Smith 9th street has been closed due to a large rehabilitation project since 2011. The project, entitled the Culver Viaduct rehabilitation, began in 2009 but only required the closure of the station from 2011 to around mid-2012. However the rehab project and the station’s reopening had been pushed back due to both the normal work course and Hurricane Sandy.

“We are very happy to return the Smith-9th Streets Station to the customers who rely on it,
and to return subway service to these growing and thriving sections of Red
Hook, Gowanus and Carroll Gardens,” Acting MTA Chairman Fernando Ferrer said on the MTA website. “This station is vastly improved thanks to the investments of the MTA Capital Program, and we are glad to return it to our customers.”

Opened on October 7, 1933, Smith-9th Streets is one of only two original Independent subway stations constructed above ground. The other, Fourth Avenue, is one station away. Situated at the summit of the Culver Viaduct, the station’s extreme elevation was necessary to allow clearance for vessels with tall masts passing on the Gowanus Canal below. At nearly 88 feet, Smith-9th Streets is the highest subway station in the world, which presented some challenges to the first-ever renovation of this historic station.

The headhouse to the station is now renovated with a maritime exterior.

Brooklyn Artist Alyson Shotz had created a series of artworks for the Smith-9th Streets Station, which uses the local maritime history of the surrounding Gowanus and Red Hook communities. Shotz has had a studio near the station in Red Hook for over a decade, and has been fascinated for a long time by the history that can be found in the cobblestone streets and old factory buildings.

The Arts for Transit artwork in the station is just one of the many key components to the rehabilitation.

The station has refurbished platform edges, tactile warning strips, escalators and windows overlooking New York harbor. The Culver viaduct rehabilitation project had caused many businesses in Red Hook to either close or lose large amounts of money due to the lack of subway service but after almost 2 years, subway service will return to the transit-starved area.

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The results of the S.I. Railway survey may result in the closure of the rumbling Nassau and Atlantic stations and the opening of the Arthur Kill Road station.

Ms. Savino and several volunteers from the Straphangers Campaign spoke with commuters at the St. George Ferry Terminal during the evening rush hour and handed out surveys. The surveys ask questions about the cleanliness of stations, trains, connections to local buses and the S.I. Ferry.

Commuters are able to fill out the survey on the while they are at the station or while at home and then mail it back to Ms. Savino’s office.

“The MTA needs to fix some of the stations because they are falling apart and it can cause an accident,” said Mike Deluca, a student at New Dorp high school who regularly takes the train at the New Dorp Station.

However, the biggest complaint among commuters was that SIR and ferry schedules often don’t match up, causing them to miss the boat.

“What we want to hear from the Staten Island Rapid Transit people is, is this a valuable service … is it something we should invest in and expand?” Ms. Savino said on silive.com

According to SI Live, volunteers will be handing out surveys at the St. George Ferry Terminal and at the Tompkinsville, Stapleton, Clifton, Grasmere, Grant City, New Dorp and Great Kills train stations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7 to 9 in the morning, and again from 3 to 6 in the afternoon and evening.

Savino distributed commuter surveys back in 2009 and 2011 for ferry riders and express bus riders that ended up in the addition of a “quiet deck” aboard ferries, more stores in the St. George ferry terminal, and extra supervisors for better ferry and bus connections. According to the MTA website, the express bus survey resulted in 24 hour X1 service and the restoration of X27 bus on the weekend. With that being said, it’s only a matter of time before service on the Staten Island Railway greatly improves.

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At first we have hurricane Sandy. This disaster had a huge impact on  many people’s lives. Those who were lucky only lost their clothes and belongs, while the other unfortunates got their house robbed by the storm . Moreover, aprroximately 90% of staten islander lost their power, numerous streets got flooded houses got flooded and gas supply was confined. At least 125 people lost their lives during this storm.

Coming in second, we have the visit of President Obama. Right after the worst of the hurricane Sandy has subsided, President Obama immediately ordered a visit to inspect the situation and comfort the victims. As a result, many streets and buildings including New Dorp High School were frozen for security purposes. While the President managed to assess and evaluate the situation first handed, many victims were unhappy because they did not get a chance to address their opinion on the flaws of the Federal recovery efforts.

To continue, at third we have the cancellation of the New York City Marathon. The Marathon has been a big part of New York City’s culture, attracting numerous people from all over the country. Over the last 40 years the marathon was never canceled or delayed. But due to the immeasurable damage caused by hurricane Sandy, mayor Bloomberg was left with no choices but to cancel the marathon. According to him, it’s more important for the city to concentrate on recovery efforts rather than the marathon.

Next, we have the proposed Staten Island ferris wheel, which, if built will be the largest ferris wheel in the world. This plan will also feature retail and a hotel complex which should attract a large amount of tourists. According to silive.com, “Construction is expected to begin in early 2014, with the goal of hosting a grand opening by the end of 2015. Starneth, the engineering company that built the London Eye, will design and manufacture the ferris Wheel.

In fifth place, we have the murder of Simonette Mapes-Crupi in Forest Hill Rd, Staten Island. According to the police, Ms. Mapes-Crupi, who was a teacher at The School for Classics: An Academy for Thinkers, was continuously stabbed for 15 times by her husband, Jonathan Crupi, two days before their anniversary. Jonathan’s intention were still unknown, but he was arrested by the police on November 14, 2012.

The post 5 Top Local Events of 2012 appeared first on New Dorp Voice.

We begin with an original Christmas display on Todt Hill road. Here, the typical Christmas scene is being presented, a large Santa Claus statue is lying in the middle of the driveway, and with the addition of Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Rednosed reindeer. Furthermore, the brightly decorated candy canes on the front doors adds the final touch to the fantastic decoration.

At second place, we have a house on Sharrotts Rd and Bloomindale. Here, the style that has been presented is the complete polar opposite of the recent one. Decorations range from snowmen to reindeers, Santa to Toy Soldiers, to put it in short everything that you can relate to Christmas is presented. Moreover, the whole house came to life with the addition of colorful lights, and outrage decorations.

“ I wonder how much their electric bill is?” Said Tom Petti, a current student of New Dorp High School. “ I personally wouldn’t waste my time and money on this, but it always nice to see streets come to live around Staten Island.”

Last but not least, we have our winner. Located on Collyer Ave Bland Pl, this house here, unlike the others, are dazzled with bright colorful lights, however, there is still an organized element about it. Furthermore, the giant candy canes and icesickles coming down from the roof, bejeweled every corners of the house. With the addition of a giant banner, saying Happy Holidays, it adds the final touch to a exquisite decorated house, that you would only see on a gingerbread house.

If you are a big fan of Christmas, these are the sight that you would want to see.

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( Pictures provided by fta.dot.gov and Inhabitat.com.)
The Staten Island Ferris Wheel project has attracted a tremendous amount of attention over the past couple months. The Wheel is planned to be about 625 feet tall, making it the biggest ferris wheel in the world. Bumping the current tallest wheel, the Singapore flyer, which stands at about 541 feet tall.

After the recent hurricane that ravished through New York, many Staten Islanders lost their possessions, power and some even lost their lives. These issues should be the focus and concerns occupying all of the city’s attention until the relief efforts are complete

However, are these the only concerns?

On November 13th, 2012 a hearing was scheduled to discuss the progress of the St. George Waterfront Development project. After a disaster strikes a city, wouldn’t the suitable reaction be to postpone a hearing until further notice? Apparently not. The Mayor’s office did not postpone the meeting while Sandy’s relief efforts were still in full effect.

Courtesy should been extended towards members of the hearing to postpone it due to the severe effects to Staten Island by Hurricane

“We strongly object to the fact that the public scoping hearing on the proposed New York Wheel project is still scheduled to take place tonight, despite the fact that Staten Island’s elected officials and the Bloomberg Administration are still engaged in daily relief efforts to try and help stabilize the lives of Staten Islanders who were devastated by Sandy,” said in a letter recieved by the Mayor’s office from the Office of Minority Leader James S. Otto.

Otto’s office went on to say that pushing this hearing back a month would have been the appropriate response.

Although most are very supportive of the project, if executed correctly, it can serve to be an economical turning point for Staten Island. Nevertheless, many Staten Islanders have concerns of the Wheel.

Traffic seems to be the main concern of the project. When the New York Wheel is completed it is most definitely going to be a tourist attraction. People from Brooklyn, Queens, New Jersey and Nassau aren’t going to take the ferry to see the Wheel.

The traffic can affect that entire area, St. George’s streets are tough to get around as it is, imagine these streets when people have to get to the courthouse, Staten Island Yankee games, the Ferry terminal, Curtis High School, the 120th precinct and renovation of the old St. Peter’s High School for Girls building on Richmond Terrace.

“Parking in that area is already bad so it will only get worse,” said Staten Island Resident Scott McMillen. “Personally, I’d rather see them build it in Manhattan, Staten Island is where people live not, not sightsee.”

Emily Zoda, Nicholas Leung, Abigail Delgado and Kaitlyn Johnson contributed to this article.

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In the middle of all these, questions we are still not being heard so people got out of there seats and started yelling out their questions to the panel. The panel responded by asking people to have their questions written down on an index card, however this didn’t go so well and people started to leave. Eventually, people were being asked to form a line and have their questions answered on a portable microphone. As time progressed people were just fed up with the answers they received from their elected officials, “I can’t tell you whether or not to rebuild your home.” stated James Molinaro Borough President Of Staten Island. The FEMA Advisor stated that 18,000 people were registered for FEMA on the island and that $47 Million were given to homeowners. The Department of Health representative was there and stated that, “Air quality is safe and not to be worried.” This statement angered many people in the crowd, especially those who have gotten sick from the air. Conversation continued to move forward and another concern was a tax release for those who are displaced. These displaced people wanted to have no property tax until their property was rebuilt again.

“The Panel should stop patting each other on the back, they did nothing for us.”

“Is it safe to rebuild on Oakwood Beach?”

“Why are you(Borough President) not talking about a SeaWall, instead of building soccer fields put some money in creating a SeaWall.”

“Why has The American Red Cross who had a total donation of $120 million neglect to give the money directly to the families who need it?”

“We don’t want food or water we just want money so we can move on.”

These were some of the question that were asked by the angry audience .

Overall, the meeting was not very informative and people were aggravated with their elected officials and not many problems were resolved. When FEMA officials brought people into the cafeteria to go onto the computer and follow up on their claims, the computers were turned off around 10:40pm. In the end, the meeting was unsuccessful and caused more conflicts.

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“I am a big Obama fan and I wish I could take a picture with him.” said Jeffrey Lam.

New Dorp students had to remain in school until 2:18pm or until the president leaves. No one could have predicted how long he will stay and this made the students of New Dorp High School very annoyed and aggravated.

Susan DeLuca had to show her license to a officer because her house was located in the freeze zone. After the freeze zone was lifted, there wasn’t a lot of traffic on New Dorp Lane and Hylan Blvd.

The post President Obama visits Staten Island appeared first on New Dorp Voice.

People donated food, clothes and supplies to the people who needed it. Volunteers walked around the neighborhood to help clean people’s homes. Garbage trucks were busy driving around neighborhoods picking up trash bags. A lot of people threw away their furniture, pictures, etc.

FEMA which stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency is giving out money to people who homes were affected by the hurricane.

“The hurricane affected me and my family greatly. We lost our basement and four cars.” said Michael DeLuca.

Him and his family were stuck in their house when the hurricane took place. After the hurricane was over, Michael and his family stayed to clean up the basement. The DeLuca’s had to live with family friends’ house.

Overall, Hurricane Sandy affected many people on the east coast. This tragedy will be remembered throughout the lives of these people.

The post Tragedy That Affected the East Coast appeared first on New Dorp Voice.

“It’s okay to have seven or eight classes a day,” said New Dorp Senior, Mathew Gordon. “However it’s really unfair for those who have worked so hard the last three years, they really deserve a rest.”

Moreover, these extra classes and work are not only unnecessary and time consuming; they also put more unnecessary stress and pressure on us students. There is no point whatsoever for us to take these extra classes. For example, Study Hall, which is a class design for us to sit in the auditorium or library or an entire period. We are not forced to do any work, it just an extra class to help us complete the “At least seven instructional periods a day” requirement.

“It good if the extra classes are getting students prepared for College,” said New Dorp teacher, Mr. Stefanelli. “However, if they (Dept of Education) are just giving unnecessary classes to the students for the sake of it, I don’t think that is right.”

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MTA BusTime should be a very helpful program for bus riders on Staten Island and waiting for a bus will be a thing of the past.

After several years of stops and starts, some false hopes and finally a successful pilot program in Brooklyn along Fifth Avenue, MTA New York City Transit has launched BusTime. This is a real-time bus tracking program and can be used on all Staten Island bus routes.

“Bus Time is going to transform the way that our 2.5 million bus riders use the bus system every day, and we’re thrilled to start here on Staten Island,” MTA Chairman Joseph J. Lhota said. “The MTA continues to bring new technology to our customers in ways that make our transit system better every day. With Bus Time you can get real-time information right on your cell phone or computer.”
The program is set up so that users can search for a bus route or intersection to see where buses are along the line. Additionally, riders may text a bus stop code or intersection to ‘511123’ to receive tracking information, and bus poles and shelters on Staten Island are now equipped with QR codes as well.

The MTA hopes to roll out a city-wide system by the end of 2013. To find out more on this new program, check out their official website at “bustime.mta.info/”.

All bus stops on Staten Island now have QR codes for smartphones to track the buses and will have this information on the schedule box as shown above.

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