STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Borough President James Oddo remembers catching worms from the lush gardens outside the Staten Island Advance offices on Fingerboard Road in Grasmere when he was a kid.
"Every time I set foot in this building I go back to the days when I was 8 and 9 years old. My brothers -- John, Eddie and Ricky -- were Advance paperboys. I spent a lot of time with them walking over, looking at the trucks, and once in a while we got lucky and were able to go inside and see the papers," said Oddo, speaking at the Advance offices Friday morning.
"It's a long time ago and a different day, but one of the constants on Staten Island has been this newspaper," he added.
Like Oddo, thousands of Staten Islanders have had a connection with the Advance, which has been operating since 1886.
Many have been paper carriers; countless others have worked at the "the paper," a term, when used on Staten Island, that is synonymous with the Advance.
And now there are three community organizations -- SCORE Staten Island, The Friends of Firefighters and the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce -- that call the Advance "home."
"The Staten Island Advance and SILive.com would not exist without this great community. All of you and these three organizations embody what is so great about our Staten Island community," said Caroline Harrison, publisher of the Staten Island Advance, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome the groups to Advance headquarters.
"You're the ones giving back, and you're the one's making it (Staten Island) a better place. We are grateful and we are honored to have you here co-habitating with us in our building," she said.
Brian Laline, executive editor of the Advance, spoke about the newspaper's connection to the community.
"There are all kinds of ideas of what journalism is, particularly today. When I was coming up through the ranks there was something called advocacy journalism. ... What we do is advocate for the community," he said.
"Our job is to tell the stories that need to be told, but also to represent this community's cultural organizations and non-profits, which we do," added Laline.
SCORE
SCORE, a non-profit association dedicated to helping small businesses for more than 50 years, has found a permanent home in the Advance building.
"The Advance family has adopted us," said Samir Farag, SCORE mentor and past chairman.
Said Anthony DeFazio of SCORE: "We are so thankful to be here. ... This is the finest space we've ever had."
FRIENDS OF FIREFIGHTERS
The Friends of Firefighters, a not-for-profit group that lends support to city firefighters, is also utilizing space provided by the Advance.
"When we lost our space, we went to Borough President Oddo and he helped us find the Advance," said Nancy Carbone, executive director of the group. "We help firefighters and their families who are hurting and now they have a place to go for support."
Said Bill Hodgens, a retired city firefighter, who recently lost his wife to cancer: "They (The Friends of Firefighters) have helped me so I am so grateful for this (new offices)."
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
And the Advance also made space available for the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce (SICC), while its St. George office -- destroyed by fire -- is being rebuilt.
"The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce is very thankful to the Advance. We are in the planning stage and are getting ready to construct the new building," said Glen V. Cutrona, chairman of the SICC.
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