Staten Island, The Forgotten Borough

Staten Island is the forgotten borough. Ask any of the people who live here and they will say the same thing. There's just a feeling of being neglected. When I first started working in Manhattan commuting was an absolutely nightmare, I still think it is for many Staten Islanders. We're so close to Manhattan yet it takes forever to get there. If you drive off the Island, you have to pay, the only free access to Staten Island is via the Staten Island Ferry from downtown Manhattan. A free ride. A beautiful free ride, something very rare in New York City. But then where do you go from there?

So many people take a ride on the ferry because you get a great view of the New York City skyline from the water and also ride close by the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It's a tourist attraction. But most people just turn around and get back on the Ferry for the free ride back to Manhattan.

The Staten Island Yankees' ball field is right next to the Ferry but unless you're going to a game, I guess you wouldn't venture over there. I went to a game once with my brother and his son Robert. It was great, a night game and the view of the Manhattan skyline above the field was absolutely beautiful. There I was in this old fashioned stadium, felt like I was watching a game from the movie A League Of Their Own. It's a trip back in time to the simple days of baseball, a small field, the kids love it, the concession stands sell food at a much more reasonable price, it's a great outing for a family.


Although this is a sad place to visit, there is a spectacular memorial to the Staten Island victims of 9/11. The memorial faces Manhattan and I believe if you are standing on the side where you would be facing Manhattan, the view is where the Towers once stood.

When you are right in front of the memorial you will see 270 granite plaques that bear the name, birth date and the place where each of the 270 Staten Islanders lost on September 11th worked. And more, each of their profiles in silhouettes. Again, though it is heart wrenching to remember that day, all the souls lost, it is a tribute to them and if you're riding the Staten Island Ferry for free, you might want to take a walk to the memorial, pay your respects to the Staten Island victims of 9/11.


If you dare venture farther into the wilds of Staten Island there is so much more to see. Though born in Brooklyn, I have lived in Staten Island for more than half my life and I still am pleasantly surprised at some of the beauty and historical sites that I have ignored all these years.

The Staten Island Ferry is located in the St. George area of Staten Island and the courthouse and the library are both old buildings with so much character. Although we have outgrown the courthouse and a new one is being built, I believe the old courthouse will become offices or put to some use and not torn down. But walk across the street from the Ferry, go see the library, again so much character.

Not far away, and not within walking distance are some beautiful homes from at least 100 years ago, hidden by the modern overhead wires and fences that cover and surround them. I remember not so long ago having a few friends who lived in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, beautiful brownstones and nice streets, but right around the corner drug dealers, abandoned and burned out homes. Or homes where people were living in horrible conditions, unsafe buildings. Park Slope has changed, it's a beautiful artsy neighborhood, families wanting to raise their children in that neighborhood. We hope for that in Staten Island in some of the old areas, they hold so much history and can be turned into beautiful safe neighborhoods where people would want to raise their families. But everyone forgets Staten Island and all that it has.

Yes traffic is awful. Staten Islanders think so too, but again being forgotten our roads haven't been expanded as quickly as the population grew or as quickly as the price of the bridge rose!

We have beautiful parks and historical sites. The Alice Austen House which I've actually had picnics by many times and never knew anything more than it was the Alice Austen House. I didn't know who Alice Austen was. Well, she was a photographer in the 1880s, rare for a woman and she travelled, she lived a big life for a woman of her times. Her photos were filled with satire, some even risky and wonderful photos of the landscape of Staten Island during those times. At that time photography equipment was huge and bulky but she filled a trunk and traveled everywhere with her equipment, capturing pictures wherever she went.

Less concerned with decorum than with getting a good picture of the auto speed trials, Alice perches on a fencepost. Photo (and this blurb) courtesy of the Staten Island Historical Society.

This is a picture of the beach where I would have my picnics, a beautiful view of the bridge and then a picture of the Alice Austen House right across the street, which I ignored for years. So much history right in my own backyard. I bet wherever you come from, you'd be surprised if you looked up the history of your area.

Historic Richmond Town is more popular, located I guess in the center of Staten Island, but again it's a great tourist attraction for history buffs and children. My niece and nephews have been there. They learned how to make soup like they did 200+ years ago. They made a toy that children of that era would make and play with. They so enjoyed the visit, right in their own backyard. The picture is of the carpenters shop. It's wild, for me anyway, to see these buildings built hundreds of years ago and imagine life in those times.

Blue Heron Park Nature Center. During the winter, there's an event called The Owl Prowl. During this time of the years the owls are beginning their courtship, in the quiet peaceful park, you can hear and see nature's wonders. My niece and nephews spent one of those nights in the park and they loved it.

Wolfs Pond Park, beaches, nature, lots of land.

Clove Lakes Park, picnic areas, boating, streams, just take your shoes and socks off and walk on the rocks.

Miller Field, right by the beach. Kids play soccer there, fields and fields of grass.

So many beautiful parks in Staten Island.

Come visit. Take a free ride on the Staten Island Ferry and then you can find a bus or a train to get you to some of these locations or if you have a car take a ride, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

No More Flying!

I don't want to fly anymore. I don't mean flying on an airplane, I mean flying solo, just me, the wind and up I go!

One day I found myself flying through the streets of Manhattan. Seriously!

I worked across the street from Battery Park and as I was walking up to my building the wind picked me up and I flew about 30 feet down the street. Flew! I was actually flying! Yeah I'm a nut, but it happened and three men who thank goodness were standing in the doorway of the garage area watching me fly, ran out, they surrounded me and with their weight supporting me, were able to get me inside the garage to safety. I was never so afraid of the wind! Two women (also petite) who worked in my building were hurt bad that day. One woman got thrown under a car and broke her leg, the other crashed into the building and broke a couple of ribs. I'm telling you that wind was strong and scary. Since that day I always check the weather to see what the wind gusts are. Over 40mph, I'm not going anywhere near downtown Manhattan.

My family has made tons of jokes. They're going to give me weights to put in my pockets and wrap around my ankles. Yeah that'll work, I wont be able to move!

The day I flew, it took me over an hour to stop my heart from beating so fast. At first I stood in the lobby of my building by the elevator banks, but I could hear the wind going through the elevator shafts and the thought of getting on an elevator just made me more nervous. It sounded like the elevators were going to come crashing down. It took a while but I finally got on an elevator and made it upstairs, but since that day, windy days in the city made me over the top nervous.

Downtown Manhattan is windy. One New York Plaza, closer to the Staten Island Ferry, used to put ropes around the outside of the building so you could hold on to them because of the wind. I also used to work at the World Financial Center and on my way to work would walk through the outside concourse of the World Trade Center to get to the Financial Center where some days it was so windy I would see a small tornado of dust and debris. When it got too cold and windy, they closed the outside concourse because the wind was so dangerous, the Towers created a tremendous wind tunnel.

It took a while but I stopped thinking and worrying about the wind until one day it almost happened again. At this time my company had moved our offices from downtown to Times Square in midtown. I commuted via the Staten Island Ferry to downtown and then would walk up to the Bowling Green train station to catch a train to Times Square, which was about four or five blocks up from the Ferry. One day when I got off the ferry the skies started getting so dark and the winds were kicking up. My heart started beating faster. Walking up the street I noticed the street vendors' tables bouncing around because of the wind and most of them were trying to pack up their goods and shut down before the storm hit. There was a young man walking next to me, maybe about 19 or so, and I walked up to him for help. I'm sure he thought I was totally nuts, but I begged him to please let me hold on to him while walking up the street, told him I was so afraid of the wind. He looked at me like I was crazy but saw the fear in my face and kind of reluctantly agreed to help. Only a minute later the street vendors who didn't pack up were watching their tables fly across the street, the goods they were selling flying all over and this man and I were dodging tables and NYC souvenirs flying all over the street. The man helping me picked up the pace, I could tell he was nervous too and now understood my fear. I think I was gripping his arm so tightly I might have stopped the blood flow, even through his winter coat! We got to Bowling Green station and he said "RUN!" He had to walk farther up Broadway, but I could tell by the way he said "run" that it was really bad and he was now scared too. I ran down the stairs into the train station as fast as I could and made it to safety. Thank God that young man helped me, he saved me! When I got to Times Square I could tell from inside the train station that the winds didn't sound as bad, I would be able to get to my office safely.

Scared of the wind! Never thought I would be, but I am. Mother Nature is a powerful force, one I will not ignore.

No more flying for me!

I Need Another Glass

Today is my birthday and I never feel a year older, just a year more blessed. I'm alive, I'm healthy. I have family and friends who love me. Who could ask for anything more? Well okay, I always wish to win the big jackpot in lottery games but as far as my life is concerned, I hit the jackpot the day I was born into my family.

How you look at anything makes a difference. Glass half full or half empty?

I've had my share of hardships, had some really rough roads that I traveled but somehow at the end of all that I came out more than fine, I'm a better person for it. Easy Street isn't all it's cracked up to be. I mean without the dark, there is no light. If life was easy with nothing to worry about, no losses, what kind of life would that be.

Flat.

There would be no comparison and you wouldn't be able to see and enjoy the light.

My birthday celebration started last night. My friend Kathy who is mom to Honey from the We Moved blog I wrote, sang happy birthday to me. I wish I could share it with you all but it's on my Facebook page and I can't figure out how to download it to my computer? Maybe someone reading this can tell me how and then I will add it to this page at a later date.

This video was absolutely too cute. Honey howled along to the birthday tune and her whole body and being was in the moment. It was one of the most fabulous birthday greetings I have ever received. My glass full.



I also started receiving happy birthday wishes on my Facebook page last night and this morning awoke to so many more. I love that. Seeing all those people reaching out just to say happy birthday. My glass full.

My phone is filled with texts from friends and family wishing me happiness. My glass is full.

And this morning my nephew Jojo also touched my heart. Jojo is very smart, does well in school but there are times he is in his own world and notices absolutely nothing. I have seen his older brother leave the house to go to some sports practice or game, saying goodbye to Jojo and an hour later Jojo will be looking all over the house for Robert, calling his name until someone reminds him, he said goodbye to you an hour ago. That's Jojo. He can also be a mush (to me in private of course), a very loving boy. Well this morning as his mom was dropping him off at school he turned around to her and said, hey mom, tell Aunt Tricia happy birthday from me. Oh Jojo, my glass might have overflowed on that one! He remembered me! Little things mean a lot!

The way I look at life, my glass is full and I need another glass.

People

People who need people...



That's me. I'm a people who needs people.

I had a little writers' block today. Unfortunately an ex in my life, who recently read my blog, sent me a text and said he liked my blog but also said why would anyone be interested in reading my blog when all I do is write about my family and friends. I told him because they can "relate" to me and my stories.

Since his remark, I've been trying to come up with an idea for a blog today, and found that his words were lingering in my mind and blocking everything else. So I think that I should write about that. Not about him. But people like him. People who just don't understand how important it is to relate to people. People who don't really need people. People who think, what can you do for me, instead of what can I do for you.

Empathy. Compassion. Altruism.

Empathy is being able to feel and share feelings with a stranger, a friend, even an enemy. Compassion, an awareness of the suffering of another person and wanting to relieve that suffering. Altruism, giving with no expectation of getting anything back.

I am blessed with empathy, compassion and altruism. Truly blessed.

I didn't expect anything back when I started writing my blog. But oh what I got back! Way more than I gave. And every time in my life that I have given without expecting something in return I have gotten back way more than I gave.

Thank you all my readers who relate to me, feel me, have empathy, compassion, those who are motivated by altruism.

You are the people I need. The people I want to surround my life...today, tomorrow and always.

How To Be Ninja

Didn't think I'd get a chance to write today but just couldn't sleep, have been up since 4:30 am and after tossing and turning for almost an hour I just got out of bed. There are so many nights lately that I wake up early and keep trying to get back to sleep when I should just get up and out of bed. Read, watch TV, work on my computer, I'm not sleeping anyway, just more twisting and turning and super pissed that I can't fall back to sleep. I'll either be napping this afternoon and up again all night or make it through the day and out like a light long before the stroke of midnight.

The How To Be Ninja video I'm sharing today was created by my nephews Robert and Jojo (my brother Joey's boys) and their friend Nick. They are so funny and creative. I am still amazed at what these kids can do with computers, video games, cell phones. They were born in the age of super technology and it just comes naturally to them.

Jojo is always borrowing his father's iphone, either playing video games or taking pictures and filming short videos. He's really good. I love the pictures he takes of himself, I call this one Jojo Pretending to Think. I tell Jojo as many times as I can about photography, filming, directing, computer animation, designing video games, so many jobs he could have that he just doesn't know about. I believe this kid has got an eye and the talent for some kind of creative work.




I look forward to seeing Jojo's photos.


I'm impressed.





I laugh.








He's a funny kid.


A week ago Robert and Jojo wanted to set up blogs. They have read a few of my pages and they wanted to do the same, mostly just to share this video. They both told me they knew what they were doing and were setting up on two separate computers. They didn't know what they were doing. One of them would call me over to help them set something up and then the other one would be talking over and I was so dizzy. I couldn't help either one of them, they were confusing me. Easy to do!

After running around in circles trying to help them set up a page they moved on to something else and forgot about the blog. But Jojo had started writing before he gave up and the first thing he wrote was "sup". I loved it!

Sup. Too cool Jojo.

Here's a little taste of the humor I'm exposed to on a pretty much daily basis. My nephews are hoping to become a Youtube sensation with this video, hopefully I can give them a few hits on their video through my blog.

Sup.

I hope this gives you a little chuckle to start your day!

And again Happy New Year!

What I Dreamed...

One more big holiday to go and then we start our new year. Seems like only yesterday I was a kid thinking that the Year 2000 sounded so far away and weird, that we would have flying cars and people would live on Mars, and of course I would be a famous movie star, on every planet, and everyone would know my name. And here we are in 2012, so different than what I dreamed.

We will all look back at the year gone by, what we did right, what we did wrong and we will look forward to what we can do, what we shouldn't do. Some of us will stick to our resolutions made on New Year's Day but most of us wont. I myself stopped making resolutions years ago, I just try to do, or not to do, certain things all year round.

My birthday is also very close to New Year's and that has always been my soul searching, look back and look forward time. I'm a year older, a year wiser, a year farther away from that child that thought the Year 2000 sounded like a future so far off, weird and different. Oh what I dreamed.

Well it is weird in some ways and it's surely different. For me this past year has been a surprise. I never dreamed I would be writing a blog, and a blog that people read and like! I never knew this person existed inside of me! I wonder what else, who else is inside of me?

That kid all those years ago who thought she was put here on this Earth to be a superstar, having at least three Oscars by now, has finally realized that the world is a much bigger place than she knew. That the dreams she has today may be her life tomorrow and can also lead to dreams never imagined.

What I dreamed didn't matter. That I dreamed mattered. That I continue to dream matters.

And I also know that I've been a superstar my whole life and the people who know my name are the people that matter.

This picture of me with the gorilla is from my 50th birthday party and the video is from my 40th surprise birthday party, both events shared with so many of the wonderful loving people that this superstar has been blessed with!

I don't know what tomorrow will bring but I will continue to dream and dream big, and I hope you all do the same.

Happy New Year to all, be healthy and dream!

Oscar Madison Here...

Did you ever see the play, movie or television series The Odd Couple? Great movie and TV series, I never saw the play, but The Odd Couple was written by Neil Simon, who is an awesome playwright. I've seen a few of his shows on Broadway and I think all the movies that were then made from his plays. He won the Tony Award for Best Author for The Odd Couple.

Walter Matthau played Oscar Madison in both the Broadway play and the movie, also received a Tony for Best Actor for his Broadway performance. Jack Klugman replaced Matthau later on Broadway and then played Madison on the television series. On Broadway Art Carney had the role of Felix Unger (Norton from The Honeymooners TV series as well, in case you don't know) and in the television series Tony Randall played Felix.

Obviously it's about an odd couple. Oscar is a slob, carefree, and a sports writer for a newspaper. Felix is super neat, super annoying and needy and works as a photographer. I had to look up that Felix was a photographer. For some reason in my mind I totally remember Oscar doing his work and couldn't remember at all what Felix did for a living.

In any case they were an odd couple.

But I'd like today to try and be a bit more like Oscar Madison. A bit more I say, because honestly I'm already kind of a slob. Not dirty. No bugs or food lying around anywhere in my apartment, but I leave my dresser drawers open after pulling out clothes and messing up the folded stuff in there when I'm searching. I leave kitchen cabinets open after taking out a cup or a dish. I pile up the sink until it's too full to put anything in there and then do the dishes. That's not too bad, it's not like I leave dirty dishes for days, another problem is I use too many utensils while I'm cooking. Instead of using a knife to cut the carrots, potatoes and meat, I'll use three, same with stirring sauce and pasta while cooking, two spoons. So I fill up the sink pretty quickly! Just not organized, somewhat like Oscar Madison.

Now at work, I'm organized. I can't stand a messy desk, need a clean workspace and if it's not I can't get my work done, I guess I have little Felix inside me, very very little though. I'd rather dress more in the style of Oscar than Felix too, if I were a man, and as a woman, I prefer sneakers and sweats to jeans and heels. I like comfort. I still love a pretty dress and fancy shoes going to a special occasion but as daily wear no, I'm Oscarish! There's my Oscar, I always dreamed and wished I'd get one, guess I didn't specify exactly which Oscar huh!?

So what I'd like to do that is Oscarish today is write about sports. Yes you heard me. If you know me you are like, what can this girl possibly have to say about sports! Well not much. I do know a few things about sports, some from playing video games, most from the sports fanatics that have been in my life forever. My mom, my father Bo, my brothers, even my sister Linda. And I ended up with so many friends in my life who are also sports fans, some fanatical. I even dated the most sports fanatical guy. People would think he had a bet on a game because of his intensity watching and screaming at the television. He wasn't betting, he was just nuts! Too much. I came home from work one day and he had two TVs in the living room, watching sports on both and flipping back and forth from channel to channel on both TVs, all for sports!

Seeing two TVs in the living room was not a shocker for me. My family had already done it bigger. Came home one time to three TVs in the living room. I don't know what was on, but three sports crossing over, who knows, I just know I had absolutely no interest. Walked in the house, saw all the sports fans surrounded by the TVs and went up to my room to get away from them all.

I did have a short period in time where I could not get enough of watching basketball on TV. My brother Joey turned me on to Michael Jordan and after watching him play once, I was hooked. I couldn't help but be entertained by his amazing talent. For me it was like watching a great TV show or movie. I would actually look in the paper in the TV guide to see when The Bulls were playing. Loved Scotty Pippen too, but Michael Jordan was the man and since he left the game I haven't really enjoyed watching. I always ask my brother is there anyone out there now who reminds him of Jordan's talent and he says sometimes, some player, a little, but still no one is just like Michael Jordan when it comes to basketball, he should be the definition of a basketball player.

I've learned a little bit more about the sporting community in the last few years. My brother Joey has three kids and has them involved in lots of sports, they all started young, my nephews Robert and Jojo and my niece Bella. Joey is divorced from his wife and when they were married I agreed with her that my brother was just too much with the sports, again because I'm not into them, don't think it's such a big deal, can't understand how sports fans can discuss a game to death. Kids who know stats when they don't remember their homework, fail a test. How can that be!? Sports fans knows stats like no body's business. So much, it's scary! No, but they really do know so much and talk and talk about it. But I'm off track, I wanted to talk about the sporting community. So I was saying I agreed with my brother's wife at the time, it was just too much.

Jojo was never really into sports. He always preferred TV and video games but Joey pushed and pushed and Jojo is a basketball phenom. Okay, not a phenom but for Jojo and his past attitude and aptitude for sports, we are way impressed with how far he has come. Even my brother is shocked when Jojo's coach is talking about Jojo. He's like wait a minute. Jojo? You're talking about my son? This year Joey thought Jojo would make the C Team in basketball at the sports community they are involved in. Then all of a sudden the people in charge say no, he's B Team material and my brother was so happy and Jojo, even better, was so proud and excited. He was playing well, he could be a peer with his older brother. Turns out he made the A Team! He's awesome, so into the game and I've heard him having those sport discussions, stats flying all over, terms I don't understand, mostly because I don't want to, but he's got the sports bug in him now our Jojo! Robert and Bella both play really well and have enjoyed playing from very young.

I've gone to a lot of games and practices over the last few years since Joey got divorced. At the start still believing that it was too much. There's always a game, there's always a practice. Sometimes two games a day, traveling, just crazy busy. But then I started noticing something, feeling something. I was part of this community now. Not like all these people are my friends and we socialize, but we're part of a community.

So the best thing about local sports, to me, a non-sportsman, is the community. It's strong. There may be a pain in the butt, loud-mouthed parent (or two or three) who just gets your goat, but for the most part I see these people bringing their children because they want their kids to be involved in something fun, that keeps them busy, keeps them out of trouble, makes them feel like they belong. And belonging is so much more important these days than when I was growing up.

I watch my nephews and niece enjoy this community more than the games they play. They belong, it's a safe place, a home away from home, surrounded by people that really care about each other, brought together by sports, even when you're not a sports fan like me!

Over the last few days I've heard from another sports community. On Facebook there's a Knute Rockne Alumni Page and I was invited to join and am now a proud member. Why? Well, I've gotten some pictures and messages from a friend of mine on Facebook, Danny. Danny and his brother Tommy both went to grammar school with me and lived in the same neighborhood, Bay Ridge Brooklyn. I think Danny may have switched to PS104 at some point, maybe both he and Tommy did, I can't remember, but again, they were part of my neighborhood, my community, I saw them often growing up. They both also played for the Knute Rockne Football League in our neighborhood which my three older brothers played in years before Danny and Tommy. Danny sent me a picture the other day and my brother Michael is in the picture.

My brother Michael unfortunately died in 1988, only 33 years old, way too young and I believe at a time in his life when he was truly on a road to a good place. Seeing the picture of Michael meant so much to me and I thanked Danny but I don't know if my "thank you" expressed how much it meant to me and I can't wait for his daughter to see the picture, I think she will really love it.



When I shared the picture on my Facebook page I wrote that I thought my brother's number was "12". My cousin Doug (disguised on Facebook as his wife Tracey) commented that he thought it was "24" and then my sister Linda, who is one of those sports fans in my family, added in her sports expertise:

"Yeah Trish - Low #'s are for the quarterback's, it's 42"

Michael was an awesome football player (I've heard). Never cared remember! And my mom loved football which she got hooked on because of my oldest brother Jimmy. My brother Jimmy was given the first sports scholarship ever from Poly Prep which was a big deal, an expensive school. Someone came to see my mom from the school and said they wanted Jimmy to play for them. My mom told them, no I can't afford Poly Prep. They told her, no, no, we will pay his way, we want him, he's that good, you should watch him play and she did. Jimmy (again from what I've heard) was really great, amazing agility. But my mom loved the game and especially loved watching her sons play. I blogged before about a football game where my brothers' Michael and Bobby were on opposing teams. Whenever anyone asked my mom who she wanted to win, she said I want a tie and a tie she got. When I posted that blog, Spelunker, I got a comment back from my niece Irene, Michael's beautiful daughter. Irene's comment:

Great picture of dad! There is more to the football story with the 'tie'. Dad got Uncle Bob kicked out of the game, because dad hit Uncle Bob (but the ref didn't see), when Uncle Bob hit dad back the ref did see, and kicked Uncle Bob out. It was the one and only game Uncle Bob ever got kicked out of.

I talked to my brother Bob after reading Irene's comment because I didn't know Bobby was thrown out of the game because of Michael. Bobby told me, yeah, but we weren't throwing punches, Michael bit me! Oh my brother Michael! Though you were loved by so many, you really had a way of getting under people's skin, and in the tie game used your teeth to get there!

And not only was I invited to join this sport community alumni, Danny made a special picture and sent that to me. Thanks again Danny! I will proudly represent my brother for the Knute Rockne Alumni page on Facebook. Will apologize for him in case he bit any of the alumni or got anyone besides my brother Bob thrown out of a game.

Danny's brother Tommy had the same number as Michael. Yeah 24 I know now, low numbers are for the quarterbacks, but Danny told me that when he, his brother and friends played for the Knute Rockne league they loved the older guys who played before them, looked up to them, wanted to keep their numbers in the game.

That's the sports community, it's a nice play to be, even if you don't like sports!



So there's my sports story.

Here's Oscar Madisonish Trish signing off...


[By the way, if you live in New York or New Jersey, there's a radio station, WKXW New Jersey 101.5, and one of the news announcers on the show is Walter Matthau's son, David. It's so funny when I hear him sign off on one of his news stories, you can hear his dad's tone in his voice. Great station to listen to Monday through Thursday from 9pm to 11pm, The Late Show. It's a call in radio program and they talk about relationships, life, weird stuff, great show, listen if you get a chance and when the news comes on, listen for David Matthau's sign off.]