A group of activists gathered at Staten Island Borough Hall Monday afternoon to protest against a BJ’s Wholesale development currently being built on a portion of the Graniteville wetlands.

The group of about a dozen demonstrators, organized by Gabriella Velardi-Ward, the leader of the Staten Island Coalition of Wetlands and Forests, marched to the offices of Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) and State Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore) and called out the politicians for a perceived lack of action to protect the natural area from development, just weeks after construction prep that included the removal of trees began at the embattled site.

By Joseph Ostapiuk. Read the full article here.

The city Buildings Department (DOB) issued full vacate orders to four Mariners Harbor homes after it was discovered water damage from Hurricane Ida made cellar walls in the buildings structurally unstable.

Earlier Monday, the FDNY responded to Maple Parkway, near Spirit Lane, and evacuated a row of connected homes between 204 Maple Parkway and 188 Maple Parkway when firefighters observed significant water damage in the cellars of at least two of the homes.

DOB inspectors found “deflection at several load bearing walls in the cellars of the buildings, and it was determined that those cellar walls were no longer structurally stable,” said department spokesman Andrew Rudansky.

By Joseph Ostapiuk. Read the full article here.

The Graniteville Wetland located along South Avenue in Staten Island has been a point of contention for residents who do not want the BJs Wholesale Club project to go forward. This project would cut down about 1,800 trees, and destroy the wetland that people living in the area, environmental conservationists, scientists, and others have stated protects the local area from flooding.

The community, which is defined by the USEPA as an Environmental Justice Community, was not consulted prior to the green-lighting of the project by the NYS DEC, and a public hearing was said to be not warranted. This is despite the receipt by the DEC of 1,700 letters, from both community members and concerned citizens, scientists, and politicians from around the country. It is also despite the fact that the Census showed a population of less than 5,000 residents in the area, making the number of letters received over one third of the number of residents.

By Staten Islander News. Read the full article here.

A group of Staten Island residents concerned about climate change is challenging the project.

It is an unlikely centerpiece for a save-the-wetlands campaign: a patch of woods and swamps surrounded by strip malls and service roads on the densely populated, industrial northern shore of Staten Island. To nearby residents fighting to preserve it, the parcel is a bulwark against disaster. The 28 acres are part of a network of wetlands that in 2012 helped protect the area from the deadliest floods of Hurricane Sandy, which devastated New York City and killed 43 residents, more than half of them in Staten Island.

But the land’s developer has a different vision: a giant BJ’s Wholesale Club.

By Anne Barnard. Read the full article here.

Over the objections of residents and public officials, the state said it will issue a permit that will allow a developer to destroy 18 acres of wetlands forest near the north shore of Staten Island in order to build a BJ’s Wholesale Club and a gas station, as well as lay enough asphalt to park 835 cars.
 
By Alexis Sottile. Read the full article here.

The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation has approved a permit for the controversial BJ’s Wholesale Club development next to wetlands in Mariners Harbor. paving the way for its construction.

Before the 226,000-square-foot commercial development could be constructed, the DEC needed to approve the Article 24 Permit, which critics said would result in the destruction of 18 acres of woodlands.

Once constructed, the site will include a gas station, 838 parking spaces a supermarket and other retail.

“The State Department of Environmental Conservation granted us the permit because we met all of the State’s requirements for protecting the wetlands,” said the developer’s land use attorney Mitchell Korbey.

By Sydney Kashiwagi. Read the full article here.

Situated between the neighborhoods of Old Place and Graniteville, this 42-acre woodlands has been growing in isolation for many decades, inside a triangle of land surrounded by strip malls and chain stores. Thousands of mature trees live here, some soaring 100 feet over the adjoining marshes of the Graniteville Swamp. Soon, more than half of this forest may be bulldozed to make way for a 28-acre development that will include a gas station, 838 parking spaces, and BJ’s Wholesale Club.

By Nathan Kensinger. Read the full article here.

In this northwest corner of the Forgotten Borough, Velardi-Ward is one of dozens of Staten Islanders who have been waging a battle largely outside of the wider city spotlight, a stand against City Hall that they feel is a matter of life and death for the people who live in this part of the city.

By Alexis Sottile. Read the full article here.

After extensive surveys found there was no presence of an endangered turtle, a commercial development planned for a site next to a wetland area in Mariners Harbor has entered the public comment period.

Earlier this year, it was believed that the eastern mud turtle, which is on the New York State list of endangered species, may reside in the 534 South Ave. lot area — where there are plans to build 226,000 square feet of commercial space, which would house a BJ’s Wholesale Club, a gas station, a supermarket and other retail, and would include 838 parking spaces.

At the request of the Department of Conservation (DEC), developer Manhattan-based Josifa LLC conducted a survey of the species and found no evidence of the presence of the eastern mud turtle at the site.

By Annalise Knudson. Read the full article here.

During Superstorm Sandy, low-lying areas like Canarsie, Red Hook and Midland Beach were among the worst hit but some neighborhoods escaped with the help of their local wetlands, which serve as a natural defense against storm surges. In the northwest corner of Staten Island some residents have been fighting to preserve their wetland site from an impending development sanctioned by City Council in 2017.

All but one Council member voted in favor of a retail project that would place a BJ’s store, gas station and a parking lot on top of several wetlands in the Mariners Harbor neighborhood.

By Avery Miles. Read the full article here.