iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

When breast cancer turned their lives upside down just a year apart, Tammy Leyden, 53, and Dr. Caryn Siegel Finley, 52, had something that made a difficult experience a little less lonely: They had each other.

silive.com

Staten Island breast cancer survivors create group to support women and promote early detection

These Staten Island best friends have built a community, Breastie Friends Forever, so no one has to face breast cancer alone.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Wading through waist-high water in the darkened lobby of the World Trade Center’s North Tower, Lorna Wilson saw a small patch of light in the distance. It was her way out. “I promised God while I was in that building that if you save me, I will serve you,” Wilson said.

silive.com

This Staten Islander escaped the North Tower on 9/11, then devoted her life to a special promise of ‘giving back’

“I promised God while I was in that building that if you save me, I will serve you,” said Lorna Wilson, who escaped the North Tower on Sept. 11, 2001.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

When American Airlines Flight 11 struck the World Trade Center’s North Tower at 8:46 a.m., FDNY companies were dispatched to Lower Manhattan, but no one yet understood the magnitude of what was unfolding. www.silive.com/news/2026/09...

silive.com

Last Rescue 5 firefighter from the 9/11 era remembers the 11 Staten Island brothers who never came home

Jo Jo Esposito recounts the devastating losses he suffered on 9/11, and how he turned survivor’s guilt into a mission to support families and keep the fallen firefighters’ legacies alive.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

“Why us? ...We have access to healthcare. We have access to preventative medicine...Why us? To this day, my question is why,” said Donna Gerstle, principal investigator of the Staten Island Breast Cancer Research Initiative.

silive.com

‘Why us?’ The question that haunts Staten Island’s breast cancer survivors

A study found that women who spent their puberty years on Staten Island were 70% more likely to die of breast cancer than women who did not.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

In the coming months, a team of Advance/SILive.com reporters will dig deeper into Staten Island’s cancer rates — examining environmental data, public health research, and expert insight to better understand what may be driving these numbers. Share your story by emailing tips@siadvance.com.

silive.com

For Staten Islanders, cancer is more than statistics. We want to hear your story.

Across all cancers, Staten Island’s rate is 513.3 cases per 100,000 people — about 21% higher than the city average and significantly higher than any other borough.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Stapleton resident Jimmy Wright, 82, vividly remembers spending hot summer nights “hanging out” on the fire escape of his apartment building’s roof while growing up in Harlem in the 1940s and early 1950s. “That’s when Harlem was a real village, and everybody knew each other,” he recalled.

silive.com

At 82, this Staten Islander is still teaching and reflecting on a lifetime of change

His goal is simple: to inform audiences while sparking interest in writers and cultural figures audiences may not have encountered before.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Inside Port Richmond resident James Merlino’s growing collection of more than 7,000 artifacts is a version of Staten Island that rarely gets told — one built from relics from the past: a police log, a photograph, a chest of letters, a set of blueprints and so much more.

silive.com

A police log, a war camera, a ship captain’s chest: 5 Staten Island stories rediscovered

One of the oldest pieces in James Merlino’s collection is an 1897 logbook from the Richmond County Dragoons, a volunteer horseback police force that patrolled the borough in the late 19th century.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Glenda Laboard, 72, recalls the day her parents told her she was leaving her close-knit Rossville community, where her family had lived for decades, and moving to the Mariners Harbor Houses on the other side of the Island.

silive.com

She was forced to leave the Staten Island ‘village’ she loved. Now her daughter is fighting to preserve its history

"Church was the center of our village. Everything I knew began and ended there...I thank God for my ancestors keeping it alive."

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Brooklynite Amelia Vieira, 27, set out to walk the length of New York City - one borough at a time. The last leg of her tour was a 7-hour, 22-minute hike hike across Staten Island in early April. She took along fellow Brooklyn resident, Luke Fanous, 27, for the journey.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Unsafe steps, worn wooden pews, an antiquated sound system and a crumbling facade are among the challenges members face as they work to protect not only the landmark, but the life of the congregation rooted there.

silive.com

A nearly 200‑year‑old Staten Island community is calling on the public to help save it

The 35-member congregation has launched a fundraising campaign to repair its remaining buildings and expand the historic community.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

“I say titles change, but the work never changes...And I’m excited about what the next chapter will hold. Because when you’re on this mission, it’s your life’s work." www.silive.com/news/2026/03...

silive.com

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Upon taking the helm of the Pride Center of Staten Island last year, Agatha Vassallo put a plan in action to bridge the gap between the North and South shores of the borough. www.silive.com/news/2026/03...

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

“I have always envisioned Sandy Ground just like Richmond Town with people walking around in period clothing and talking about what life was like in the community in the 1800s.” www.silive.com/news/2026/03...

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

This story is part of an ongoing journalistic initiative to rally the community and the country around a critical, but endangered, historical site: Sandy Ground, the nation’s oldest free Black settlement still inhabited by descendants of its pioneers.

silive.com

‘It’s home’: Family says Staten Island church’s deeper value can’t be found in history books

Rossville Zion AME Church continues to serve community founded by free Black oystermen from Maryland in the 1800s.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

“We always have digital campaigns, but this one is focused on #passthepride, which is about how pride is not just May and June. Pride is every day of the year." www.silive.com/news/2026/02...

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

“My stepfather — who has raised me for as long as I can remember and who I consider my true father — was taken into custody...Early that morning, my sister called me, hysterical, that my father was detained," said the 22-year-old Port Richmond resident.

silive.com

Exclusive: Staten Island soldier’s immigrant dad detained by ICE: ‘I just want my father back’

“In that moment, I felt shock, anger, and disbelief. How could this be happening to my father in the very same country I proudly serve?”

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

At an end-of-year conference in June, senior Sara Velasquez Gomez, 18, told the assembled faculty how thankful she was to have graduated from Port Richmond High School after moving here from Colombia with her family.

silive.com

Her emotional graduation speech left 300 Staten Island teachers in tears. Now they’re fighting for this migrant’s freedom

The 18-year-old is "what everybody wants for their neighbor to be, and it breaks my heart," one supporter said.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

City officials have drawn up new rules to make basement apartments legal in New York City. This allows what has often been referred to as “mother/daughter” homes to be made into legal two-family residences.

silive.com

NYC unveils rules for basement apartment legalization pilot program

“For too long, too many New Yorkers have been forced into dangerous basement and cellar set ups just to find a place to live."

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

When Westerleigh resident Patricia Brooks, 70, found mounds of groceries on her doorstep after a story in the Advance/SILive.com detailed her struggle to buy food during the U.S. government shutdown, she was overcome with emotion.

silive.com

Staten Island woman’s plight touches hearts, leads to outpouring of support during SNAP crisis

Due to the government shutdown, SNAP payments have been cut and delayed.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

The moment it was announced that Zohran Mamdani was elected as the first Muslim mayor of New York City, Abdullah Akl says he finally could identify with a leader who looked like himself.

silive.com

Staten Island Muslim community reacts to Mamdani’s historic mayoral victory

The self-described Democratic Socialist has led an energetic, grassroots campaign focused on affordability.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Westerleigh resident Patricia Brooks, 70, loves oranges. But these days, oranges can be pricey, especially when she has to budget her entire month’s food shopping bill to just a little over $200, which is what she receives through the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

silive.com

Retired Staten Islander struggles to feed herself and pet amid SNAP cuts and delays

"When you run out of butter, milk and eggs, that’s hard to get in a pantry."

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

After writing this story in 2017, I like to post it every year to remind women to get their yearly Mammo during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

silive.com

Why should you get a mammography? It saved my life; it could save yours.

Advance Staffer Tracey Porpora says she was, "One of the lucky ones."

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

After the release of alleged comments made in a text thread among some of the nation’s top young GOP leaders, including at least three Staten Islanders, the Richmond County Republican Party condemned the alleged hate speech in the chat.

silive.com

Staten Island GOP condemns hate speech in Young Republican leaders’ text thread

“Their views do not represent the values of our Republican Party or the residents of our community."

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

After the release of alleged comments made in a text thread among some of the nation’s young Republican leaders, including two from Staten Island, the Richmond County Democratic Party is demanding an end to hate speech.

silive.com

Staten Island Democrats call on GOP to address alleged hate speech in leaked texts

'It is tragic that this type of speech appears to be commonplace among the next generation of Republican leaders," said Assemblymember Charles D. Fall.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

As much as any other issue, such as transportation, cost of living, and affordable housing, debates over the remaining Christopher Columbus statues in the city are a sticking point for the mayoral candidates.

silive.com

NYC’s Columbus statues have become an unexpected flashpoint in the city’s heated mayoral race

Columbus has become a controversial figure due to his treatment of Indigenous peoples, including acts of violence and enslavement.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

As Bay Terrace resident Marylu Hegazy embraced her daughter, Leila, 35 -- who was wearing only prison sandals and pajamas given to her by the Jordanian government -- in JFK Airport in Queens, she breathed a sigh of relief.

silive.com

S.I. mom recounts daughter’s detention by Israel during Gaza aid mission: “I was terrified, but I am so proud of her.”

Bay Terrace resident Marylu Hegazy embraced her daughter, Leila, 35, in JFK Airport in Queens after she was detained in an Israeli prison.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

It’s likely Ann Perine lay awake in her bed at night, nervously listening to the banter among the many British soldiers who occupied her white, stone- and wood-framed 17th century farmhouse during the Revolutionary War.

silive.com

This Staten Island home, still standing today, played a pivotal role in the Revolutionary War

“It’s so uncommon in a metropolis like ours, to have houses from that period of our history still standing, still in the original location."

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

The daylighting bill, officially known as Intro 1138, is a proposed piece of legislation that seeks to improve street safety by banning parking within 20 feet of crosswalks at intersections. Its goal is to decrease the number of pedestrian deaths in the city.

silive.com

Community board opposes ‘daylighting’, fears loss of 49,000 parking spaces on Staten Island

The daylighting bill seeks to improve street safety by banning parking within 20 feet of crosswalks at intersections.

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

President Donald Trump on Monday promoted an unproven and in some cases completely discredited link between Tylenol and autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and intellectual disabilities.

silive.com

Acetaminophen safety during pregnancy: What to know after Trump’s Tylenol claims

“Suggestions that acetaminophen use in pregnancy causes autism are not only highly concerning to clinicians, but also irresponsible..."

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

This year, the parade organizers, the Richmond County St. Patrick’s Parade Committee, organized the borough’s very first inclusive parade to celebrate Irish heritage. And for their efforts, the committee was honored with the first Circle of Pride Award.

silive.com

‘Together, we made history’: Staten Island St. Patrick’s Parade Committee honored by Pride Center

"The streets were filled with support, love and celebration—not just of Irish heritage, but of inclusion and community."

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Tracey Porpora @traceyporpora.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Gov. Kathy Hochul is demanding the Trump Administration uphold permits already granted for off-shore wind projects in New York amid the president’s decision to pull funding for such projects.

silive.com

N.Y. Gov. Hochul demands Trump Administration uphold off-shore wind permits

"Efforts to walk back these commitments jeopardize hardworking families, wasting years of progress and ceding leadership to foreign competitors."

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