A few weeks ago, Bob Scarmadella, the borough's GOP chairman and Lhota supporter, stepped down from his position. By doing so, this has raised the possibility for third party candidate Aldolfo Carrion's entry onto the Republican ballot. And then the Borough President endorsed Christine Quinn for Mayor. Most recently, a community board chairman named John Antoneillo, who's indirect acquaintance with billionaire/mayoral hopeful John Catsimatidis, has been eyed for the chairman position.

In other words, it hasn't been smooth sailing for Joe Lhota's campaign in Staten Island. But he doesn't seem to care; if anything, he's pretty confident at his chances there.

According to Politicker, the Republican hopeful responded to a question on Sunday at the Young Brooklyn Republican Club about his Staten Island likability. And there seems to be no problem: "I am very comfortable in my position with the leadership on Staten Island... I'm not bothered by it at all. I will win in the primary in September. I will have more than enough support on Staten Island."

As city politics go, Staten Island is a Republican stronghold - a necessary piece if a candidate on the right is going to capture City Hall. It's a good thing Mr. Lhota has so much optimism going into November. He's going to need it.

[jsurico15@gmail.com/@JSuricz]

When Wayne LaPierre spoke to the world in the wake of Newtown, viewers and media folk alike gawked at the NRA chieftain's worldview. Twitter was abuzz with anger as LaPierre proposed fighting guns with guns, swiftly condemning video games and the rest of society for the violence at hand. Not to mention the handful of "NRA Killing Our Kids" protestors that interrupted the speaker. Except, on the ground, the reaction was a bit different.More »

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This picture was definitely not taken in Brooklyn. Because cabs do not exist there.

Contrary to popular belief, there are people that live outside of Manhattan. The hustle and bustle of New York City is not limited to one island; actually, almost 80 percent of New Yorkers live in the outer boroughs (probably because they cannot afford its real estate horrors). 

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The bicycles are comin'! The bicycles are comin'!
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Sam Levin

The new "apple green" Boro Taxi, unveiled at City Hall this morning.

It's not lime green, not key lime pie green, not sea-foam green, nor is it chartreuse. Nope. The city's new taxi for upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs, unveiled this morning, is apple green.

The mayor's office emphasized this specific shade of green at a press conference at City Hall this morning by having a basket of green apples on site and one prop apple at the podium that speakers could hold on to and toss in the air if they wanted, to emphasize that this new taxi is in fact "apple" green -- a topic of much debate among reporters in attendance.

In front of the steps of City Hall, the mayor's office took the cover off a model of the new taxi, which looks a lot like the yellow taxis, only it's (apple) green.

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Sam Levin

City Comptroller John Liu, with State Senator Diane Savino (left) and City Council member Debi Rose at the Ferry Terminal in Staten Island.

City Comptroller John Liu took a trip to Staten Island today to criticize the city's management of new ferry boats that he says have been chronically out of service and have wasted taxpayers' dollars.

The announcement was a chance for Liu, who is expected to run for mayor in 2013, to get his name out on a transportation issue and appeal to the outer boroughs. But the comptroller also has a legitimate history with the topic -- he chaired the City Council Transportation Committee and convened several public hearings about the Staten Island Ferry before he became comptroller.

Liu's office argues that three "Molinari Class" vessels, which were put into service in 2005 and 2006, have been dysfunctional and have generated significant cost overruns. Liu also said he's not convinced that the city's Department of Transportation has any long-term plan to address this ongoing problems, which he says continue to impact commuters and waste public money.

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C.S. Muncy

Occupy Wall Street roared back to life yesterday, as protesters marched and attempted to re-occupy Zuccotti Park. They were met by police who closed the park and violently arrested occupiers. Head over to the account by the Voice's Nick Pinto, who was on the scene, along with photographer C.S. Muncy. In his piece, Pinto explains that "the day would become a sort of a condensed repetition of Occupy's history, as protesters marched, set up shop in Zuccotti Park, clashed with police, were arrested in significant numbers, and were ultimately re-evicted, as police forcefully dragged them from the public plaza and re-erected the barricades blocking off the park." As of 9:07 a.m. DCPI did not have a total number of arrests. [Runnin' Scared]

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www.academics.utep.edu

​If there's one things Staten Islanders love, it's prescription drugs. If there's another thing Staten Islanders love, it's prescription drugs!

That's according to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who says the prescription drug abuse problem -- particularly with pain killers like hydrocodone -- in Staten Island has now achieved "crisis" status, as deaths from accidental overdoses has jumped nearly 150 percent since 2005.

"The prescription drug crisis on Staten Island has reached epidemic proportions, and it's time to take action before another tragedy strikes," Schneiderman says. 

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Right on the heels of the arrest of Comptroller John Liu's treasurer, another New York politician is wrapped up in some financial funny business. The Associated Press is reporting that the FBI is gathering information in order to decide whether to officially investigate the campaign fundraising of U.S. Representative Michael Grimm, a Republican from Staten Island. Grimm has faced increasing scrutiny since it was revealed that followers of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto -- who in total contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars Grimm's campaign 2010 -- admitted to donating illegally.

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