SI 350 Launches Book Celebrating Staten Island 4/12

On Tuesday evening, April 12th, SI 350 will officially launch Discovering Staten Island: A 350th Anniversary Commemorative History, a 224-page book filled with facts and photos about Staten Island's people and places and the interesting stories they have to tell. The launch party will be sponsored by Lou Mannarino and will take place in his Little Shop Studios at 864 Post Avenue (Staten Island), from 7 to 9 PM.

It will be a night filled with stories about Staten Island, as told by the people who have lived them. Several of the book's authors and contributors will be partying right alongside the guests and will be available to personalize the new book for all those who have purchased a copy.

Admission to the launch party is free, but reservations are required. To make reservations, please send an e-mail to: info@si350.org. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served. The commemorative video and book will be available for purchase throughout the evening.

Published by The History Press, Discovering Staten Island can be purchased for $19.99 at www.historypress.net and is also available at Historic Richmond Town's gift shop. Funded by a generous grant from the Richmond County Savings Foundation, the book's publishing is one of the principal undertakings of SI 350, a year-long celebration of the Island's 350th anniversary.

The book features welcome letters by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Borough President James P. Molinaro, and is divided into 12 chapters, each representing one of SI 350's monthly themes: Transportation, Education and Health, Business and the Economy, Ethnicity and Immigration, Food and Drink, the Arts, Sports, Environment, Civic and Political Life, Architecture, Military History, and Religion.

As one of the five boroughs of New York City, Staten Island has a rich and colorful past, and is full of places where people have shaped the city, state and nation. In publishing Discovering Staten Island, local community leaders and educators have gathered together an unprecedented collection of Staten Island stories. "This little island in the bay of New York is a very special place," writes Borough Historian Thomas Matteo in the preface. "It has given birth to and attracted to its shores many famous people from all walks of life." Readers will walk in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin, Susan B. Anthony, Langston Hughes, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and the Dalai Lama; visit Revolutionary War sites; relive the entrepreneurial drive and inventiveness of business and medical pioneers; and imagine the lives of Irish, Norwegian, Italian, Sri Lankan and Liberian immigrants.

Staten Island's shores are awash in history, from Lenape trails to Dutch and French farms, from the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company to legendary sports figures and quaint historic districts. Their struggles, hardships, triumphs and achievements, in spectacular and everyday Staten Island locations, are brought to life in vivid detail for all those who enjoy the new book.

"This guidebook encourages readers, whether tourists or residents of New York City, whether born here or off-Island, to rethink and rediscover the many fascinating places on Staten Island, and in so doing, to understand better its place in the history of New York City, the region and the world," write Lori R. Weintrob and Kenneth M. Gold, the book's editors. "We emphasize the unique past of each neighborhood, organization and business listed, but also the astonishing ways in which they connect to major themes in American and global history and join us to each other."

For additional information regarding SI 350 and the many interesting events that will take place during Staten Island's 350th Anniversary year, please visit www.si350.org.