The Office of Staten Island Borough President
01/30/2026 | Press release | Archived content
'It's A Slap In The Face': Borough President Vito Fossella Condemns City For Moving Staten Island's Snow-Clearing Crews To Brooklyn
Borough President Vito Fossella condemned the city's decision to send Staten Island's Sanitation crews to Brooklyn for snow removal.
"Staten Islanders became second-class citizens a couple of days ago because the city took a lot of Staten Island city crews and city personnel that were handling snow removal and moved them to Brooklyn," said Borough President Fossella, standing behind a mountain of snow and some solid ice during a press conference on the corner of Laredo Avenue and Pompey Avenue in Eltingville.
He said the intersection is "just one of the many, many spots across Staten Island that we can show you."
"This is just one example of an egregious crosswalk that is covered in snow with no indication of if it will be removed," he said. "And we can use those crews who were deployed elsewhere. They're doing the same exact thing in Brooklyn that they could be doing here."
Borough President Fossella acknowledged the crews who are working around-the-clock shifts, noting they may be faced with additional work as there is potential for a weekend snowstorm.
"They're doing their best to clean the roads, but there is more work to do -- a lot of bus stops, a lot of fire hydrants are still covered in snow," he said. "No matter where you go on Staten Island, there are little pockets like this and somebody higher-up decided to take crews from Staten Island and bring them elsewhere. It's a slap in the face to the people of Staten Island who just want clean streets, safe streets. With that said, there was a mistake made and I hope the city rectifies that and gets those crews back to Staten Island to help people get around. If that other storm hits, it's going to be worse, it's going to add insult to injury."
"Staten Islanders became second-class citizens a couple of days ago because the city took a lot of Staten Island city crews and city personnel that were handling snow removal and moved them to Brooklyn," said Borough President Fossella, standing behind a mountain of snow and some solid ice during a press conference on the corner of Laredo Avenue and Pompey Avenue in Eltingville.
He said the intersection is "just one of the many, many spots across Staten Island that we can show you."
"This is just one example of an egregious crosswalk that is covered in snow with no indication of if it will be removed," he said. "And we can use those crews who were deployed elsewhere. They're doing the same exact thing in Brooklyn that they could be doing here."
Borough President Fossella acknowledged the crews who are working around-the-clock shifts, noting they may be faced with additional work as there is potential for a weekend snowstorm.
"They're doing their best to clean the roads, but there is more work to do -- a lot of bus stops, a lot of fire hydrants are still covered in snow," he said. "No matter where you go on Staten Island, there are little pockets like this and somebody higher-up decided to take crews from Staten Island and bring them elsewhere. It's a slap in the face to the people of Staten Island who just want clean streets, safe streets. With that said, there was a mistake made and I hope the city rectifies that and gets those crews back to Staten Island to help people get around. If that other storm hits, it's going to be worse, it's going to add insult to injury."
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