Tag: Staten Island

Likes? Kindness? Courtesy?

Can We Be Polite When We Comment on Social Media?

By Mitchell Slepian 

Positively and negatively, social media has impacted our lives. Even if you’re not active and don’t have any accounts, it has made changes for you. I have not posted on my Facebook wall in nearly six years. I do run several sites for the organizations I belong to. We get thousands of hits, comments, etc. It has helped us grow. We’ve gotten financial and other donations. Our social media efforts have helped drive our narrative.

I do post on a few fun sites. The top two are Coney Island and Staten Island Ferry Friends. Who doesn’t love Coney Island? It has it all – The Cyclone, Nathan’s, the NY Aquarium, the Polar Bears, the Wonder Wheel and more. Much more. I am originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. I spend a lot of time at Coney Island. Funny thing, I spend more time there now than when I lived in Brooklyn. Sadly, I only lived there for a few years.

The holy medicinal waters at Coney Island

As someone who grew up on Staten Island, I have taken my share of rides on that big orange boat. That boat has taken Staten Islanders to and from Manhattan since 1817. It has an annual ridership of 22 million.

I focus heavily on my photography at these locations. My posts get hundreds of likes and comments. One shot of the ferry has over 10,000 views. I do not live for “likes” on Facebook. I once had a dear friend who got upset when his posts didn’t get too many likes. Years ago (Feb. 3, 2017), I wrote a blog post titled “Do We Live for Likes?” It got a few views and likes. 

Deck on the Dorothy Day: Over 10,000 views and 600 likes

It is nice to see my images generate comments and memories. People bring up fun times they had riding the Cyclone, munching on that great hot dog at Nathan’s, or when they heard the man yell, “Shine, shine” on the ferry. Don’t forget the ferry preachers. It is fun.

But what I do not understand is why people must be nasty about the posts. For the record, the people on the Coney Island pages are so positive. There are those afraid of the Cyclone and mention the moments they freaked out on the drop and its twists and turns. I rode it on Mother’s Day. Mom watched while she held my Yankee hat. Once my old Yankee hat blew off on the Cyclone. I am still hoping to find it under the tracks. Who knows what probably tried to eat it? I love it when people comment about how they ran into the ocean in February during a snowstorm. More power to you. 

The Cyclone

For the most part, people on the ferry page are just as nice. But people need to be polite. I recently posted a shot of the Sandy Ground boat docking at St. George. In the shot, the deckhand is at the gate. One person commented, “He looks lost.” Another wrote, “gay.”

Deckhand Getting Ready for the Sandy Ground to Dock

I can understand why people attack how filthy the boat bathrooms are. They need to be cleaned. Or when they are shocked by how clean the decks look in the images I shot. Bear in mind, I usually take photos on weekend morning runs. The ferries would be dirtier if I shot them during rush hour. But why can’t people just either be nice or refrain from commenting? There’s no need to say mean things about the deckhands. I can understand a comment about a needless pitching change that cost the Yankees a game. This is just a guy doing his job. Let’s love the drop on the Cyclone, ride our ferry, have fun, and support it all.

SI Ferry

Bleach Monster, Part VI

Murray sailed the Staten Island Ferry with his brother-in-law, Robbie. This weekend was going to be a break from his usual life.  He had things to do on the old home front of Staten Island. He chatted with Robbie.  But he pretty much lost himself in reading material.

 

The boat sailed and they trekked to Robbie’s home via train and car.  It snapped back into Murray’s head how much he hated going to and from the Island.  It wasn’t a bad place to grow up. However, it was so damn inconvenient to travel to and from. Plus it is somewhat backward from the rest of the City.

 

But he was going to a farewell party and hitting his old health club in between.  Overall Murray was in a good place. He was back to handling his special powers well. His sister, Dani was doing well with hers. Danny was no longer getting bullied.  He was working hard to stop others from having this problem.

 

Murray had things to do. Dani was nice enough to lend him a car for the day or two he’d be on Staten Island.  As he jumped into the car his mind drifted back to his old days.  He thought of the crazies he hung out with then.  He wondered how different they are from the nut jobs he now spent his time with.

 

He had great pizza, worked out and slept in his mom’s house.  Next day he did similarly. Eventually, he made it over to the catering hall for the farewell party.  His closest friends were there. This party was a farewell to a place he grew up in.  It was being shut down and merged into another being.

 

Would it be a stronger one? Perhaps it would be.

 

Murray was wondering if this was the time to confront Dani about her powers. He knew she was trying to take a young lad under her wing to train him.

 

They were good friends as brother and sister. But he knew she wondered about him and how he’d control his powers.  He still had thoughts of going after the superficial people.  But back on his home base, he should be ok.

 

Everything was great. He was excited to walk into the party.  All of the people he grew up with were there. People came from all over the country to say goodbye.  Thankfully he got a ride home to Queens.

 

While at the party there were people he wanted to attack with bleach. They didn’t let the young kids, who the disbanding group was created for participate and lead the show. However, he took pictures, shook hands and ate lots of salmon.

 

Meanwhile, Dani was in the park with Tony the kid that got beat up a few weeks ago. She befriended his mom.  Dani was trying to figure out if he had any powers or if they could be created.  She saw Danny, the blubber boy and figured Tony may have potential.

 

But she had no idea how Murray fleshed out Danny’s magic.  She was struggling.  She got so hyped up. That was very unusual for her.  She ran off into the woods and shot out wine.  She was not in control.

 

After spraying the trees she sat on a rock and fell asleep for a few minutes. It was during this time that she figured out what to do with Tony.  But she had to break him apart from his mom.  She wasn’t going to take him away or hurt him.

 

But she saw how dependent he is on his mom. She knew if he was going to be strong he had to be independent.   What powers he could have were still open.

 

The park was quiet. Most people were relaxing. There were baseball and soccer games being played.  Little kids were on the see-saws and monkey bars.  The ice cream truck rolled in. People ran out to go get their cones and went back to what they were doing. All was well.

 

As the day got later people started leaving.  Dani looked up at the sky and saw that a storm was brewing. She grabbed Audrey and put her into the car. She said goodbye to Tony and his mom, Elise.

 

There were dramatic changes in the weather.  Tony was getting drenched on the way to the car with his mom.  The water was dragging him down.  But somehow he was fighting it. He was never a fighter. But since he got beaten up and then rescued by Dani he decided to work out a little. He was still a little kid. But he was getting stronger.

 

He struggled.  Elise was running after him. He was toughing it out. He almost got sucked down into a sewer.  But he managed to jump away from it.  He was soaking wet. Elise was screaming for him. He heard his mom’s screams. But knew he had to keep running. He got to the car and turned his head. Mom was only a few feet away.

 

His clothes were soggy. His feet were full of water. Elise, who was just as drenched as her son, helped him into the car. She pulled away.

 

Tony was shivering. But he was proud of his mad dash to the car. Elise was cruising down Amboy Road. The weather was clearing up.  A truck smacked into Elise’s Maxima.  She and Tony bounced around a little. However, they were ok.

 

They got out of the car and were ready to call the police and input the trucker’s info into the iPhone so they can call the insurance company. The truck driver was walking with a limp. It looked like he broke his foot. He came after them wielding an ax and screaming.  It turns out he has a bad safety record and this was his trial trip to see if he’d maintain his employment.

 

Elise threw her arms around Tony. But he broke free. He ran toward the trucker.  Elise screamed at him. Tony started waving his arms and kicking his feet up and down.  Elise was crying.

 

As the tears rolled out of her eyes, gusts of water shot out of Tony’s knees. The trucker was knocked 15 feet away. The ax flew out of his hands. Tony ran over to him and tied him up. 911 was dialed the police came and took the report about the accident. No one mentioned Tony’s heroics.

 

The trucker was handcuffed and carted off to a mental hospital for evaluation. They did a DWI test. He tested sober. The accident was likely due to weather. His ax-wielding was likely because of his fears of getting canned. That was in the police report. But the man couldn’t speak a complete sentence and seemed clinically insane.

 

Murray and Dani were stepping behind Tony.