Meet Margarita Santiago

 

Why Staten Island?
Staten Island is home. All I need is right here on the island.

How long have you been living on Staten Island?
I’ve been on Staten Island all of my life. I moved away to Florida for four years and when I felt it was time to move back to New York, I chose to return to Staten Island.

Pros and Cons to living on Staten Island as a Latina.
I love living on Staten Island, because it offers a quiet, affordable living while remaining close to Brooklyn, Manhattan and New Jersey. Staten Island has just about everything that you need shopping, dining, recreational activities, great doctors and schools. It is also the safest borough with the lowest crime rate.
The one big con of living in Staten Island, as a Latina, is that the Latino presence isn’t felt. There are some areas on S.I. that gives you a small taste of our culture, but the majority of the island does not cater to our culture. There are so many Latino’s here on the island but we don’t see each other because we don’t have activities and groups that can bring us together.

If you could change anything about Staten Island, what would it be?
I believe that the biggest problem on S.I. is the over population of the island. I remember being a little girl on S.I. and anywhere I turned there was open, lush spaces with trees and green pastures. Now I look to those areas and I see blocks of townhomes. The development of townhomes on S.I. has gotten out of hand and it has affected the traffic, schools and ability to purchase a home on S.I. The one other thing I would love to bring to Staten Island would be a greater presence of our culture. We could use a “fritura” spot on the island for starters…lol

Do you have any favorite things to do on the isle that you recommend?
I love the beach! I especially love rollerblading and running on the boardwalk. I would recommend a day at the beach regardless of the weather.We have some wonderful parks to spend the day at. A few are Clove Lakes, Silver Lake, Gateway and Wolfe’s Pond Parks. They are spread all over the island offer a variety of recreational activities for the entire family. A day at the Staten Island Zoo, The Staten Island Botanical Gardens, or the Chocolate Candy Factory will wear you out so pack your energy for those trips. The Showplace Bowling alley has been renovated and is a great to bowl a couple of games. If dancing is more up to your speed, there are Salsa dance classes being offered at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Saturdays for all levels. I tell you from experience, it’s a great way to get your Saturday going. There are some wonderful restaurants to dine at on S.I., Carmen’s and Italianissimo being two of my favorite. My newest discovery is the Museaum of Tibetian Art located at Lighthouse Hill. It’s a small but beautiful place. In the spring the meditation garden has an amazing view.

Tell us about your 2007 goals.
One of the goals I’ve already begun preparing for is winning the title of Ms. Galaxy 2007. There’s a lot of preparation ahead of me to get to the nationals so that will take up most of my time. I will also be concentrating on the entertaining aspect of my career. I’ve got a few projects on the way and a couple of classes that I would like to attend. I’d also like to pick up a lot more volunteer work in my community. I’ve had the honor of working with the great organizations like American Diabietes Association and Tuesday’s Children and would love to continue that work.

What is your greatest accomplishment?
Living life is my greatest accomplishment. I was in a near fatal car accident less than two years ago and instead of wallowing in misery, which would’ve been the easy thing to do, I chose to live instead. I was able to turn that experience into a positive one, and appreciate the miracle of my life. The experience put my whole being through the test, and it showed me exactly what I am made of. Being able to come through that experience with a positive outlook was the greatest accomplishment for me.

Envoy offers pledge of help to Island’s Mexican community

Envoy offers pledge of help to Island’s Mexican community

The nation’s consul general of the tri-state region makes his first official visit here.

Thursday, January 18, 2007
By DEBORAH YOUNG
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER

More than 50 members of Staten Island’s Mexican community packed El Centro de Hospitalidad, Port Richmond, last night, eager to welcome their new consulate to the borough.

Consul General of the tri-state region Jose Evaristo Ramon Xilotl Ramirez made his first official visit to the Island since taking the office in May — addressing borough residents who arrived straight from work or brought their children along to meet the man who is the conduit to their homeland and can help ease their transition into life in these United States.

“I want to help you with your hopes and wishes and so you and your children are successful,” he said in Spanish to the crowd, encouraging them that the path to the American Dream begins with education.

He said he is working to expand options for higher education for youngsters who spent most of their lives in this country but were born abroad.

While most colleges require a Social Security number for admission, City University of New York will accept students without documentation and will not charge international student rates with proof of at least one year’s residency in the city, Ramirez said.

Although foreign-born students cannot obtain financial aid through the U.S. government, he said Bank of America has launched a new program with the consulate to provide scholarships and other options to students who have the desire to go to college but cannot afford it.

Also new for Staten Island, he said, was a preliminary promise from the New York City Police Department — conveyed via the office of immigrant affairs — to send more bilingual police officers to the borough.

“Staten Island has its own issues, different than Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx,” said Ramirez, recognizing that even making the trip to the Manhattan consulate for Islanders can be difficult.

The system has been streamlined so people can schedule appointments, rather than waiting in long lines to receive identification cards, passports or other services.

“We are aware of that,” he said.

According to the U.S. Census Community Survey, there were nearly 10,000 Mexicans on Staten Island in 2006, nearly double the number counted in 2000.

The Mexican community in the borough is the fastest-growing in the city.

As the population has grown, so has the need for infrastructure to help Spanish speakers in a borough that, until the new arrivals, had a relatively small Hispanic population compared to the other four boroughs.

Deborah Young is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at young@siadvance.com.

Island Hispanics Living American Dream

More are buying homes and building equity instead of renting
Sunday, December 31, 2006
By KAREN O’SHEA
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

Fernando and Maria Moreno are not surprised to learn that they are part of the fastest-growing segment of the home buying population on Staten Island.

Census data show the number of Hispanic homeowners in the borough jumped 57.3 percent from 2000 to 2005, from 6,045 to 9,509 homeowners — at a faster rate than all other minority groups and white buyers.

Mexican immigrant Fernando Moreno, a construction worker, and his wife Maria rented for 15 years before purchasing their first home in Port Richmond last year with the help of Neighborhood Housing Services of Staten Island.

Moreno and other Latino home buyers believe rising rents along with the ubiquitous American desire to own a home are the catalysts prompting more Hispanics to buy. The number of Hispanic renters in the borough grew at a slower pace than home buyers, with a 38 percent increase in renters here from 2000 to 2005.

“I know a lot of Mexican people buying houses,” said Moreno, who said he’s paying more than when he was renting but he also has more security and is building equity with his new home, which cost $365,000.

Bernardo Perez, a Brooklyn resident who will close on his first home next month in Dongan Hills, agreed.

“You pay $1,500 just for the rent and whatever you are paying is going into a hole. Even if you pay a $3,000 mortgage, in five or four years, you have something of your own,” said Perez, a grocery store manager who found his home through Century 21 Safari Realty in West Brighton.

GROWING POWER

Safari Realty owner Fran Reali has recognized the growing buying power of Hispanics for several years, and in 2001, she reached out to Banco Popular to host a home buyer workshop for first-time Hispanic buyers. At the time, Mrs. Reali said the Latino home buying population here seemed “unnoticed or unserviced.”

Today, she said, that has changed, with more agencies hiring brokers who can speak Spanish. While her office does not track the ethnicity of its clients, she said it’s natural for Hispanic home buyers to increase as the Latino population here continues to jump.

The Hispanic population on Staten Island skyrocketed by 77 percent between 1990 and 2000, according to the Census Bureau. Hispanics represent the largest minority group on Staten Island today, with Latinos making up at least 13.7 percent of the borough’s population in 2002.

Forty-four percent of all Hispanic households in the borough are owned.

“We are the largest growing group on Staten Island and we come prepared,” said Carmen Gravagna, vice president of the Latino Civic Association on Staten Island.

She attributes much of the jump in homeownership to Hispanics tapping into educational opportunities and moving up the financial ladder, as other immigrant groups have done.

“You save, you work, you buy — everybody wants the American dream,” she said.

FOLLOWING THE DREAM

Mexican immigrants Fernando and Maria Moreno, both 39, followed that path.

They moved to the United States 15 years ago, saved for years and attended home buying classes at NHS of Staten Island before buying their first home last year.

Through the West Brighton-based nonprofit, they received an $18,400 federal home grant and an additional $21,540 in state funding to buy a home. They put the money toward a downpayment and closing costs for their two-family home.

While they are not U.S. citizens, the Morenos were able to purchase a home because they are legal immigrants with sufficient income and green cards, said Maria Garcia, a home ownership counselor with NHS who helped the Morenos obtain their loan.

Ms. Garcia said others are not so lucky. She said in some immigrant families one relative may have a green card but not the income, while the person making enough money to buy a house does not hold a green card.

Salvatore Prividera Jr., a spokesman for the New York State Association of Realtors, said fair housing laws prevent Realtors from tracking home buyers based on race, but he said the industry is seeing a variety of trends in the home-buying population today.

Prividera said a surging baby boom generation is also looking for new and different housing opportunities today.

“Certainly there are many niche markets beyond just those driven by culture,” he said.

Karen O’Shea covers real estate news for the Advance. She may be reached at oshea@siadvance.com.

Three Island girls win Hispanic Games awards

HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD NOTEBOOK
Three Island girls win Hispanic Games awards
Monday, January 08, 2007
www.silive.com

On Saturday at the 12th annual Hispanic Games at the Armory Track and Field Center, three Staten Island girls were presented Leaders of Tomorrow awards for their athletic and academic excellence, and their community service.

Chosen to receive the awards were McKee/Staten Island Tech seniors Emily Alvarez and Brooke Anderson, and St. Joseph Hill freshman Lorraine Brancale.

Alvarez, who sports a 98 scholastic average, specializes in the hurdles and pole vault, where she is among the Island’s best.

She has also spent a good deal of time volunteering at the Staten Island Zoo, where as president of Venturing at the Zoo, she helps organize special programs. She’s also active in school activities, and helps to run the Ace Mentor program at MSIT.

Anderson, a middle distance runner who also high jumps, has a 93+ average, and is the senior class secretary at MSIT. A member of the National Honor Society, she is the MSIT coordinator for the Staten Island Children’s Campaign, and has given back to the program that gave her the start in track and field, volunteering as an official and coach for the Island CYO track program.

Brancale, one of the Island’s up-and-coming distance talents, is only a freshman, but has a 98 average at Hill, also spends time with the CYO program, is involved with community cleanups, dances at the SeaView Nursing home, and is a volunteer with the Seton Foundation.

Welcome!

I have always wanted to create a central place for Latinos on Staten Island. And unless you subscribe to the Staten Island Advance, it’s very challenging to find news and event information on our community.

Staten Island Latino.com is a step in that direction.

Who am I?
My name is Linda Nieves-Powell and I have lived on Staten Island since 1976. My parents moved to a large colonial house, one of the larger homes, on Townsend Avenue and lived there until the house was sold it in 1995. The block looks incredibly different now. Most of the original houses have been demolished and those homes have now been replaced by several row of townhouses. The original historic beauty is long gone. It’s sad to see that happen so often on Staten Island.

I went to grammar school at St. Mary’s in Rosebank and from there went on to Curtis High School. In my twenties I moved to the city to try out city living, but found out soon enough that I hated it. There is something about leaving the city behind and coming home to the quiet of Staten Island. So I always came back home. I am now married, with a son and we live in New Springville. I love it here! Everything is around me. Schools, shopping, movies, etc.

Why Staten Island Latino.com?
Well, I’m a writer, director and producer, and all of my work is performed outside of Staten Island. I had one show at the Muddy Cup in 2004 and to my surprise, we had a great crowd. However, finding the Latino audience in Staten Island is like looking for Waldo. Latinos on Staten Island are everywhere. There isn’t one central neighborhood where you can post ads or flyers. This is why I created this site. In order to create a place that our community would be able to find information and events geared to them.

Is this strictly for Latinos only?
Absolutely not. My intention is to produce events that bring the Island together. I think that it’s so important to do that, since what you hear often is, Staten Island is a funny place. The funny being that we have no neighborhoods. We get in our cars and drive to the mall or the new Target but we don’t socialize with each other. Is it lack of performance venues or just laziness? I don’t know.

What I’d like from you?
I would love anyone who wants to help me with this site, to contact me. I run a entertainment production company and am writing my second novel, so I could really use a group of volunteers to report on upcoming events and news that affects our community.