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Tales from the Slushpile...

7/30/2015

A cranky piece I put on Associated Content back in 2004.

SIM Staten Island

I've been working on a new simulation computer game, but I need to BETA test the logic programming, so I thought I might run it by you, if I could. I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible.

The object of the game, as it is of all the simulated games, is to run an entire borough, to develop and care for its citizens and keep things running smoothly.

Begin:

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Tales from the Slushpile...

7/27/2015

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In keeping with a tradition of, when mentioning Staten Island, pretty much only referencing the Staten Island ferry, here's another ferry-based bit from that time when more people started to ride the boat back in the 2000s, from a posting on the old Associated Content website...

Newbies on the Ferry

Well, I can’t help but notice that the Staten Island ferry is getting more crowded these days. Asking around, I’ve learned that many of these newcomers are refugees from the express bus who have abandoned the construction-clogged artery that is the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Well, ahoy mates and welcome aboard!

It seems many of you are unfamiliar with our sea-faring ways and the things you will encounter on the ferry (i.e. tourists; what are they and why won’t they get out of my way?} so I think it’s time to produce a primer for you landlubbers.

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Tales from the Slushpile...

7/26/2015

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Once they announced the Staten Island dump was going to be closed, I wrote a piece for the NY Daily News in 2/96. Here it is...

Landfill's End

Okay, so, the city is now actually planning on closing the Fresh Kills Landfill. After decades of promises and plans, Staten Island will no longer be refuse-r friendly. Of course, the question is "Then what?" Sure, there's no more garbage coming in, but what about the borough-busting mounds of it we have now?

Obviously, now's the chance to take this pile of sow ears and turn it into a pile of silk purses. I'm not talking about some lame idea like drilling for "natural" gas. Yeah, like Brooklyn Union is salivating for a crack at this. And Mobil and Texaco are going to come sniffing around next waiting for all those tuna sandwiches to congeal into oil. No, no, me and the guys sat down and thought long and hard on this.

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Tales from the Slushpile...

7/25/2015

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From the S.I. Advance, 12/97. Alas, it still all applies...

STATEN ISLAND DRIVER'S EXAM

I have been driving or driven on this island all my life and recently I've been very dismayed by the driving abilities of my fellow roadsters. There's just something slightly reckless about they way they approach such things as intersections, traffic signs and highway dividers. More then once I've said to myself, "it's as if they've taken a different driver's test than me." Turns out, they have! Thanks to a highly-placed source in the DMV (who keeps referring to himself as "Deep Traffic" -- I don't know why, and I don't want to encourage it) I've obtained the driver's written exam and answer key that is presently in use:

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Tales from the Slushpile...

SIM Staten Island

Tales from the Slushpile...

Newbies on the Ferry

Tales from the Slushpile...

Landfill's End

Tales from the Slushpile...

STATEN ISLAND DRIVER'S EXAM

Dan Fiorella

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