THE FORGOTTEN 5TH - FIVE STORIES MAKING STATEN ISLAND HEADLINES With help from reality TV shows, the borough’s deteriorating image takes a personal toll STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staten Island may not be the forgotten borough anymore — but some say its new reputation is even worse.  The borough’s national celebrities — the catty women married to career criminals on “Mob Wives” and the hard-partying beach bums of “Jersey Shore” — have sculpted an image of vacuous bubbleheads that Islanders say they confront regularly in social and workplace environments. READ MORE: http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/with_help_from_reality_tv_show.html Meet the Original JWoww and Snooki  The first time Brianna and Gabriella DeBartoli made plans to meet for this article, they canceled on account of a hangover. “Hey so my sister is, um … detoxing?” Brianna wrote over Facebook that morning. “And can’t leave the house.” It was Mother’s Day. This is the sort of introduction you’d expect from two sisters first delivered to the world screaming, sobbing, slapping, carousing, clubbing, and cursing on Perez Hilton’s trash-culture site last fall. On October 6, 2010, the Queen of All Media posted an “Exclusive!” video of Bridge & Tunnel, a reality series about Staten Island kids for which MTV filmed 12 episodes, but execs inexplicably canceled a month before its long-incubated premiere. READ MORE: http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-07-27/news/mtv-bridge-tunnel-original-jersey-shore/ Tracy Morgan & Sugar Hill Gang perform on Staten Island After Tracey Morgan’s gay joke controversy, he still went on to headlin the infamous St. George Theater on August 6th while hip hop lovers headed to Tappen Park in Stapleton on August 2nd to see ‘The Sugar Hill Gang’ in a free concert, which was a part of the Summer Stage series in all five boroughs. Great Kills Little League wins NY State Title In the hierarchy of Little Leagues in the youth baseball hot-bed of Staten Island, Great Kills isn’t a powerhouse. South Shore Little League sent a team to the Little League World Series inWilliamsport, Pa., just two years ago and Mid-Island was there in 2006.  Great Kills is knocking on the door of immortality now, though.  Aftera wild, 6-5 comeback win over Fayetteville-Manlius on Monday, the 11- and 12-year-olds from Great Kills American were crowned New York State champions for the first time in the Little League’s 59-year history. Port Authority pulling a fast one with toll hikes for 3 Staten Island bridges The typical Staten Island driver will pay $12 for the privilege of using the Goethals and Bayonne bridges and the Outerbridge Crossing as soon as next month, if the Port Authority has its way. The whopping hike is part of a menu of breathtaking increases the cash-strapped bi-state agency announced yesterday for the three crossings. Tolls also would spike on the Lincoln and Holland tunnels and on the George Washington Bridge. Motorists with E-ZPass who cross onto the Island during peak hours — constituting the majority — would see the toll rise from $8 to $12. The tariff at other times would be $10, but the daily off-peak windows would narrow. Participants in the Staten Island bridges plan who make the requisite 20 monthly crossings using E-ZPass would pay $6, up from $4. But it’s those unfortunates who fork over cash who would absorb the biggest pasting, with an 87.5 percent hike, to $15. That toll would be one of the highest anywhere in the country *BONUS STORY* No love for Staten Island from Nike An all-white new leather series from Nike features embroidered outlines of each New York City “borough” they represent on the left heel and the name of the borough on the right and each has a different-color tongue label and laces. 

While there’s a “Queens” “Brooklyn” “Bronx” and “Harlem” version of the shoe, there’s no “Staten Island” version available. The hot shoes went on sale Friday at the Nike Sportswear store in Soho.

”Since when is Harlem a borough and why are there only four boroughs?” Assemblywoman, Nicole Malliotakis wondered.
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THE FORGOTTEN 5TH - FIVE STORIES MAKING STATEN ISLAND HEADLINES

With help from reality TV shows, the borough’s deteriorating image takes a personal toll

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staten Island may not be the forgotten borough anymore — but some say its new reputation is even worse.  The borough’s national celebrities — the catty women married to career criminals on “Mob Wives” and the hard-partying beach bums of “Jersey Shore” — have sculpted an image of vacuous bubbleheads that Islanders say they confront regularly in social and workplace environments.

READ MORE:

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/with_help_from_reality_tv_show.html

Meet the Original JWoww and Snooki 

The first time Brianna and Gabriella DeBartoli made plans to meet for this article, they canceled on account of a hangover. “Hey so my sister is, um … detoxing?” Brianna wrote over Facebook that morning. “And can’t leave the house.” It was Mother’s Day.

This is the sort of introduction you’d expect from two sisters first delivered to the world screaming, sobbing, slapping, carousing, clubbing, and cursing on Perez Hilton’s trash-culture site last fall. On October 6, 2010, the Queen of All Media posted an “Exclusive!” video of Bridge & Tunnel, a reality series about Staten Island kids for which MTV filmed 12 episodes, but execs inexplicably canceled a month before its long-incubated premiere.

READ MORE:

http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-07-27/news/mtv-bridge-tunnel-original-jersey-shore/

Tracy Morgan & Sugar Hill Gang perform on Staten Island

After Tracey Morgan’s gay joke controversy, he still went on to headlin the infamous St. George Theater on August 6th while hip hop lovers headed to Tappen Park in Stapleton on August 2nd to see ‘The Sugar Hill Gang’ in a free concert, which was a part of the Summer Stage series in all five boroughs.

Great Kills Little League wins NY State Title

In the hierarchy of Little Leagues in the youth baseball hot-bed of Staten Island, Great Kills isn’t a powerhouse. South Shore Little League sent a team to the Little League World Series inWilliamsport, Pa., just two years ago and Mid-Island was there in 2006.  Great Kills is knocking on the door of immortality now, though.  Aftera wild, 6-5 comeback win over Fayetteville-Manlius on Monday, the 11- and 12-year-olds from Great Kills American were crowned New York State champions for the first time in the Little League’s 59-year history.

Port Authority pulling a fast one with toll hikes for 3 Staten Island bridges

The typical Staten Island driver will pay $12 for the privilege of using the Goethals and Bayonne bridges and the Outerbridge Crossing as soon as next month, if the Port Authority has its way. The whopping hike is part of a menu of breathtaking increases the cash-strapped bi-state agency announced yesterday for the three crossings. Tolls also would spike on the Lincoln and Holland tunnels and on the George Washington Bridge.

Motorists with E-ZPass who cross onto the Island during peak hours — constituting the majority — would see the toll rise from $8 to $12. The tariff at other times would be $10, but the daily off-peak windows would narrow.

Participants in the Staten Island bridges plan who make the requisite 20 monthly crossings using E-ZPass would pay $6, up from $4.

But it’s those unfortunates who fork over cash who would absorb the biggest pasting, with an 87.5 percent hike, to $15. That toll would be one of the highest anywhere in the country

*BONUS STORY*

No love for Staten Island from Nike

An all-white new leather series from Nike features embroidered outlines of each New York City “borough” they represent on the left heel and the name of the borough on the right and each has a different-color tongue label and laces. 

While there’s a “Queens” “Brooklyn” “Bronx” and “Harlem” version of the shoe, there’s no “Staten Island” version available. The hot shoes went on sale Friday at the Nike Sportswear store in Soho.

”Since when is Harlem a borough and why are there only four boroughs?” Assemblywoman, Nicole Malliotakis wondered.

The Forgotten 5th: Five Stories Making Headlines: Cake Reality Show, All Eyes on Lanza, Pop-up Pianos, Free Wi-fi, & Yellow Cabs

New Reality Show: Staten Island Cakes
Take “Jersey Shore” and cross it with “Cake Boss” and you’ve got the recipe for “Staten Island Cakes” – a reality show based on the story of 21-year-old Dongan Hills pastry chef and baker extraordinaire, Vinny Buzzetta, his family, and his West Brighton bakery called The Cake Artist. The show premiers Tuesday at 9 p.m. on WE-TV, Channel 59 on Time-Warner Cable. The pilot episode tells the story of Buzzetta, a talented executive pastry chef and owner of the go-to bakery known for its special occasion cakes and confections.


All Eyes on Lanza
Just one more vote is needed in Albany to make same-sex marriage legal, and Sen. Andrew Lanza continued to declare himself undecided as lobbying to take a vote before the session ends next week intensifies. Supporters would like more than one more vote — to give themselves a buffer — as would Republicans — to give themselves cover.

Sing for Hope’s Pop-up Pianos

Until July 2, Sing for Hope pop-up pianos will allow for formal and impromptu concerts by amateurs and artists in an open festival of music.  Tyear, the program has expanded to 12 Island locations. In addition to the ballpark, other Island locations are: Blue Heron Park, Clove Lakes Park, Faber Park Recreation Center, the Greenbelt Nature Center, Clay Pit Pond State Park, Wolfe’s Pond Park, Historic Richmond Town, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, the South Beach Boardwalk, the Staten Island Ferry Terminal and Tappen Park.  After the promotion is complete, the pianos will be donated to several local schools and organizations. 


Free Wi-Fi to Staten Island Parks
Free Wi-fi will be provided in 20 New York City parks — including two on Staten Island — under a new five-year initiative announced today by city officials.  Among the those selected for the program are Clove Lakes Park and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk and Beach in South Beach.


NYC Bill passes to expand taxi pick-ups
Dozens of yellow cabs from New York City lined the streets around the state Capitol today as cabbies rallied against legislation to let livery drivers legally pick up passengers who hail them in the city’s four outer boroughs, including Staten Island, and northern Manhattan.  The Assembly passed the bill by a 110-28 vote. Republican Sen. Martin Golden told the drivers that talks were continuing with Mayor Michael Bloomberg to see if something else can be worked out.

Blockbuster Community Group News: No, Jersey Shore’s Angelina going to TNA Wrestling isn’t news.  However, we will have an opportunity to serve the original ‘Jersey Shore’ bad boy himself, Charlie B, and his non-profit, the NYC Arts Cypher (http://nycartscypher.com), which promotes positive values through arts and entertainment programs, projects, and events.  Stay tuned for tons of details in the upcoming weeks on how you, too, can participate!

MTV cancels Staten Island Reality Show before it airs

While MTV has found a hit in Jersey Shore, it seems that the network doesn’t believe that lightning will hit the same place twice for new Staten Island-based reality series, “Bridge & Tunnel.”  According to sources, MTV has shut down production on the new reality show, because it was too similar to another situation on the network, “Jersey Shore.” The show features a group of young people from New York’s Staten Island trying to move on up to Manhattan. The network previously screened an excerpt of the show at Upfronts last year. At one point, the show was scheduled to premiere in late October. 


Sources say that the crew has been shooting for the past few months in New York before production was halted. As of now, the series will probably never see the light of day and the network has no plans for the footage to go into editing.


MTV declined to comment for this story.

MTV Jersey Shore’s Angelina has her Third Fight in Three Months…

(credit: SILive.com) ATLANTIC CITY — The fur just seems to fly whenever “Jersey Shore” star and Staten Island resident Angelina Pivarnick is around.

On Saturday night, Ms. Pivarnick, 24, allegedly roughed up a woman trying to photograph her in an Atlantic City casino before the reality-TV star’s scheduled celebrity boxing match.

The dustup at the Casbah Night Club at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort occurred about five weeks after an Oakwood woman allegedly punched Ms. Pivarnick’s friend as she and the self-proclaimed “Kim Kardashian of Staten Island” were shopping at the Staten Island Mall.  Ms. Pivarnick is one of the stars of MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” which focuses on the escapades of a group of twentysomething Italian-Americans.

Saturday’s incident occurred about 9:30 p.m.

Ms. Pivarnick had traveled to the South Jersey gambling mecca casino to duke it out with Kerry Schwartz, from the VH1 reality show, “Frank the Entertainer in a Basement Affair.”

But the would-be combatants never laced up the gloves, according to published reports.  Instead, Ms. Pivarnick jumped the main event by allegedly attacking a camera-toting bystander.  The alleged victim signed a simple-assault complaint against Ms. Pivarnick on Sunday, said Lt. Dan Ritzel of the Atlantic City Police Department.  Police did not identify the woman.  Ms. Pivarnick’s lawyer has denied the allegations and said his client would vigorously fight them, according to the Web site. www.perezhilton.com.

In the Mall incident, Kelsey Balzafiore, 19, is accused of punching Ms. Pivarnick’s pal, Janina Vaiana, in the face and cutting her lip.  Ms. Pivarnick and Ms. Vaiana were window-shopping Oct. 29 at Hot Topic boutique.

Ms. Pivarnick allegedly was hit in the back of the head during the fracas, but a harassment charge could not be levied because police did not witness the episode, an NYPD spokesman previously told the Advance.

Ms. Balzafiore was charged with misdemeanor assault. Her case is pending in Stapleton Criminal Court.

She has declined comment on the allegations.

Meet Staten Island's 'Biggest Loser'

Alfredo (Frado) Dinten admits he does everything over the top. So when it came to getting healthy and losing weight, it was no surprise that he decided to do it in an extreme fashion.

The Todt Hill resident is one of 16 — now down to 14 — contestants on NBC’s hit weight loss show “The Biggest Loser,” which pairs the obese with trainers Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper. During the show, contestants spend their days solely devoted to the battle of the bulge. 

“I knew it would take me a few years to do what I could do in a few months [on the show],” said Dinten, currently back home along with the rest of the contestants with Season 10 finished taping until the finale. 

“I knew if I got there and could get on the show, I could get my life back quicker than three years,” he continued during a recent phone interview. 

Dinten will be blogging about his experience on “The Biggest Loser” for SILive.com.