Virgil

News from the Local Paper

You know there’s a lot of interesting news that comes from the local paper. The local paper is the Staten Island Advance, the Staten Island main newspaper. New York City is so big that an individual borough such as Staten Island has its own newspaper. Actually I don’t think the other boroughs really have a main newspaper, but because Staten Island is so distinct from the rest of the city, and because we are isolated on our own island, we have our own distinct culture and news. So here are three local stories which I found interesting to blog.

Baby parades once the craze on Staten Island
Such processions drew thousands in the borough during the first half of the last century
Thursday, August 13, 2009
By MIKE AZZARA
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- There was a time when baby parades were a craze on Staten Island. The time was the 1920s-30s-40s.
Travis, better known for its Fourth of July parade, had one in the 1940s.
In Great Kills, it was part of an annual bazaar staged by St. Clare's R.C. Church at the foot of Nelson Avenue. That was probably in the '30s and perhaps into the '40s.
Graham and Midland beaches had baby parades in those days too. Graham Beach no longer exists, though the name lives on through the Midland Beach-Graham Beach Civic Association. The Graham Beach baby procession usually was accompanied by other contests, such as three-legged races and pie-eating matches. Other communities had them sporadically.
But the biggest and longest-running of them all was part of the "Easter Promenade" on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk in South Beach. Note it was not called the Easter Parade nor was the baby march called a parade. It was known, at least within my recollection, "The Beautiful Baby Contest." It seems there was a rule that prohibited parades on Parks Department property. [Snip]

http://www.silive.com/news/advance/i...900.xml&coll=1

Baby parades? I’ve never seen one. Here’s a picture:
Frankly it seems rather odd. Notice all those children rinding on top of wagons. It also says in the article that while these baby parades are no longer done on Staten Island, they are common in New Jersey. Is anyone familiar with them? I’m not sure I would want my child paraded around like this. But this picture seems like something from another world.

Island motorcycle accidents up this year
As the number of riders increases, new drivers are encouraged to take a safety course
Friday, August 14, 2009
By JOHN ANNESE
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Island has seen four fatal motorcycle accidents since June, with the last two occurring less than 48 hours apart earlier this week.
The victims' ages range from 20 to 47, with three of the wrecks taking place after a motorcycle collided with another car on the road.
Statewide, motorcycle fatalities have been on the rise over the past decade, but motorcycle registrations also have increased -- by 80 percent over the past decade -- according to officials with the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
"It's one of the reasons why we push for driver training," said Ken Brown, a DMV spokesman.
[Snip]

http://www.silive.com/news/advance/i...390.xml&coll=1

That’s the fourth motorcycle fatality on Staten Island in two plus months. And I think I remember another earlier in the year. I find motorcycles to be so dangerous. First of all you are moving at the same speed as an automobile. Second a car makes you wear safety belts, has air bags, and now in the newer models side air bags, metal all around with a solid frame beneath the metal, and designed in features to crumple and absorb shock in an accident. And still people die in car crashes. What chance does one have on a motorcycle? And a motorcycle is harder to control than a car. Those that ride motocycles, please be careful. I personally don’t believe the risks outweigh the benefits.

A Staten Island garden party
Westerleigh man's 'secret' yields bumper crop of the vegetable, but not so many tomatoes
Friday, August 14, 2009
By STEPHANIE SLEPIAN
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Joe Colella didn't produce the best crop this year.
"There was too much water," he said. "I lost a lot of tomatoes.
But the rain had nothing on the three leafy cabbages growing in Colella's Westerleigh backyard: The tiny sprouts he planted in early spring weighed in at more than 20 pounds each when he pulled them from the ground.
"The secret is moving the dirt," said Colella, 75, who replaced the family pool with the garden years ago when his kids moved away. "Every time it rains, once the ground dries, I try to move the dirt around the roots. That way they can breathe."
Colella, who was a merchant mariner in Italy, learned how to garden when he opened a fruit and vegetable store in Brooklyn upon arriving there in 1961 from his native Bari.
Today, his garden has it all: Eggplant, zucchini, basil, garlic, parsley, squash, cucumbers and tomatoes, though there's a little less this year than last.
On Colella's block, where's he's lived since 1970, he's known as the kindly farmer who distributes his harvest -- and his expertise -- to family and friends. [Snip]

http://www.silive.com/news/advance/i...390.xml&coll=1
Wow, look at this guy’s cabbage;

Boy those old Italians can grow vegetables. We have a huge Italian-American population on Staten Island, the largest of any county in the US. And almost all the older ones have vegetable gardens. One of these days I’m going to be just like that guy. But I’ve got to learn bettrer because my garden sucks this year. Like he says, way too much rain. In fact it rained almost the entire month of June, and July and August wasn't much better. But my garden is suffering mostly from lack of sun. My neighbor’s tree has gotten so large that it now blocks the sun for the entire late afternoon. I may not grow a garden anymore because of it. But my mother’s garden is doing reasonably well. She's one of those old Italians.