After the Borough President’s office redesigned the flag so as not to resemble the Freshkills Landfill, the city is now following suit. Lindsay Tuchman filed the following report.
We showed Staten Islanders before and after pictures of the borough's unofficial flag.
"I like it, I do like it, it's serious,” said Gertrude Andersen of Dongan Hills about the news one.
Borough President James Oddo's office redesigned the new emblem last year; he said the original one was not attractive.
"If you look at it, it reminded me of the Freshkills Landfill, it was a bird that looked like a seagull, a mountain that looked like a garbage dump,” he said. “So we just refreshed and just freshened up the old logo."
Now the city is hopping aboard - it purchased two flags for $480 each this summer.
"I didn't ask them to do it,” Oddo said. “I'm glad they did it."
City officials said the unofficial borough flag is displayed at special events.
Residents said it’s a better representation of the borough.
"I think this new flag really does Staten Island much more justice than the old one," said Anthony Barbera. “It looks more professional."
“We desperately need because we are the forgotten borough,” said English Paige of Grymes Hill.
The new flag shows a woman with a shield standing along the Narrows, recreated from a traditional borough seal, but a bit too traditional for some.
"They might have been able to do a better job than this [new] one though, I mean this [old] one is plain and simple but this one looks like it's from the 1900s,” said Lisa Scalise. “Staten Island's new, building up, there's a lot more younger generation coming, a lot more people coming in."
Nonetheless, city officials said if the borough president thinks the new flag symbolizes Staten Island better than the old one, they are happy let it fly.