A close friend of Representative Vito Fossella says the troubled Congressman is far from thinking about resignation. Maybe! At first, former Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari told the Staten Island Advance Fossella "has every intention of running." But then Molinari withdrew the statement, amending it to, "I wouldn't be surprised if the ultimate decision is to run again." The Post notes how Fossella was allegedly surprised that other members of the House GOP might......

After his DWI arrest led to admitting an affair and a 3-year-old love child in Virginia, Representative Vito Fossella returned to Staten Island to rampant speculation of his imminent resignation. Not only has the media predicted a resignation could come soon, the Advance reports House GOP leader Rep. John Boehner and Republican National Campaign Committee head Rep. Tom Cole have contacted Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan to see if he's interested in the seat.......

The noose is tightening around Representative Vito Fossella's political career: Many insiders think he should resign immediately, especially so the Republican can work on a replacement candidate for reelection this fall, and the Staten Island Advance editorial demands that he resign, "Far too much damage has been done to his personal reputation and credibility at this point for him to recover and be an effective public servant. And there is too much potential for......

Yesterday Representative Vito Fossella said he would make another announcement about his DWI arrest today, and it was quite the bombshell for the Staten Island GOP machine: He admitted to having an affair with retired Air Force Colonel Laura Fay and fathering a three-year-old daughter with her. Here's his statement: I have had a relationship with Laura Fay, with whom I have a three-year-old daughter. My personal failings and imperfections have caused enormous pain to......

The tabloids are really running with Representative VIto Fossella's DWI scandal. Today, the Daily News and Post get a hold of the Alexandria, VA police report and go to town. The News reports the police officer who pulled Fossella over noticed his "stained red" lips; Fossella said he "had about two or three glasses of wine"--the Congressman had a blood alcohol level of 0.17, twice the legal limit. The cop also wrote, "The subject stated......

A Staten Island woman has filed a lawsuit against the NY State Lottery, claiming that the ads for Take Five scratch-off lotto tickets were misleading about the odds. A lawyer for "M. Mckee" said, "They're trying to claim the odds are 1-in-9 when they're actually 1-in-109." The most likely scenario is actually a "Quick Pick Free Play." The NY State Lottery explains, "The clear message is that the 1-in-9 odds definitely includes winning a......

Congressman Vito Fossella may be back at work in DC--considering the "Net neutrality" act--but the questions are still flying about his behavior before his DWI arrest last week. The Daily News found that Fossella and a friend were "pickled in a pub" in Virginia. A waiter at Logan Tavern said, "I can't imagine him [Fossella] getting into a car. They were [both] incapable of driving." The friend, "Brian," was so drunk that he passed out......

Even though Representative Vito Fossella is apologetic and looking for forgiveness, there are still questions about the woman who picked Fossella up from the Alexandria, VA jail. Laura Fay is described as a 45-year-old retired Air Force colonel, who is a single mother with a young daughter. Susan Del Percio, Fossella's newly hired consultant to deal with his DWI crisis, told Staten Island Advance the congressman and Fay became friends when she was a House......

Representative Vito Fossella, who was arrested for a DWI outside of DC on Thursday, said, "This was an error in judgment. This mistake will not happen again." The Republican congressman held a press conference yesterday, to face the media and apologize again for his arrest. While he did not go into the details of his arrest, the Alexandria, VA arrest warrant indicated his blood alcohol was 0.17--twice the legal limit--and the police charged him with......

Vito Fossella, the lone Republican Congressional representative from New York City, was arrested early yesterday morning for driving while impaired outside of Washington, D.C. Fossella, whose activities leading up to the arrest are not known (his day events included the NY Giants' visit to the White House), issued this statement:"Last night I made an error in judgment. As a parent, I know that taking even one drink of alcohol before getting behind the wheel of......

On a day when construction workers who died on the job were being remembered and on the start of the Department of Buildings' Construction Safety Week, a construction worker was crushed under a front-end loader at site in Staten Island. According to the Staten Island Advance, the victim had been guiding the loader's operator as it was being backed out of Martha Street and Clove Road at 9:30 p.m. last night. And when the front-end......

Holy nunchuks! The Staten Island Advance reports "the NYPD has quietly closed the book on Staten Island's so-called Ninja Burglar case, after authorities started deportation proceedings against at least one Albanian man they believe to be connected to the string of break-ins." Before you wonder, "Hmm, should this have been called the 'Vampire Burglar' case?", please bear in mind that the Staten Island thief who was linked to nineteen separate burglaries typically wore a black......

Wine bars are popping up all over town these days, and diners are also gravitating toward food made with local ingredients, so it makes sense that the next wave in the vino trend will be local wineries. Though a Staten Island vineyard is in the works, and the centuries-old Queens County Farm plans to sell wine from its vineyard this fall, the new urban wineries have to make do with grapes from Long Island or......

Over a thousand people visited an Ettingville funeral home to pay their respects to 19-year-old Jessica Tush. Her ex-boyfriend Thomas Paolino was officially charged with her murder, as well as desecrating her body, and his bail was set at $1 million. Tush was last seen at her job at a Staten Island Mall store on Wednesday, and her body was found in a shallow grave in NJ's Pine Barrens on Friday. Tush was planning on......

Police released a sketch of a man who they suspect is not just the man who attacked a woman at a Staten Island bus stop early Thursday morning, but may be a serial attacker who could have attacked another woman earlier this year. The latest attack occurred when a 25-year-old woman got off a bus in the Eltingville section of Staten Island at 2 a.m. Almost immediately, she was thrown to the ground, by a......

Police have arrested Thomas Paolino in connection with the murder of his girlfriend whose body was found in NJ's Pine Barrens yesterday. According to reports, the family of 19-year-old Jessica Tush said that Paolino had been "increasingly abusive" in recent weeks. Hikers found Tush buried in a shallow grave in the Pine Barrens, which is about 55 miles away. A NJ medical examiner determined Tush was strangled, possibly with a cord. Hours later, Paolino was......

Jessica Tush was last seen alive Wednesday at the Staten Island Mall where she works. New Jersey police officials are now confirming that the body of a young woman found in a shallow grave by hikers in the Garden State's Pine Barrens was that of the missing teenager. An initial medical examination indicates that Tush was likely strangled to death. It was originally suspected that Jessica was abducted by force from the mall, but sources......

An appellate court ruled the City of New York cannot limit its liability in the 2003 Staten Island Ferry crash that left 11 dead and injured over a hundred others. This ruling upholds last year's decision from a U.S District Judge; the city could appeal with the Supreme Court, but the Staten Island Advance says "that option doesn't seem likely." The city had wanted to cap the amount of the awards to the value of......

Seems as though the Staten Island Ferry riders have had enough of the preachers that give unsolicited sermons during their daily commutes. Today one of them stood up to a preacher, and garnered much applause for the act. The Ferry Forum has been abuzz about the preachers, and today one poster explained the above video: "This morning I'm sitting in the back of the boat and the preacher is preaching telling us what sinners and......

A day of celebration for many in the area brought tragedy to the families of four babies on Easter Sunday - one in Staten Island and three in Brooklyn. While police do not suspect any wrongdoing in the Brooklyn cases, they are questioning the parents of 7-week-old Matthew Mason in Staten Island. Matthew was found unresponsive by his uncle and was reportedly two pounds lighter than his birth weight. In Brooklyn, 4-month-old Summer Pinckney was......

The search for a missing NJ woman led the police to a pond in the Charleston section of Staten Island, where a suitcase of bones were found. The bones are undergoing DNA testing to see if it's a match for Amy Giordano, who vanished last June. Brooklyn resident Rosario DiGirolamo was charged with the Giordano's murder. DiGirolamo, who is married, was involved with 27-year-old Giordano and they had a young son, who was found abandoned......

A grand jury voted to indict Janet Redmond-Mercereau for the December murder of her husband. The Staten Island Advance says after keeping the police waiting for a few hours, she was accompanied by her lawyer when she turned herself in. Douglas Mercereau was a well-liked fire marshal who lived with his wife and daughters in the Oakwoodhome he grew up in. On December 4, Redmond-Mercereau, a high school teacher, had called 911 to report her......

Photograph of the Staten Island Ferry fish tanks by AllwaysNY on Flickr The new fish tanks at the Staten Island Ferry terminal have already prompted two complaints. But not the kind you think: The Staten Island Advance reports "two ferry riders expressed their annoyance that they missed their ride because they were too busy admiring the fish and didn't hear the announcements the boat was boarding." Which means the $750,000 fish tanks are a......

The woman who is suspected of killing her fire marshal husband expects to be indicted. Grand jury proceedings will begin tomorrow, and Janet Redmond-Mercereau's attorney Mario Gallucci told WNBC, "It's a weak circumstantial case that we will fight aggressively...Janet can look forward to a long and satisfying life outside of prison." Douglas Mercereau was found dead in his Staten Island home on December 4 last year. The murder weapon was his service weapon, and he......

Following two incidents in recent years that highlighted the occasionally raucous atmospheres of City firehouses, the FDNY is cracking down on what it considers improper names for certain houses, like the Happy Hookers in Red Hook, Southern Comfort on Staten Island, Animal House in the Bronx, and The Nut House in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The names and logos of these firehouses came under scrutiny following an incident on New Year's Eve 2003, when an argument over Elvis......

The Staten Island Advance has been following the turmoil brewing between a Wiccan family and their neighbors. The South Shore home at the center of the controversy is a duplex, half belonging to the Wiccan devotees, Ivy Colmer Vanderborgh, her husband and mother (the husband isn't Wiccan). Not hiding their practices, their property is decorated with a "witchy weather vane and cauldron out front," along with a massive stained-glass pentacle. Before the front yard cauldron......

Two white Staten Island cops were indicted today for an incident last Halloween in which they allegedly handcuffed a black egg-throwing teen and drove him to a dark, secluded marshland he was stranded (the handcuffs were taken off). Initially, the cops were also accused of stripping him down to his shorts and kicking him. The officers, Thomas Elliassen and Richard Danese, who are pleading not guilty, said they just wanted to "scare him" and later......

Photograph of Staten Island ferry fishes through fish eye by urbanblitz on Flickr A reported fish fatality in the Staten Island Ferry's newly installed $750,000 fish tanks has spurred a lively discussion about what could be happening to the scaly creatures on SILive's forums. One poster wrote the fish death (perhaps the second) was "possibly a princess parrot fish...By 7:30AM it hadn't become a meal yet, but some of his buddies were starting to......

Left cover by Gretel sent to subscribers, right runner-up cover by Wieden + Kennedy. New York’s Best of New York lifestyle catalog is out, and among the rightful winners, like Best Old School Lobby: The Chrysler Building and Best Dive Bar: Mars Bar, there are some curious ‘bests’ to ponder. In the New York Classics section, for instance, the sterile, six-month old Music Hall of Williamsburg is hailed for its “unequaled” sound and sightlines. This......

Photo of peacock, by gmpicket at flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a missing child on Union St. in Brooklyn, a shooting on Wyatt St. in the Bronx, and a fatal car fire on the Long Island Expressway near College Point in Queens. Colombian immigrants celebrate their roots with rolling parties aboard buses known as chivas. Is the person doing Amazon.com product reviews for ski masks under the screen name "Ninja Thief" Staten Island's......