Latest news with #StatenIsland
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Teenager leaps to death from busy NYC ferry after leaving haunting final message for family
A New York City teenager leaped to his death off the side of the Staten Island Ferry after leaving a haunting final message to his family. Brandon Pino, 17, of Staten Island, was spotted jumping off the busy ferry around 9:45am on Saturday as the boat was approaching Whitehall Terminal in Manhattan. A witness told the ferry crew about the teen's leap after it docked in Manhattan. The Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School senior had visited his uncle around 7am before taking the 9:30am ferry from St. George Ferry Terminal to Manhattan, his sister, Cathleen Pino, 27, told The New York Daily News. The suicide attempt came after Brandon posted on Instagram, announcing to his followers that it was 'my last day on earth.' 'And then he also made a post about mental health awareness. Hashtag mental health awareness,' the distraught mother said. The young teen was also texting a group of friends prior to jumping overboard, worrying them. 'In one of those messages he wishes his friends a farewell, telling them to stay true to themselves and that he loves them,' Cathleen said. 'And then he sent a picture that he was on the ferry, on the outer part of the ferry, looking towards the water.' Police called for a search for Brandon, but the search ended around 6pm on Saturday. Despite that, the family has continued to search for the student. 'We're doing our own search with family members,' she told the outlet. 'We are going along Jersey City, Battery Park, Brooklyn, just looking around the borders. 'We've gone on Governors Island yesterday [Sunday] and we're doing it again today [Monday].' The family is hoping to at least find Brandon's body to allow his mother to have a proper burial for her son. 'We want help to see if there can be more attention, so to see if they can actually do at least a recovery, for my mom to get some type of closure,' she shared. The family has contacted local hospital in hopes of learning Brandon survived the jump after a radio transmission stated 'he was swimming' after the fall, according to the Staten Island Advance. Prior to Saturday, Brandon had been acting normally and even seemed happier than usual, Cathleen told The Daily News. 'It seems very odd because he was being himself, which was eating, cooking for himself, cooking his healthy food, going to the gym, going to school early, being there for his graduation practice,' she said. 'His friends told me that they had seen that he was more happy than usual at school lately.' However, like many teens, Brandon worried about his body and had told friends he felt pressure to 'be a certain weight or look a specific way,' Cathleen said. has reached out the Pino family and NYPD for comment. A day before, a 15-year-old girl who was not identified allegedly jumped into the East River near Roosevelt Island, vanishing around lunchtime, according to NBC New York. She was last seen wearing a floral bathing suit while sitting on rocks near the water, The Daily News reported. Officers found a bag with books, a jacket, and sneakers near the water that they believe belonged to the girl. Both teens remain missing as of Tuesday morning.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Stricken NYC firefighter promoted in ‘very emotional' ceremony: ‘Meant so much to him'
It was an honor he'd been patiently waiting for. The FDNY — in an emotional ceremony Thursday — promoted firefighter Mark Dziemian, who has been hospitalized since suffering cardiac arrest while responding to a two-alarm fire in Brooklyn on March 16. Dziemian's wife, Jackee, and their two children accepted the promotion to lieutenant on his behalf in a ceremony at the College of Staten Island. She said it was a moment her husband had been counting down to. 'Mark has been looking forward to this for so long,' Jackee said. 'He took the test in 2022, and becoming a lieutenant meant so much to him. 'It was really touching to look around the room to see FDNY firefighters and their families feeling what we're going through,' she said. FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker told The Post he was 'very emotional' during the event, adding that Dziemian was due for the title change. 'This was a civil service promotion, and there was no question in my mind that we wanted to promote him when we reached his number, and the mayor was incredibly supportive of that as well,' Tucker said. Dziemian's wife and children, Sophia, 4 years old, and Michael, 8 months, received a long standing ovation as they walked across the stage to accept his new rank. 'I'd be surprised if there were a dry eye in that room that was filled with a lot of tough people,' Tucker said. 'It was exactly how I wanted his wife and family to see how we feel about her, her family, and Mark.' During his career, Dziemian has served the FDNY in various capacities, including representing the department in the ceremonial unit at funerals, flag raisings, and other formal events. Tucker said Dziemian's friends and coworkers have been a constant source of support for his family since his medical emergency. 'Anytime a firefighter or EMT or a paramedic or frankly anybody in the FDNY gets injured in the line of duty, it is a profound event,' Tucker said. 'It is something that we all respond to.' Dziemian, who works out of Engine 217 in Bushwick, grew up in Maspeth, Queens, attended St. Adalbert Elementary School in Elmhurst, Queens, played multiple sports at Xavier High School and studied theater and visual arts at Fordham University. He followed in the footsteps of his cousin, Walter, and became an EMT. A chance meeting with former Assistant Commissioner of Communications Stephen Gregory inspired him to join the FDNY. 'Mark is an exemplary firefighter that I considered like a fourth son,' said Gregory, whose family has four generations on the job. 'I had my dad's lieutenant's badge put aside for Mark so that he will receive badge #1207.' A proud Polish American, Dziemian is the president of the FDNY's Pulaski Association, a charitable organization of firefighters with Polish and other Slavic roots. On March 1, two weeks before Dziemian's injury, he was proud to report that the Pulaski Association's annual dinner dance raised $1,500 for the Children's Smile Foundation, which helps kids in need, as well as $5,000 for the NYC Firefighters Burn Center Foundation, which sends childhood burn victims to summer camp. Dziemian – a Middle Village resident who turned 41 years old in the hospital on March 29 – encouraged his lifelong friend, Mariusz Jastrzebski, who owns Syrena Bakery in Greenpoint, to sponsor the Pulaski Association. 'Being Polish American with parents who came from Poland, he wanted to use his heritage and being a firefighter for good in the community,' Jastrzebski said. 'Now, I'm in awe of how the FDNY and the community have stepped up for his family.' Dziemian was taken to Wycoff Heights Medical Center in Bushwick immediately after the cardiac incident but was transferred to Lenox Hill that same night. After relocating again to North Shore University Hospital on Long Island, Dziemian is 'fighting to recover' at the Rusk Rehabilitation Center in Manhattan, where his wife is driven daily by FDNY members. As Dziemian battled his injuries, his mother, Agnes, succumbed to cancer March 27. His father, Eugene, passed away in March 1998. Jackee Dziemian says it's hard to describe the outpouring of support from the FDNY Family Assistance Unit, the Uniformed Firefighters Association, and the medical teams caring for her husband. On Saturday, friends, family and fellow firefighters watched as the FDNY Marine Unit paid tribute to Dziemian with a water demonstration of boats along the East River. More than 615 tickets have been sold for a 'tailgate benefit' scheduled for before the Mets game June 11 at Citi Field. A GoFundMe page started to help ease the financial strain on Dziemian's family raised nearly $50,000 in two days. 'This is who Mark is,' Jackee Dziemian said. 'If this happened to anybody else, he'd be out theresupporting them.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Teen posted Instagram farewell before leaping from Staten Island Ferry: family
A 17-year-old high school senior left a goodbye note on Instagram and said farewell to his friends via group text before jumping off the Staten Island Ferry, his distraught sister said Sunday. The NYPD has been searching the waters of New York harbor for Brandon Pino since he jumped about 9:45 a.m. on Saturday as the ferry approached the southern tip of Manhattan, cops said. Brandon's sister Cathleen Pino reached out to the Daily News because her family hopes public attention will lead to her sibling's recovery. 'We're doing our own search with family members. We are going along Jersey City, Battery Park, Brooklyn, just looking around the borders,' said Cathleen, adding that she hasn't gotten any updates from authorities. 'We've gone on Governors Island yesterday and we're doing it again today.' Brandon, a senior at Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School on Staten Island, went to his uncle's house on Staten Island about 7 a.m. on Saturday, then headed for the 9:30 a.m. boat from the St. George Ferry Terminal, not telling anyone, his sister said. 'He had posted on his Instagram,' she said. 'It was saying, 'My last day on Earth.' And then he also made a post about mental health awareness. Hashtag mental health awareness,' his sister said. He was texting a group of friends, who started getting increasingly worried, just before he jumped overboard, she said. A witness notified the ferry crew after it docked in Manhattan, she said. Police searched the waters, but called off the search at about 6 p.m., the sister said. Brandon lived with his mom and two older sisters in Port Richmond, and his nieces and nephews looked up to him because of his commitment to fitness. 'His friends told me that they had seen that he was more happy than usual at school lately,' Cathleen said. 'And it seems very odd because he was being himself, which was eating, cooking for himself, cooking his healthy food, going to the gym, going to school early, being there for his graduation practice.' Still, she said, his friends said he'd express worries about his body, 'to be a certain weight or look a specific way.' One of his classmates had recently died by suicide, she added. 'We want help to see if there can be more attention, so to see if they can actually do at least a recovery, for my mom to get some type of closure, so she can bury her son,' she said.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Guy Klucevsek, Multi-Genre Accordion Virtuoso, Is Dead at 78
Guy Klucevsek, a masterly accordion player who developed an eclectic body of work for his beloved, if sometimes mocked, instrument that expanded its repertoire well beyond polkas and other traditional fare, died on May 22 at his home on Staten Island. He was 78. His wife and only immediate survivor, Jan (Gibson) Klucevsek, said the cause was pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer. Praise for Mr. Klucevsek (pronounced kloo-SEV-ek) typically noted that he had elevated the profile of the accordion beyond the realms of beer halls and 'The Lawrence Welk Show.' Writing in The Village Voice in 2015 about a series of performances by Mr. Klucevsek in the East Village, Richard Gehr noted that, 'having mastered the instrument in virtually all of its classical, modern, jazz and international manifestations,' Mr. Klucevsek 'has extended it into another dimension altogether.' He recorded more than 20 albums, composed dozens of pieces and commissioned others, in multiple genres. He accompanied the performance artist Laurie Anderson on her 1994 album, 'Bright Red,' and collaborated with the dancer Maureen Fleming on 'B. Madonna,' a 2013 multimedia piece based on the myth of Persephone. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Staten Island's 'Classic Pizza' Brand Is Ending After 36 Years
A beloved pizza brand is ending after 36 years in business. It's called "Classic Pizza," and the restaurant chain was located in Staten Island, NY. For a time, the brand was growing with four other restaurants, but now it's coming to an end as the family moves on. According to SiLive, the owners are the "creators of a stellar 'Pizza Rustica' and the last stewards of the 'Classic Pizza' brand," which was well-known in Staten Island. The brand was a Rocchio family legacy that spanned two generations, the site reported. The original owners were Pat and Patricia Rocchio. The Staten Island restaurant on Richmond Road is closing on Father's Day weekend, bringing an end to the family's "pizza legacy," the news site reported. According to SiLive, at its height, the Classic Pizza brand was growing, as it "was part of a small local empire, with four locations run by fellow family members." On June 16, the pizza restaurant will switch ownership and will be called Pizza Mia, SiLive reported. "Classic Pizza was established in 1989. It is family-operated and has been doing great things for its neighborhood. We offer a variety of different pizzas and go above and beyond to satisfy our customers," the restaurant's website says. The restaurant was being run by Brandon Rocchio, who is stepping aside due to health concerns, according to SiLive. "Step into a world where every slice tells a story, where each bite is a journey through the flavors of Italy. At Classic Pizza, we've perfected the art of crafting pizzas that stand the test of time," the restaurant's website promises. "Classic pizza is by far the best pizza on Staten Island! I come all the way from New Jersey to bring home three pies every weekend," a customer testimonial reads on the Island's 'Classic Pizza' Brand Is Ending After 36 Years first appeared on Men's Journal on May 31, 2025
