James S. Oddo: New Borough President Ready to Work Hard and Deliver Results

James S. Oddo, republican and former Council Member was sworn in as Staten Island’s new Borough President on January 1, 2014.

Borough President Oddo was born and raised in Dongan Hills, Staten Island, and bought his first house only a few blocks away from where he grew up. As the youngest of four boys, Oddo values the sacrifices his parents made. Oddo watched his father, a motorman, leave early and get home late to … <Read More>


Six BIDs increase budgets

Council authorized budget increases for BIDs in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens. On January 18, 2011, the City Council adopted a local law authorizing increases in the annual budgets of six business improvement districts in the City. The boards of directors of the Grand Central Partnership, the 24th Street Partnership and the 125th Street Partnership in Manhattan, the Fordham Road BID, and the Mosholu-Jerome-East Gun Hill Road BID in the Bronx, and the Bayside … <Read More>


City Island development seeks height waiver

Residents concerned that waiving height requirement would set bad precedent. On August 5, 2009, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on City Island Estates’ proposal to build a residential development at 226 Fordham Place on City Island. The 43-unit project, abutting the eastern shore of Long Island Sound, would be built on a 279,154 sq.ft. site and include 21 two-family detached homes and one single- family detached home. The plan called for building 17 of … <Read More>


Interior of Loew’s Paradise Theater landmarked

Landmarks approved designation for 1929 Art Deco “wonder theater.” The interior of Loew’s Paradise Theater, at 2405-2419 Grand Concourse in the Fordham area of the Bronx, was designated by Landmarks on May 16, 2006. The 1929 theater was designed by architect John Eberson, the inventor of what were called “wonder theaters” that featured artificial trees and birds and a machine that simulated clouds shifting on the ceiling. One of five such theaters built by Loew’s, … <Read More>