{"id":358569,"date":"2026-09-28T07:07:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T07:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/358569\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T07:07:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T07:07:29","slug":"raise-it-high-staten-island-flag-takes-center-stage-at-ceremony-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/358569\/","title":{"rendered":"Raise it high! Staten Island flag takes center stage at ceremony (video)"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Staten Island officials gathered at Historic Richmond Town in Richmond on Friday to raise the borough\u2019s newly approved official flag, marking a milestone in recognizing the borough\u2019s identity within New York City.<\/p>\n

The ceremony celebrated the passage of legislation that codified Staten Island\u2019s flag into city law, making the borough the third to have one.<\/p>\n

City Council Speaker Julie Menin presided over the legislation\u2019s passage, and Councilman Frank Morano and City Council Minority Leader David Carr on Friday emphasized the flag as a symbol of borough pride and recognition.<\/p>\n

\"SIArtist Emil Micah created the design at the request of former Borough President Jimmy Oddo, collaborating with illustrator Mike Stabbers on the finished emblem.Advance\/SILive.com | Shaina McLawrence<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first step in the city of New York saying to Staten Island that we value you as part of New York City is giving us the opportunity to have a flag,\u201d Morano, a Republican who represents the South Shore, said at the ceremony. \u201cThe first step in taking back our neighborhoods and making sure they\u2019re cleaner and making sure they\u2019re well kept and making sure there\u2019s no crime, making sure there\u2019s no vandalism is that we need to take pride in our borough.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Morano first told Menin about his bill, she said she was shocked that Staten Island did not have a flag.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018What do you mean there is no official flag of Staten Island? That\u2019s crazy.\u2019 This is about recognizing the contributions of Staten Island and Staten Island pride,\u201d Menin, a Democrat who represents Manhattan\u2019s Upper East Side, said. \u201cThis is about making sure that we are celebrating that at City Hall, throughout the borough and the city. This was absolutely very much a team effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legislation allows the flag<\/a> to be flown at various civic functions, including parades and official receptions.<\/p>\n

\"SI\u201cThe first step in the city of New York saying to Staten Island that we value you as part of New York City is giving us the opportunity to have a flag,\u201d Councilman Frank Morano, a Republican who represents the South Shore, said at the ceremony.Advance\/SILive.com | Shaina McLawrence<\/p>\n

Artist Emil T. Micha designed the flag approximately eight years ago when then-Borough President Jimmy Oddo commissioned the project. Micha worked from a rough pencil sketch to create the design. <\/p>\n

The flag incorporates Staten Island\u2019s seal, which features a female figure standing on the borough holding a sword and shield. She is seen looking out onto the Narrows, where Henry Hudson\u2019s ship \u201cThe Half Moon\u201d and a smaller boat sail.<\/p>\n

The armed female figure in the seal is meant to represent the city of New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt absolutely encapsulates the history and pride of our borough,\u201d said Carr, a Republican who represents the Mid-Island and part of Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

\"SI\u201cIt absolutely encapsulates the history and pride of our borough,\u201d said Carr, a Republican who represents the Mid-Island and part of Brooklyn.Advance\/SILive.com | Shaina McLawrence<\/p>\n

Jessica Phillips, CEO of Historic Richmond Town, said hosting the ceremony at the open air museum was fitting given its geographic location in the center of the borough and its mission to preserve Staten Island history.<\/p>\n

\"SI\u201cI thought, \u2018What do you mean there is no official flag of Staten Island? That\u2019s crazy.\u2019 This is about recognizing the contributions of Staten Island and Staten Island pride,\u201d said City Council Speaker Julie Menin.Advance\/SILive.com | Shaina McLawrence<\/p>\n

The council members and Menin expressed hope that the flag would be raised throughout Staten Island neighborhoods and become as common as the American flag in the borough.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping that this flag raising that we\u2019re doing today is something that is replicated in every neighborhood in Staten Island in perpetuity and I hope we get to the point where the Staten Island flag is as ubiquitous all over Staten Island as the American flag is in the most patriotic borough,\u201d Morano said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Staten Island officials gathered at Historic Richmond Town in Richmond on Friday to raise…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-358569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}