Fifth and Forgotten

Staten Island Snowstorm Aftermath: Comradery & Potholes

(credit: SILive.com) — Staten Islanders had shovels full of praise for neighbors who helped them weather the storms.

“My neighbors were wonderful helping me with shoveling, ‘desnowing’ my car, asking if I needed anything, I was so grateful,” wrote Mary Jane Sampel of Great Kills in a letter to the Advance. She especially was grateful to the Panzera teen-agers, Christianna, 14, a freshman at Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School, New Springville, and Joseph, 13, an eighth grader at Barnes Intermediate School.  On snow days, Joseph wakes up early to make sure he has time to shovel before he goes to school.  “All they did was shovel and smile, they didn’t want to accept money,” Ms. Sampel wrote.

Marie and Walter Starita of Oakwood wanted to thank neighbors Sharon and Jerry, Steven and “Frank with the big machine from across the street” for clearing the snow. Walter Starita was unable to do the job himself because he has a pacemaker-defibrillator.

On the flip side, Jack Graziano, of a Pleasant Plains fix-it shop, said, nearly a dozen cars have slouched like wounded creatures into his Hollywood Garage after falling victim to the massive holes; he patched their flats or banged out their rims and sent them on their way.  “It’s a disgrace; it’s a disgrace because we’re the working people, the small businesses,” said Graziano, whose muscular hands and oil under his short fingernails are a testament to the long hours he dedicates to his trade. “If I was a politician and I wanted to be remembered as a good guy, I would make it enjoyable for taxpayers to go to work and earn the money to pay the taxes on Staten Island — [the taxes] we’re not benefiting from.” He pointed at a collection of damaged tires and rims lying against a wall on the side of his shop — a hard-to-miss, kitsch-covered building with a statue of a Santa-in-a-convertible jutting from the roof. “Look at this; it’s an insult. You can’t have roads like these,” he said, shaking his head. “Worst of it, it’s dangerous; who’s there watching out for us?”

When contacted about the road yesterday, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Transportation said a crew would be out today.