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Thursday, May 10, 2012

Staten Island grandmother reaches 80,000 Twitter followers

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The borough's Twitter queen, 80-year-old Josephine Lamberti, has reached 80,000 followers on the popular social networking site. Last time we heard from the Prince's Bay grandmother -- better known as @J_Dimps on Twitter -- she was stuck on 74,000 followers.


"I'm so excited that I achieved my goal, and this proves no matter who you are, anything is possible if you believe," said Mrs. Lamberti, before adding: "I'm not going to stop now ... it's time to go for a million!!!"
She has plans for some new YouTube videos,
which she says will feature some of the celebrities she has connected with, including Missy Elliott and Rihanna. Last week, she attended "Saturday Night Live" as a guest of Rihanna, who performed on the show.

The homegrown YouTube.com sensation, who was put on to the wild world of Twitter by 25-year-old  grandson, Donny Brandefine, gained 6,000 Twitter followers since last Thursday.

She has been featured in People Magazine and The Advance/SILive for the past two weeks.



She also appeared on "The Insider" last night on CBS.
Among her top Tweets along her journey to 80k:
"Thank God for these wrinkles and fake teeth ... because guess what? It could be worse! Life is too short!
SMILE ya bums!" And this one: "Sometimes I wonder how I'm able to stay so sexy at my age of 80! My secret: Lots of red wine and meatballs!"



Source: SILive.com

Friday, May 4, 2012

5 Free Things To Do In New York






STATEN ISLAND FERRY: This humble, utilitarian boat takes commuters between Manhattan and Staten Island 24 hours a day, and it's free. It also offers classic views of the Statue of Liberty, harbor, and skyscraper canyons. Take the No. 1 subway to South Ferry or No. 4 or 5 to Bowling Green to board the boat on the Manhattan side. Be ready for crowds at rush hour and longer waits off-peak.








HIGH LINE: One of the city's newest attractions, the High Line has quickly become a favorite with out-of-towners and locals alike. It's a narrow park built on an old elevated freight railway along 10th Avenue on Manhattan's West Side, from Gansevoort Street, just below 14th Street, to 31st Street. It offers a unique look at the urban landscape from 30 feet above ground, with a peek at adjacent apartments, Hudson River views, vestiges of the neighborhood's industrial past — meatpacking plants, auto shops — as well as signs of a trendy rebirth: postmodern architecture, art installations and Diane von Furstenburg's DVF building. The northern half is more park-like with plantings, benches and birds.








BROOKLYN BRIDGE: When it opened in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was an engineering wonder, the longest suspension bridge in the world. It remains a beloved symbol on New York and an aesthetic triumph, with Gothic arches worthy of a cathedral and a delicate filigree of cables whose patterns change with every step along the mile-long walkway. Take the A or C train to High Street, Brooklyn, and walk back to Manhattan for the best skyline views.








CENTRAL PARK: Central Park is the city's communal backyard, a green space where New Yorkers can escape their small apartments to skate, bike, jog, picnic, push a stroller, walk a dog or climb a rock. Stroll the serpentine paths as dappled sunshine filters through the trees, and consider how well the park fulfills the goal of its 19th century designers, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who sought to create the illusion of nature in an urban environment.








TIMES SQUARE: A vibrant public space like no other, even better in person than it looks on TV. Plenty of things here to buy, of course, but the lights, sights and people-watching are free, 24 hours a day..

So if you come for a visit/vacation, you have got to check out all these great places. They are beautiful and don't forget, they are also free.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Notourious People From Staten Island

Notourious

Paul Castellano

Paul Castellano-Gambino Crime Boss, lived in the Todt Hill
community os Staten Island. Constanino Paul :Big Paul
Castellano was born (June 26, 1915 – December 16, 1985.
He was a Gambino crime boss and succeeded Carlo Gambino
as head of the Gambino crime family, which at the time, was the
nations largest Cosa Nostra family.
 The unsanctioned assassination of Castellano by John Gotti, would
spark years of animosity between the Gambinos and the other  
New York crime families.
 Castellano was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1915, to Giuseppe 
 Castellano and Concetta (née Casatu). Giuseppe was a butcher and
a early member of the Mangano crime family, the forerunner of the
Gambino crime family.

On December 16, 1985, both Castellano and Bilotti were murdered. 
That evening, Bilotti drove Castellano to the prearranged meeting  at the
Sparks Steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan. A hit team, all wearing white
trench coats and black Russian Ushanka hats,  was waiting near the
restaurant entrance. The hit team included  Gambino mobsters. Vincent 
Artuso, Salvatoie Scala,  Edward Lino, and John Cameglia. Positioned 
down the  street were backup shooters Domminick Pizzoria, Angelo 
Ruggeiero and Anthony Rampino Gotti and Gravano observed the
observed the  scene from a car across the street.
 Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano

Salvatore Gravano was born March 12, 1945) is a former underboss
of the Gambino crime family. He is known as the man who helped 
bring down John Gotti,  the family's boss, by agreeing to become a
 FBI government witness.
Originally a mobster for the Colombo crime family,  and later for the
Brooklyn  faction of the Gambinos, Gravano participated in the
conspiracy to murder Gambino  boss Paul Castellano. Gravano played 
 a key role in planning and executing Castellano's murder; other conspirators
included John Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero Frank DeCicco and Joseph Amone.
 After Castellano's death, Gotti elevated Gravano to underboss, a position
he held  at the time he became a government witness. At the time, Gravano 
 was the highest ranking member of the Five Families to break his Coso Nostra
oath and cooperate with the government. His testimony drew a wave of 
Coso Nostra  members to also become government witnesses.
 On November 11, 1991, federal prosecutors announced that Gravano became
a  cooperating government witness. Gravano would later testify against Gotti 
and  other high ranking mobsters in exchange for a reduced sentence. John Gotti
received a sentence of life imprisonment. As part of Gravano's cooperation 
agreement, he would never be forced to testify against his former crew.
  On September 26, 1994, a federal judge sentenced Gravano to five years in prison. 
 However, since Gravano had already served four years, the sentence amounted
 to less than one year. The judge said that Gravano's testimony against John Gotti
was the bravest thing he had ever seen.


On February 24, 2003, New Jersey state prosecutors announced they
would indict Gravano for ordering the 1980 murder by mobster Richard
Kukliński of NYPD detective Peter Calabro. Prosecutors later dropped
the charges when Kuklinski, the star witness,  died before he could testify.
Federal inmates who served time with Gravano claimed  that he privately 
admitted  to a role in the 1980 killing of a New York cop. Inmates also 
claimed  that Gravano bragged about killing many more than 19 people.
Since Gravano's imprisonment on drug charges, he has been diagnosed  
with with Graves' Disease and a Thyroid disorder which can cause
fatigue,  weight loss with increased appetite, and hair loss. Gravano
appeared at his drug trial missing hair on his head and eyebrows and appeared
 to have lost weight. In Phillip Carlo's book Confessions of a Mafia Boss, mobster
Anthony Gaspipe Casso,  also imprisoned at Florence, claims that Gravano only
ventures out of his cell to get food and that Casso has only seen him in the mess
hall a couple of times.  As of April 2012, Gravano is serving his sentence at
ADX Florence. He will not be eligible for release until he is 77 years old, and
will be on supervised release for the rest of his life after release.
. Jeb Stuart Magruder.

Jeb Stuart Magruder was born November 5, 1934 has had careers as a
businessman, civil servant,  political organizer, and Presbyterian minister.
He is also a published writer A Republican Magruder was the second official 
in the administration  of President Richard Nixon to plead guilty to charges
of involvement with events resulting in the first Watergate burglary  and the 
subsequent Watergate scandal  (the first being Fred LaRue.
Magruder, in his role with CRP, became involved with the Watergate matters
from an early stage, in many aspects of the planning, execution, and cover-up.
During April 1973, Magruder began cooperating with federal prosecutors.
In exchange, Magruder was allowed to plead guilty in August 1973 to a
one-count  indictment of conspiracy to obstruct justice, to defraud the
United States, and to illegally eavesdrop on the Democratic Party's national
headquarters at the Watergate Hotel. On May 21, 1974, Magruder was 
sentenced by John Sirica  to ten months to four years for his role in the failed
burglary of Watergate and the following cover-up. In the end,  he served just 
seven  months of his sentence (in a Federal prison in Allenwood Pa. 

After his sentencing, Magruder said, "I am confident that this country will survive 
its Watergates and its Jeb Magruders.   On 23 July 2007, he was hospitalized 
 after crashing his car into a motorcycle and a truck in Columbus. It was later 
reported that Magruder  suffered a stroke while driving. He was charged with 
 failure to maintain an assured clear distance and failure to stop after n accident
or collision.Magruder pleaded guilty in January 2008 to a charge of   reckless 
operation stemming from crashes with two vehicles in July. His license was 
suspended and he was fined $300.
How interesting is  this information, of Notorious men , and that they were
born or lived in Staten Island New York!