{"id":66859,"date":"2025-12-10T16:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T16:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/66859\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T16:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T16:35:09","slug":"staten-island-rings-in-holiday-season-with-annual-tree-lighting-at-borough-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/66859\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island rings in holiday season with annual tree lighting at Borough Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Jingle bells rang and lights twinkled Tuesday evening as Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella hosted the 11th annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Borough Hall in St. George.<\/p>\n

Despite strong winds and temperatures in the low-30s, residents turned out in full force to mark the start of the holiday season. Families arrived bundled in scarves and mittens, gathering on the steps of Borough Hall before the program began. Children danced around, practicing for their upcoming performances, while parents snapped photos of the towering tree waiting to be illuminated.<\/p>\n

\"nwsStudents from the PS 29 chorus, led by teacher Brian Stevens, led the crowd in Christmas carols.(Lorelei Smillie for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite part of every holiday season is the Borough Hall Christmas tree lighting,\u201d said Staten Islander Jaime Goldberg. \u201cIt\u2019s so festive, and I make sure to come every single year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attendees warmed up with steaming cups of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and fresh chocolate chip cookies provided by Joyce\u2019s Tavern.<\/p>\n

Miss Staten Island Teen, Victoria DiPaolo, opened the night with a performance of \u201cGod Bless America.\u201d Students from the PS 29 chorus, led by teacher Brian Stevens, followed with carols in holiday outfits and puffy coats as parents and friends sang along. Many audience members held up phones to capture the moment, cheering as the students sang.<\/p>\n

\"nwsMiss Cheryl\u2019s Dance Company kept the energy high with a hip-hop routine set to remixed Christmas songs. Dressed in all-black outfits with Santa hats and red gloves, the dancers drew cheers from the crowd.(Lorelei Smillie for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

Miss Cheryl\u2019s Dance Company kept the energy high with a hip-hop routine set to remixed Christmas songs. Dressed in all-black outfits with Santa hats and red gloves, the dancers drew cheers from the crowd.<\/p>\n

Miss Staten Island, Gabriella Marinelli, sang several songs, and was joined by other local pageant winners including Miss Richmond County and Miss Richmond County Teen. Their performance provided a quieter, more traditional interlude before the countdown to the tree lighting.<\/p>\n

\"nwsMiss Staten Island, Gabriella Marinelli, sang several songs, and was joined by other local pageant winners including Miss Richmond County and Miss Richmond County Teen.(Lorelei Smillie for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cChristmas is jolly, you know what I mean? It\u2019s for the kids. We\u2019re all about the kids,\u201d said Sal Monforte.<\/p>\n

Fossella and the pageant winners gathered for the count down. All together, they flipped a giant switch that turned on the Christmas tree lights and marked the beginning of the Christmas season.<\/p>\n

The night wouldn\u2019t have been complete without a visit from Santa Claus, who came out to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Children gathered to tell him their wishes, and even members of the NYPD lined up for a photo with Santa.<\/p>\n

Also making the rounds was Frankie the FerryHawk. Frankie posed for photos, danced with the performers and sang along with the music.<\/p>\n

\"nwsStaten Islander Jaime Goldberg with her dog at the annual tree lighting ceremony.(Lorelei Smillie for the Advance\/SILive.com)<\/p>\n

The event was sponsored by Community Media of Staten Island, Allstate and the Staten Island FerryHawks. Organizers also collected new, unopened toys for donation.<\/p>\n

During Fossella\u2019s address, he gave a special shoutout to his granddaughter Rylee Parker, who will turn 1 on Dec 13.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful time of year to celebrate, and to come together in spirit and family and faith, as we say Merry Christmas to all who celebrate,\u201d Fossella told the crowd. \u201cTo all of you, have a great time, God bless you all. God bless this great country of ours.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Jingle bells rang and lights twinkled Tuesday evening as Staten Island Borough President Vito…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-66859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66859","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=66859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}