The Office of Staten Island Borough President
03/16/2026 | Press release | Archived content
'The Short End Of The Stick': A Call To City To Expand Paving Resources On S.I.
Borough President Vito Fossella issued a call to the city to increase its allocation of paving resources to Staten Island in the upcoming budget after two snowstorms left the borough's streets riddled with potholes.
"We're here to really call upon the city to recognize the conditions of the roadways and also to realign the interests of what really matters," said Borough President Fossella at a press conference at the intersection of Thornycroft Avenue and King Street in Eltingville. "We have a situation where typically 200 lane miles are needed on Staten Island to be paved, to keep them in relatively good condition.
The city is slated to pave about 150 miles of roads. So, on the surface we already know it's a problem."
He said the borough is getting "the short end of the stick" as money is being spent here in areas that are not generally supported by Staten Islanders, specifically a $2B deal signed by the Department of Homeless Services to house people in hotels.
"Their spending priorities, to me, are wrongheaded," said Borough President Fossella. "This is part of the anti-car culture in the city, you know more bike lanes that we don't want, make driving as miserable as possible, and just take that money that we need and we want and put it elsewhere."
Borough President Fossella urged the city to "put Staten Island' as they hash out the budget.
"So, let's put Staten Island first, let's put Staten Island's streets first and when they're contemplating the budget over the next couple of months, put the people of Staten Island first and not second as has been happening for the last few weeks from being shut out of the 2K program and getting proposed homeless shelters we don't want.," said Borough President Fossella. "You just keep adding it up and Staten Island is getting the shift and it needs to stop and it needs to change."
"We're here to really call upon the city to recognize the conditions of the roadways and also to realign the interests of what really matters," said Borough President Fossella at a press conference at the intersection of Thornycroft Avenue and King Street in Eltingville. "We have a situation where typically 200 lane miles are needed on Staten Island to be paved, to keep them in relatively good condition.
The city is slated to pave about 150 miles of roads. So, on the surface we already know it's a problem."
He said the borough is getting "the short end of the stick" as money is being spent here in areas that are not generally supported by Staten Islanders, specifically a $2B deal signed by the Department of Homeless Services to house people in hotels.
"Their spending priorities, to me, are wrongheaded," said Borough President Fossella. "This is part of the anti-car culture in the city, you know more bike lanes that we don't want, make driving as miserable as possible, and just take that money that we need and we want and put it elsewhere."
Borough President Fossella urged the city to "put Staten Island' as they hash out the budget.
"So, let's put Staten Island first, let's put Staten Island's streets first and when they're contemplating the budget over the next couple of months, put the people of Staten Island first and not second as has been happening for the last few weeks from being shut out of the 2K program and getting proposed homeless shelters we don't want.," said Borough President Fossella. "You just keep adding it up and Staten Island is getting the shift and it needs to stop and it needs to change."
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