

Residents were told to stay in their homes as an NYPD helicopter illuminated the neighborhood and heavily armed Emergency Service Unit officers with a K-9 dog canvassed for the wanted men.

Detectives recovered shell casings on Jersey Street as city buses waited for the streets to be reopened, which occurred about two hours later.

Investigations into the shooting are ongoing and the suspects remain at large.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's CrimeStoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS.

Doug Auer covers police and fire news for the Advance. He may be reached at auer@siadvance.com.




New Brighton Citizen's Committees Inc.'s Halloween Fest!


Another FREE (no admission charged) COMMUNITY EVENT put on through and by the volunteers of this organization, with funds raised by the organization through fund-raisers, dues, & donations, and open to the entire community.



Agency proposing new residence is assailed

St. Vincent's Services is blasted for planning a building for college and high school girls in New Brighton

Friday, November 30, 2001

By CHAN-JOO MOON
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER

The agency planning to open a community residence for college and high school girls in New Brighton came under fire from about 60 residents of the area during a meeting last night in Christ Episcopal Church, New Brighton.

The meeting began with representatives of St. Vincent's Services, a Brooklyn-based foster care agency, describing its plan to operate a home...Despite the descriptions of a high-quality program in well-maintained homes, many of the residents expressed doubt, criticized the approach the agency had taken with the community, and said there already are 10 other residences in a three-mile area in their neighborhood...

Those attending the meeting criticized an October letter sent to Community Board 1, which stated the agency did not need any kind of Board approvals because they were not opening a new home, but moving the one on 116 Vanderbilt Ave., Clifton, to New Brighton.

"You called it a replacement building. You have told my Community Board you do not need their approval. This is the way you enter my community," said a man who came to the meeting.

"I assure you the Community Board will fight you every possible way we can," said Richard Xuereb, the second vice chairman of the Board.

The Board has heard residents comment on the issue but has not taken a vote on it. The Board passed a blanket resolution in March to oppose any new social service facilities on the North Shore.

Patricia Houghton, director of Mission Development, said that at the home's current location, a rented home on Vanderbilt Avenue, three people have to share each room. About a year ago, the agency purchased the land in New Brighton, she said.

"We looked for several years for a site that can accommodate a beautiful structure," she said.

But Lindy P. Crescitelli, president of the New Brighton Citizens Committee, said there was a different motive involved.

He said New Brighton residents have a history of accepting the youths once a home is opened, instead of threatening to "burn down" the structure like some do on the South Shore.

"We will not burn down social service agencies or show our anger to young people. The reason you chose the site is because other agencies have had good experiences here. So you tried to sneak another one in," he said.

Crescitelli said the agency should have consulted the community before purchasing the land.

"You purchase the land. You're telling us you don't need authorization. Yet out of the other side of the mouth, you're telling us you want to work with the community and you want us to visit," he said.

Resident Susan Fowler, who lives near the site, was the lone person to speak in favor of the site...Resident Toni Paresi charged the agency had so far failed to mention that there were both boys and girls in the Clifton home, and that a history of trouble, including calls to police, led to the move.

"You never mentioned you had boys and girls," she said.

Christopher Jones, managing director of group home services, admitted there are boys and girls in the Clifton home...Jones said police involvement has been minimal. St. Vincent's Services, a private agency founded in 1869, has a long history of providing high-quality care, he said.

There will be two to three staff members on site at all times, he said. The residents are screened through the Administration for Children's Services and the ones going to the home in New Brighton will be the brightest of the residents, who will only be able to stay if they maintain their good work and behavior, he said...Resident Diane Scrimenti, a special education teacher, said she has had numerous negative experiences with ACS screening.

"They're not always forward with us. We have troubled children all the time. Every time we're on the phone: 'Oh. ACS is involved. Sorry.' And you can't go any further," she said.

"They need a place to live, so the girls can go to college," Jones said. "We want to provide that."

Crescitelli said having so many similar residences in a single area ultimately hurts the people living in them.

"What we're trying to do is work to spread out the homes. Putting it in proximity to so many social service agencies labels them. We need the children to grow up in a new century where they're welcome everywhere."

Speaking after the meeting, Ms. Houghton said she was not sure what the timeline for construction was and said she would have to consult the agency's architects and engineers to know if all of the needed permits have been obtained.

© 2001 The Staten Island Advance.

Car Thefts & other Robberies!

NEW BRIGHTON CITIZENS' COMMITTEES, INC.
* (212)-802-9792*
“OVER 35 YEARS OF SERVING THE COMMUNITY”

July 2007
***ALERT***

CAR THEFT IN THE
NEW BRIGHTON COMMUNITY

CARS ARE BEING STOLEN,
BEING USED FOR ROBBERIES,
AND THEN ABANDONED

BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
CARS PARKED AND NOT BEING MOVED
ESPECIALLY ON DEAD END STREETS

ONE STOLEN VEHICLE HAS BEEN
USED IN SEVERAL ROBBERIES

THE CARS THAT HAVE BEEN STOLEN
ALL HAD ALARMS AND
THEY WERE STILL STOLEN

TO REPORT SUSPICIOUS CARS
PLEASE CALL THE POLICE
& LET US KNOW SO WE CAN FOLLOW-UP