Ice Cream With Exceedingly Bad Taste

This is the Fresh Kills Landfill now after being treated and cleaned up. A park larger than Central Park is in the works. The air is fresh and clean. Its creeks and wetlands have been designated a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat by the New York State Dept of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Fresh Kills and its tributaries are part of the largest tidal wetland ecosystem in the region:
This is the troublesome ice cream:
I hesitate to give this ice cream company more press. It will only entice more people to buy the ice cream and it will bring them more name recognition. I have wriiten to them and while they were nice, they are not planning on shelving Land Fill. They said that they want to show all of New York City, including its "warts." So, if this is true, I propose that they make one negatively-named and one positively-named flavor for all five boroughs. I also propose that they add positive information on the backs of the containers with urls. For Land Fill they could have a funny blurb about how the site is visible from the moon but now there is a world class park in the works and its creeks and wetlands have been designated a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat. Let's try to compromise. Maybe we can use this to educate people.

UPDATE: The owners of 5 Boroughs have agreed to my plan. They already have a certain number of pint containers printed but I'm trying to see if they can make educational stickers until they sell out of the already printed containers. They are also going to put links and educational info up on their site. This a good compromise. Everyone reads the backs of ice cream pints and cereal boxes. Read their letter at the bottom of this post.

It is true, Fresh Kill was once a landfill visible from space. When the landfill became full it was closed and the city created an ambitious plan to turn the area into a city park. Plans for the park include a bird-nesting island, public roads, boardwalks, soccer and baseball fields, bridle paths and a 5,000-seat stadium. Today, freshwater and tidal wetlands, fields, birch thickets and a coastal oak maritime forest, as well as areas dominated by non-native plant species, are all within the boundaries of Fresh Kills. Already, many of the landscapes of Fresh Kills possess a stark beauty, with 360 degree, wide horizon views from the hills, over 300 acres of salt marsh and a winding network of creeks.

Go HERE to read more about the project, listen to the beautiful birds who now call these man-made rollling hills their home, and see plans for the park.

Perhaps when this new park is complete Staten Island residents will find the ice cream flavor quaint or funny but until then feelings are being hurt and compromises should be made. - CvB

Here is a New York Magazine article by Amy Zavatto, our friend and neighbor:

"Ice cream and politics don’t mix: Just look at the strange case of Staten Island Land Fill, a new flavor sold in stores by 5 Boroughs Ice Cream, and the source of a major hassle on the other side of the Verrazano. Things came to a head last Friday when Staten Island borough president Jimmy Molinaro urged an all-borough ban of 5 Boroughs Ice Cream. “Initially, we considered changing the name,” says Kim Myles, 5 Boroughs’ co-owner, “but then we realized we didn’t get into this to take direction from everybody else. And it’s our number-one seller!” What the two did not count on was what a very sore toothache the dump has become to most Islanders, long weary of being the Abbott to the-rest-of-NYC’s Costello.
Fresh Kills’ 2,200 acres shut down six years ago, and the Department of City Planning is well on its way to turning the former blight into a park, part of the reason Myles and her husband, Scott, thought borough residents would laugh it off. But so far, the controversy over the year-old flavor has been a big, drippy mess. “As a native Staten Islander and proud resident of the borough, I won’t buy any of the company’s products until they change the name,” says Staten Island Advance food critic Pamela Silvestri. Myles, however, who’s got Staten Island Cherry slotted as the next Island flavor to come off the conveyor belt, seems to get what a big nerve 5 Boroughs has irritated: “It’s really a sociological mirror. We got a funny e-mail from one Islander saying Staten Island should be glad we made a flavor for them and then suggesting a new one called Fake Tan Pecan. But I don’t think we’re going to use that one.” —Amy Zavatto, New York Magazine"
Fresh Kills Park Plans:


Letter from 5 Boroughs:

"Cynthia,

What a great idea! Kim and I both think this could work. What a great way to advertise what the island does offer and what the future looks like for it. The only problems I see are these:

1. There is not much space on the pints, but there is enough for a small intro that could be flushed out on the website page.
2. We have already bought and had printed the first 5000 pint cups. So we'll need to get through all those before we can add anything to the back of the pint. Not sure how long this will take.

Thanks so much for such a wonderful compromise/solution. Let's keep in touch and as we get closer to the time when we can change the pints we'll work it all out. In the meantime, I suppose we could link to a few Staten Island websites on our links page. These sites could have all the info you just sent me.

Scott"

The Staten Island Museum Clay Cat Workshop

The clay cat workshop and book reading at The Staten Island Museum was a big hit. We are doing another one on Saturday, August 25th at 2 p.m. For more information please click HERE.

Here is a letter from a parent who attended the Clay Cat Workshop at The Staten Island Museum:

"Cynthia,

Kodiak (age 4) is finished with the cat sculpture he started at your 5/19 clay workshop at the Staten Island Museum. The photos are attached. The sculpture is painted like one of his mom's cats.

I also blogged (with lots of photos) about the entire process at the link below. This post includes the trip to SI, sculpting at home, and painting... as well as the Prodigal/Splashdown backstory.

http://brian-of-brooklyn.blogspot.com/2007/06/cat-who-wouldnt-come-inside.html

Thanks for putting on this workshop. I hope to get back to the museum this summer to take a closer look at your 'grownup' exhibit. Keep spreading the good word about Staten Island!

-Brian Hedden"

Italy? Spain? Mexico? Nope, it's Staten Island!

This weekend, while driving around in our new convertible, we finally ventured to Fort Wadsworth. If you have ever taken the Verrazano Narrows bridge to Staten Island you may have glimpsed a castle-like fort underneath it. This stunning fort is run by The National Park Service and is open to the public. When we walked up to the edge of the cliff I looked over and said "Holy Shit!" You don't expect vistas like that in New York City. It is breathtaking. For more information click on the title. To see an enlarged picture click on the image.




We also visited the Arthur von Briesen Park which is next door. This park has trees from The World Trade Center planted in a grove near the water. They were uprooted and damaged during the disaster so they were planted here. They appear to be thriving. This park was a gathering place during the disaster as it has incredible views of Manhattan. The trees in this park are magical. We didn't have our camera at this point but you can see some great pictures HERE. We also discovered a secluded beach a little bit further down the coast.

New York Magazine Promotes the Prodigal Borough Site & Staten Island

CLICK on the title above to view the whole New York magazine article.
"Staten Island: Look to the Harbor for Value and Space
An honest-to-goodness Colonial with clapboard siding isn't something you see every day in Manhattan or Brooklyn. But Staten Island isn't like the other boroughs. Perhaps by virtue of its isolation, it has managed to retain a decidedly suburban vibe. Working Girl notwithstanding, Hollywood production companies eager to replicate a small-town feel without having to invade one have been known to shoot there instead. (See Richard Dreyfus's The Education of Max Bickford) Critics belittle Staten Island for being so different — too different? — from the city, but fans of the hushed streets and verdant corners say that's precisely why they love it. Prodigal-borough status aside (the name of a local blog of course), Staten Island has much to offer buyers. First, many of the spaces are huge, as in four to six bedrooms. Plus, they're shockingly affordable; with one exception, all the properties listed below are priced at under a million. The open houses listed after the jump are in the northwest neighborhood of Mariners Harbor or the North Shore itself, which means you won't be too far deep in the heart of the island. Not that there's anything wrong with that. —S. Jhoanna Robledo"

We'll Miss Her

I have been watching them raze this old house on Richmond Terrace with great disappointment. The house was not especially grand but it was pretty and its location on the water made it so wonderful and rare. It appears that a few more of these waterfront houses are going to have the same fate. See the blurb below. For the full article click on the headline above. Happily, if you want to own a house like this that IS landmarked scroll down to my last Prodigal House For Sale Pick.

From the Staten Island Advance:

"The developer who bought a 138-year-old house on Richmond Terrace in St. George and tore it down plans to build in its place a six-story, 12-unit condominium that will take advantage of the spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline. The president of the Preservation League of Staten Island, a former owner of the house who lovingly restored it in the late 1990s, called it a window onto Staten Island's past that deserved to be saved through landmarking, despite an emerging development boom in the area. On a day when scores of preservationists gathered on the steps of City Hall to call for more funding for the city Landmarks Preservation Commission to save historic homes from the wrecking ball, James Ferreri, who supports such efforts, said he didn't know if more money and more Landmarks staff would have saved 208 Richmond Terr.
He was sure of one thing, though. 'St. George is the worse for the loss of this building,' Ferreri said of the demolition of his former home. 'It's pathetic.' Over the years, the Landmarks Commission has refused to grant protective historic status to the house, either through individual landmarking or by adding it and others on the same block to an existing landmark district in St. George. Resistance to incorporating the buildings in the St. George Historic District first came more than a dozen years ago from owners on the block who recognized the development potential of their waterfront properties.

Today, some of that potential is finally being realized. An eight-story, 40-unit condominium dubbed "The View" is planned for the corner, next door to the recently obliterated 208 Richmond Terr. Bill Tuli, who with a partner purchased the house for $1 million in 2005, said he hopes to start construction on his 12-unit condominium by the end of June. 'It's a beautiful area and that's why we want to make a beautiful building,' said Tuli. Ms. Levin said the same broker who handled the sale of 208 Richmond Terr. offered $1 million for her home, another Second Empire-style building. She declined the offer because she believes her unobstructed view of Manhattan makes her property more valuable, especially as a much anticipated burst of development in the area begins. Ms. Levin said she hopes to sell to a developer in the future -- for the right price. "It would not be possible if it were landmarked," she added."

CVB says: Argh!
Click the headline for the full artcile.

Children's Clay Workshop & Book Reading at The Staten Island Museum

On May 19, 2007 at 2PM Cynthia von Buhler will be reading her book, The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside and giving children a cat sculpture clay lesson at The Staten Island Museum. Each child will make their own clay cat like the one in the book to take home. For more information please visit The Staten Island Museum website. Copies of the children's book will be available in the museum gift shop. The clay workshop is $2 per child which includes admission and all supplies. Sculpture characters and press proofs from The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside will be on display as well as von Buhler's 3-d paintings. 75 Stuyvesant Place, Staten Island, New York 10301, 718.727.1135, Hours: Tuesdays - Fridays from 9AM to 5PM, Saturday 10AM - 5PM, Sunday 12PM- 5PM. The museum is one block from the Staten Island ferry terminal. THIS EXHIBIT HAS BEEN EXTENDED THROUGH TO SEPT 23rd! For more information please scroll down to the "Cynthia von Buhler: Show & Tell Solo Exhibit Opens at the Staten Island Museum" post. To find out more about the children's book click on the headline above the picture of the bookcover.

Sammy Owns Us

He drives everyone on Fort Hill home from the ferry after a long day in Manhattan. Sure, we could walk but when it is cold or dark I'd rather get a ride up with Sameer. It was one of the perks we discovered after moving to Staten Island. I was a bit worried about the short but very, very steep trek up Fort Hill in the snow, rain or late at night. I had thought that I'd look on the bright side because we would be in terrific shape from walking up that hill. We have been lazy. Sameer spoils us. So, if you take the ferry over and need a ride up the hill look for Sammy. Even if his car is full he'll put you safely into a car with one of his buddies.