STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Some of the borough’s most notoriously pothole-ridden stretches of road are getting their long-overdue makeover.A major repaving project on Hylan Boulevard in Dongan Hills is now under way, while work along Clove Road in West Brighton should be wrapped up within days.

Hylan’s asphalt guts splayed and machines grinding through the night, milling work began Tuesday and will continue through tomorrow to give the boulevard a new fall coat in time for back-to-school season.

The city Department of Transportation will pave the stretch of Hylan between Bryant and Liberty avenues from Dongan Hills to New Dorp, as part of an effort to smooth out the heavily traveled street. Yesterday, that corridor was more crowded than usual during the evening commute to the South Shore, as motorists avoided the outside lanes that had been milled down to a rough,uneven surface.

“As part of our ongoing effort to keep New York City’s infrastructure in a state of good repair, our night resurfacing program will begin at the end of the month and will improve several of Staten Island’s major thoroughfares,” said DOT spokesman Monty Dean.

Those key areas include the Hylan stretch; Capodanno Boulevard from Sand Lane to Miller Field; Lily Pond Avenue between School Road and Capodanno, and Richmond Terrace from Heberton to Nicholas avenues.

Another major artery, Richmond Avenue, already had significant wear-and-tear work done earlier this year from Arthur Kill Road to Forest Hill Road and from Nome Avenue to Victory Boulevard, Dean said. “Pave, baby, pave,” said City Councilman James Oddo, who requested some attention for Hylan back in April, and was promised by DOT Borough Commissioner Tom Cocola that it would be taken care of during the summer.

So ubiquitous are the potholes on Staten Island, “people shrug their shoulders, as if it’s a way of life,” Oddo said, “and it shouldn’t be.”

“We shouldn’t accept it.”

Meanwhile, the section of Clove Road between Bard Avenue and the Silver Lake Golf Course in West Brighton is also getting a much-needed facelift, to bring it up to snuff with the newly repaved section closer to Victory Boulevard, which was redone this spring following the conclusion of a massive water main project. Paving will be continuing through Friday between Forest Avenue and Cheshire Place.

To find out when work is planned in your neighborhood, look for the weekly milling and paving schedule every Saturday in the Advance.

Dominick DeRubbio is not one of the 312 men and women who expected to enter the city’s fire academy this summer. He is, however, one of the more than 30,000 who took the 2007 entrance exam. He placed just over 2,000th and had expected to be a firefighter by now.

That’s because between 2001 and 2008 the department graduated an average 900 new firefighters a year, in three classes. But the last class was in 2008 because of a hiring freeze. And while the freeze is over, hiring is still on hold following a judge’s ruling that the 2007 test was biased against blacks and Latinos. The latest ruling has DeRubbio wondering if he’ll ever become a firefighter.

“When I was a child I dreamed about going on to the fire department. And this really has taken away that dream. This really…it’s nonsense,” DeRubbio said. “The judge really killed the dream of many FDNY hopefuls.”

Judge Nicholas Garaufis had ruled that two previous exams — 1999 and 2002 — were discriminatory. The FDNY changed the written exam in 2007 and staged an aggressive recruitment campaign, and 35 percent of the candidates who passed were minorities. But the judge found the test was still discriminatory. The city disagrees, and says it needs more firefighters because the department is about 300 members understaffed. To make up for the shortfall, the city expects to pay an average of $2 million a month in overtime.

“Last year, 10 engine companies were on the block; this year, 20 engine companies on the block. And going forward in this budget process as our city budget worsens, they’ll be more engine companies on the block. His rulings are making our job of protecting this department even worse,” said City Councilman James Oddo.

Oddo says he’s worried about the impact the judge’s ruling will have on the city financially and from a public safety perspective.

“There needs to be a standard, there needs to be an objective criteria and you have to get the best of the best. And he’s proposing a thinly veiled effort to socially engineer this department and I think it’s misguided and perverted,” Oddo said.

The city is already in the process of planning an appeal. Meanwhile, those hoping to become firefighters are in limbo as it all gets sorted out.

While the city and state Departments of Transportation are still at odds over federal funding, which is in turn holding up the start of a Staten Island Expressway construction project that would improve several key problem spots, the state has agreed to go ahead with a stopgap fix to address crumbling on- and off-ramps at Slosson Avenue.

City Councilman James Oddo urged state DOT Regional Director Phillip Eng to consider milling and repaving the pothole-ridden ramps now, instead of waiting for the start of the larger construction project next spring, which is currently on hold.

Though the state owns the highway and the ramps, the city DOT typically performs maintenance like this to keep the roadway in safe condition until the state can arrange for longer-term repair contracts.

The state had sought an agreement with the city to complete the work, Eng said, with the state sharing in the cost of the city’s repairs, but the deal has not yet been struck. In order to speed up the needed repairs, the state is coordinating with a contractor to expedite the work, in the hopes of getting the ramps repaired by Labor Day.

“As any Staten Island driver can attest, the current conditions of these ramps along the SIE are in deplorable condition,” Oddo said. “This is a long overdue solution to a problem that has plagued Staten Island motorists for far too long and I commend [the state DOT] for ‘just doing it’.”

The stalled expressway construction project would include the extension of the bus lane from Slosson to Victory Boulevard, as well as the removal of the unused interchange in Sunnyside, and straightening out and leveling a section between Clove and Slosson, along with widening several overpass bridges and adding a fourth auxiliary lane in spots.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — School may be out, but it is never too early for Staten Islanders to help a student in need.

With 11,000 homeless children in New York City who will start school in September without a proper backpack or basic school supplies, Staten Islanders are urged to step up.

To help these youngsters, they can take part in Operation Backpack, an annual event founded by Volunteers of America that asks for donations of new backpacks and school essentials, so school-aged children who are homeless can look and feel more like their peers.

For the fourth year, City Councilman James Oddo will open his district office as a drop-office station to Staten Islanders who wish to contribute. The office is located at 900 South Ave., Suite 403, in Bloomfield.

This year Duane Reade also has volunteered their stores as drop-off locations, making it easier for Islanders to donate to this important cause.

The drop-off period will be from July 26 through Aug. 6.

It’s recommended that grade-appropriate school supplies be placed in the backpacks, along with a label indicating the intended grade level. To see a list of required supplies, visit http://www.voa-gny.org/default.aspx.

Paige Davis, the spokeswoman for Operation Backpack, is looking forward to this year’s event.

“Homelessness comes with this feeling of shame and embarrassment, and many children won’t go to school at all because they fear they will be found out,” Ms. Davis said. “Supplying children with new bags and supplies gives them the chance to start on an even playing field not just scholastically, but also emotionally with their peers, so they won’t just quit.”

In 2009, Operation Backpack distributed about 7,000 backpacks to children in need. With more than 90 partners, including borough presidents, City Council members and large corporate sponsors, the team hopes that this year the number can be increased to 11,000.

To help the team reach its goal, Staten Island must show its support.

“If you give a child a brand-new backpack and supplies, you are helping young students go into the school year with the right attitude and a good spirit,” said Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn). “When I ask Staten Islanders to give a little back to their community, they always step up. I know that, despite poor economic times, they will respond well to this worthwhile cause again.”

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staten Islanders and their elected officials are celebrating the salvation of Engine Co. 161 and 19 other FDNY companies that had been targeted for closure — although the reprieve is no guarantee they won’t be on the chopping block next fiscal year.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council agreed on a $63.1 billion budget that devotes $37 million to keeping the fire companies in action and preserving the jobs of 400 firefighters.

“Twelve thousand firefighters protect 9 million New York City citizens when there’s an automobile accident, a heart attack, a fire, or a missing child,” said Borough President James Molinaro.

“We can’t take the loss of the Police Department or the Fire Department. This is about public safety — what the Fire Department does for the City of New York.”

Engine 161, in South Beach, also was on the chopping block last year, and also was spared from closure at the last minute.

City Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn) referred to last year’s fight for engine companies as a “grassroots movement” but said this “budget negotiation was a different animal from last year.”

He thanked Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) for putting the restoration at the top of the agenda.

“We’re here so that the wonderful people in the 20 engine companies can protect these communities, and we’re here because [Ms.] Quinn said, ‘You’re not closing these engine companies on my watch,’” said Oddo.

City Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) said the saving of the fire companies comes as a huge relief to New Yorkers.

“We have to make sure the citizens have the safety net that the firehouses provide. The loss wouldn’t be recoupable,” said Ms. Rose.

Joe and RoseAnn McAllister, president and vice president of the South Beach Civic Association, have rallied against the closure of Engine 161 for the last two years.

“Elected officials did this for public safety, not as a political issue. I’m happy to know that we’re going to continue to be safe throughout the borough,” said Mrs. McAllister.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Students of PS 48 will have access to a gymnasium, science lab and art studio for the first time in September 2013, when the overcrowded school moves across Targee Street to the former Doctors’ Hospital in Concord.

The demolition of the hospital will begin in October, and the construction of the new school building will begin next April. The new PS 48 will have the capacity for 844 students, including 72 special-education District 75 students.

PS 48 presently lacks a computer lab, science lab, gym, school yard and parking facilities. The school is operating at 150 percent capacity. Currently, 511 students attend the school that’s meant to hold just 350.

Lori Aiello, the school’s PTA co-president, said the main problem is the lack of adequate space for the students.

“Kids have gym in the Naples Playground behind the school or in the hallways. They don’t have enough common space. Moving the school across the street will afford the community the opportunity for growth,” said Ms. Aiello.

City Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn) applauded the members of the PS 48 PTA for their tireless work to push for the school’s relocation because of “serious infrastructure problems” at the current site.

Staten Island University Hospital sold the building to the Department of Education for $6.25 million in March.

The school has been designated as PS 71 while it is under construction; it has yet to be determined whether it ultimately will be called PS 48. It also remains unclear whether the new school will be K-5 or K-8.

Jacqueline Mammolito, the principal of PS 48, said she hopes the new school will be K-8.

“Ideally, the old PS 48 will hold grades K-2, and the new PS 48 will be grades 3-8,” she said.

Debra Derrico, the Community Board 2 district manager, said she also would like to see the new building to serve students K-8.

“I’m happy to see Staten Island making important strides to overcome school overcrowding issues. I applaud James Oddo, the Department of Education, School Construction Authority, and everyone involved in the process to expand and create the new facility,” said Ms. Derrico.

Video from NY1.

http://jamesoddo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ufoa-1010-wins-thank-you-commericial.mp3

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The borough’s City Council contingent has filed a lawsuit hoping to force the city to keep yellow bus service for seventh and eighth grade Staten Island students.

This morning, Staten Island attorney Ronald Castorina provided his services gratis, representing five Island families in court. Castorina filed an affidavit and supporting documents in New York state Supreme Court, St. George, asking for the court’s intervention and reconsideration of the plan to discontinue the bus service.

Parents and elected officials are arguing that Staten Island students have a disparate commute to school, as compared to students of other boroughs.

Councilmembers Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore), James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn) and Debi Rose (D-North Shore), who filed the petition, had much to say on the matter.

“When over two-thirds of the kids affected by this decision come from Staten Island, something isn’t right,” said Ignizio. “The D.O.E. shouldn’t be in the business of making it more difficult to access schools, and it is especially abhorring to think of the effect that driving through a prison twice-a-day will have.”

Said Oddo: “We had hoped that the Department of Education would do the right thing, change course, and admit they made a mistake in stripping our seventh and eighth graders of their school bus service.  Instead, they have failed to correct their wrongheaded decision.  This leaves us no choice but to seek to redress this decision in court.”

Ms. Rose said: “It is an outrage to expect 7th and 8th graders to have to traverse public right-of-ways, cross busy and dangerous access roads and walk through unsafe conditions in order to get to school. Staten Island’s geography and topography is not like the other boroughs. Moreover, there are no subways to which these children can avail themselves. Accordingly, the DOE’s decision has left us with no other choice other than to file this lawsuit to protect Staten Island’s children and their rights.”"

Opponents of the city’s plan to eliminate yellow school bus service for all seventh- and eighth-grade students next fall are vowing to take their fight to the next level — the courts.

And well they should. Not only is the Department of Education’s misguided bid to trim costs going to make the trip to and from school more dangerous for thousands of intermediate school students, but it unfairly targets kids on Staten Island, where transportation options are few and far between.

The DOE normally offers school bus service only to students who are in the sixth grade or younger. But for the past couple of decades, the city has allowed seventh- and eighth-graders in certain parts of the city where mass transit is limited to take the yellow school buses.

But now, the department, citing impending cuts in state aid to city schools, wants to shed that responsibility and stiff thousands of kids — all to save a measly $3.4 million a year.

However, as you might imagine because of the sketchy public transportation available in this borough and because kids on less densely populated Staten Island tend to live farther away from their schools, the majority of the exceptions allowed by the DOE up until now have been in this borough.

In fact, of the 4,600 seventh- and eighth-grade students in 70 schools citywide who will be affected by the planned cutback, 2,940 of them live on Staten Island and attend 47 schools here.

In other words, almost two thirds of the students about to be denied yellow school bus service are Staten Island students, even though Staten Island students make up less than 10 percent of the school-age population citywide.

Now that disproportionate impact on students and families in this borough is the basis for a lawsuit. A group of plaintiffs led by City Councilman Vincent Ignizio intends to file in State Supreme Court in St. George this week to force the city to keep those yellow school buses running. They claim that the DOE’s plan, if it comes to pass, would violate the “Equal Protection” clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Just on the basis of the numbers cited above, they would seem to have an excellent case.

“Students in Staten Island shouldn’t be treated differently than students in another borough,” Ronald Castorina, a Sunnyside attorney, said.
That’s exactly what the net effect of this change amounts to: Just 1,660 students in the other four boroughs will be affected; but nearly 3,000 students on Staten Island will be hit.

Daniel Fullman’s family is one of those signing onto the lawsuit. The Huguenot seventh-grader lives just a few blocks away — within walking distance — from Paulo Intermediate School. But, because of its often-bizarre districting regulations, the DOE ordered him to attend Totten Intermediate School in Tottenville, which is five miles away. That commute was barely tolerable when Daniel could ride the yellow school bus. Now he’s going to be forced to make that trip on his own.

“The fact is that it is nearly impossible for my young son to go to school without being put in harm’s way,” said Daniel’s father, Scott Fullman. “The city is telling us this is the school you have to go to; then they are responsible for getting him there.”

He has an excellent point. In fact, we’d argue that just as it is the schools’ responsibility to make sure students are kept safe during the school day, the system also has a duty to insure kids’ safety going to and from school — especially kids who are 12 and 13 years old.

The fact is that Staten Island intermediate school students typically have much longer distances to travel to school and their commutes often traverse busy roads. In some cases, particularly on the South Shore, there are not even any sidewalks for them to walk on safely. They must walk in traffic.

All these compelling arguments have been made to the city again and again, but have fallen on deaf ears.

The DOE, focused on its budget concern, once again fails to see the unique transportation problems faced by students on Staten Island and is prepared to implement a blind, one-size-fits-all policy that clearly hits Staten Island students hardest. (If students in another borough were disproportionately facing such hardships as a result of this policy, would this change even be considered? We doubt it.)

Councilman James Oddo said, “I hope it doesn’t come to us going to courtroom to get fairness for Staten Island’s kids. But if it does, that’s what we’ll do.”

We have a hunch that’s what it will come to and it will fall to a judge to force the city to adopt an equitable school transportation policy.

After three brain tumors were discovered at two events last year, free brain screenings will again be available this week in the Staten Island Mall parking lot.

The exams, provided by The Road to Early Detection, a project of the Brain Tumor Foundation, will be conducted in the “Bobby Murcer Mobile MRI Unit” in the Richmond Avenue-facing lot Saturday through Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The unit is named in honor of the late former New York Yankee, who died last year of brain cancer.Those interested in receiving a screening should call 877-SCAN NYC (877) 722-6692 to schedule an appointment. Scans are available Saturday and Sunday on a first-come, first-served basis, while appointments are needed the other days.

Scans take about 8 minutes.

“The only way to detect a tumor early is through the use of MRI brain scans.,” said Dr. Patrick J. Kelly, president and founder of The Brain Tumor Foundation. “Regrettably, by the time brain tumors become symptomatic, most are incurable. With our best modern treatments, all we can offer is a small gift of time. I am firmly convinced that early detection is the best insurance that treatment will be effective and more lives will be saved.”

City Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island,), who allocated $20,000 for the screenings this year and has requested the same amount for the next fiscal year, urged Islanders to take advantage.

“We have heard the mantra repeated many times in other contexts about the importance of early detection.” Oddo said. “This is also true of brain tumors. This simple, non-invasive, and free test takes minutes to complete and has the potential to save your life.”

Last year, the mobile unit was at the Mall for two weeks in January and two weeks in March, and 236 Staten Islanders were scanned. Three brain tumors were detected, along with fifteen other abnormalities that required a follow up.

For more information please visit the Road to Early Detection website, www.roadtoearlydetection.org.