Fifth and Forgotten

Old yet relevant: Jersey Shore mayor disses Staten Island

(credit: Daily News) Mayor Ken Pringle of Belmar, N.J., might want to hang onto his day job.  His ham-fisted attempt at comedy in the town newsletter has angered some of the folks who keep the shore community humming: Staten Islanders, Italian-Americans and blonds.  The four-page July 4 leaflet chronicled misdeeds of the summer renters who flock to the party town, but it didn’t read like your basic police blotter.

“The spat ended the way most fights with SI girls do,” the mayor wrote. “The SI woman grabbed the Boonton woman by the hair … and began punching her face in.”

He didn’t stop there: Pringle made fun of the way Staten Islanders look, suggesting their attire is a “costume” and the women use too much hair spray.  That didn’t sit well with Cash Fisftari, an 18-year-old from the borough. ”It’s all bull——,” he said of the mayor’s journalistic efforts. The newsletter also tossed a few darts at “Guidos” in town.

“They’re always tanned to the color of coconut shells and easily identified by their plumage: satin shirts and short skirts on the females; Armani Exchange T-shirts and artfully distressed jeans on the males,” he wrote.  ”The call of the Guido is bellowing, and frequently slurred, invariably starting with the sound, ‘Yo.’”

After hearing that, Mike Cortez, 18, of Staten Island said Pringle should lighten up.  ”Guidos are just guys who like to party and get with girls,” he said. “If someone calls me that, it’s just because they are jealous about us.” 

Pringle ended his newsletter with a gem about two renters who told an inspector they didn’t know how to take out garbage.  ”Let us guess … they’re blonde,” the item was headlined.

Rachel Rogers, 27, president of the Belmar Chamber of Commerce, said she saw why some people were offended.  ”I’m blond, and I know what to do with my garbage,” she said.  She said it was obvious the newsletter was a joke, not a real swipe at certain demographics.

Pringle admitted he went “over the top” in his attempt to highlight the bad behavior of some seasonal visitors in the quintessential Jersey shore town.  ”It was meant as a humor device, not to insult anyone,” he said. “If I don’t make it funny, no one is going to read it.”