If you are blocked from reading Subscriber Exclusive content, please first confirm that you are logged in with your subscribed account. If you are still experiencing problems, please describe the problem below and we will be happy to help you.

A 2003 plan to close Richmond Road in the historic town of Richmond and create a traffic "loop" in the community aroused the anger of residents.

Maybe some of us are too close to it-acrimony, protest, the community is divided by vaccines, instructions, masks. Maybe it is no longer your radar.

Maybe the loud protests in our community will not bother you. Many people think they have reasons to mock, threaten or flout law enforcement. After all, looking at the catastrophe and destruction that Black Lives Matter caused in New York, they blamed and lashed out at anyone who thought it took too little time to oppose these protests.

Black Lives Matter did not cause violence or destruction on Staten Island. Covid did it-and it hasn't stopped. It killed nearly 2,000 people here.

In our newsroom, we discuss tasks every day. We read it. We write it. I rant and worry about it because I believe that vaccines are the only way to get rid of this pandemic that has enveloped us for nearly two years and seems to have no end.

If there must be an order to unite us again, so be it.

But maybe many of you are already numb to this. Many of you have come back together. People are shopping. They are on vacation. The vaccinated people will go to restaurants and taverns. The stadium is open to the outside world.

Without a doubt, Staten Island. Covid is still lurking among us. Since Halloween in New York State, the number of people who test positive every day has increased by 45%. The Associated Press reported last week that there are an average of 5,400 new cases per day in New York.

If you are tired of the entire pandemic and adjusted for it, consider:

How do you block adults who are standing in front of the PS 56 with a microphone in their hands, and young children, their parents and teachers standing at the other end of their tirades, because vaccines are provided in the school building? By the way, this is completely voluntary, which makes it easier for parents who want their children to be vaccinated. Looks much more than the 50 or so rants outside the school.

How do you exclude people who claim to be teachers and call vaccines "poisons"? Or another, playing a recording of a 5-year-old child screaming during the vaccination through the speaker? It's as if children never receive injections.

How do you call out a man with a megaphone among hundreds of anti-authorizers to provide his version of American history lessons? "In 1776, no one went to court...Anyone picked up a gun, they fucking shot each other."

Yes. .. Neighbors, this is the nature of the Staten Island protests today.

"Voice" protests are really nothing new in our district. However, protesters rarely become stories. Their problem is the story.

In the past few decades, countless proposals have hindered the Staten Island landscape, but they have been thwarted by strong political leadership, rational discussions, common sense, and some people marching in the streets.

If it were not for the angry neighborhoods of the 1970s, Staten Island would be home to a theme park in Bloomfield and a huge power plant in Travis.

The amusement park developer painted a 750-acre drawing in Bloomfield with antique turn-of-the-century streets, hanging flower baskets, gas street lamps and luxurious fountains-a solemn "theme" park for visitors Experience the taste of old New York.

Hundreds of angry Staten Islanders did not buy it, claiming that it covered up noisy roller coasters, flashing neon lights and more cars to tax the already overwhelmed roads of the borough.

Although Anthony Gaeta, then a member of Parliament at the time, publicly opposed the project, a group of thugs holding placards and chanting slogans demonstrated in his home. They held a three-hour sit-in in the borough hall until Robert Connor, the then mayor of the borough, agreed to meet with their leader.

When the all-powerful appraisal committee voted unanimously to reject the plan, the plan collapsed, claiming that the opposition from the community was too strong to be ignored.

An aerial view of the LNG tank seen from the West Coast Highway. (Staten Island Advance/Bill Lyons) Staten Island Advance

A husband and wife team in Staten Island—Gene and Edwina Cosgriff—is responsible for Bloomfield's liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks. Lorraine Sorge had a one-on-one discussion with the city government about the proposed prison in Roseville. Jean Crisson emphasized the jet noise over the West Bank community. Tree lovers Ellen Pratt and Dick Buegler support solving a series of environmental problems.

Others are fighting a road "loop" in Richmond, which will close the section of Richmond Road that runs through the historic town of Richmond, allowing traffic to flow through residential streets. NASCAR was initially proposed for use in the homeport area of ​​Stapleton, then the West Coast, and the plan was shelved after State Senator Andrew Lanza found himself in trouble at a NASCAR public hearing.

Well, maybe that person is not so civilized.

Supporters and opponents of the NASCAR wave logo at the NASCAR hearing held at the Petrides School in 2006.

When Christopher Wallace (right), the union leader from Westerleigh, was angered by the verbal attack from the then city councilman and the stalking enemy Andrew Lanza, the microphone was requisitioned from Lanza at the hearing, and the meeting almost fell into The riots were cancelled.

A coal slurry plant installed with a pipeline in the middle of the Staten Island highway to transport coal out of the island soon died, as did the unwise selection of a homeless shelter.

You can discuss the advantages of NASCAR or economic theme plants on the island. You can discuss the dangers of storing explosive LNG in your community. You can even argue whether each district should have its own prison.

What you cannot debate is the numbers. Covid has killed 766,000 Americans and 5.11 million. The vaccine has been shown to slow the spread of the virus. In order to make a reckless and absurd assertion that the Covid vaccine is a "poison", and most doctors, FDA and CDC in the world say it is safe, or use the screams of children to scare children every time they see It is inappropriate and deceptive for needles to do so naturally.

If you do not want your child to be vaccinated, please do not vaccinate your child. But don't hinder those who do.

"By listening and then starting a conversation with those who are doing things that you think are incorrect, change will happen," said Dr. Jane Goodall, a primatologist and anthropologist appointed as the UN Peace Envoy.

Sadly, none of the increasingly fierce vaccine protests on Staten Island.

By the way: A few days ago, a friend sent what he called a newsletter via email. "Hey! The Supreme Court ruled that there will be no Nativity scene in Washington this year. Do you believe it?" Well, I fell in love with it. 'You are kidding me. What makes sense? "I replied.'They can't find the three wise men in the whole of Washington.' Ouch!

Note to readers: If you purchase goods through one of our affiliate links, we may earn commissions.

Registering on this website or using this website signifies acceptance of our user agreement, privacy policy, and cookie statement, and your California privacy rights (the user agreement was updated on January 1, 21. The privacy policy and cookie statement was in May 2021 Update on the 1st).

© 2021 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (about us). The materials on this website may not be copied, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used without Advance Local's prior written permission.

Community rules apply to all content that you upload or otherwise submit to this website.