Mr. Sander, Tear Down This Whimsically Playful, Mosaic-Tiled Wall!

Staten Islanders question the federal percent-for-art program — because when a project costs billions of dollars, it adds up:

Even as the MTA is raising tolls and tempers on Staten Island, it plans to spend as much as $4 million on art installations for the Second Avenue Subway.

Some Islanders may not know art, but all know what they want: Funds to be spent on sorely needed mass transit improvements here.

. . .

The federal government requires that one-half to 5 percent of a project’s budget be dedicated to art, said MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin.

“Art is one critical element of our stations program that has a considerable impact . . . for a small fraction of a project’s budget,” Soffin said. “We are at the lower end of the recommended guidelines, well below 1 percent.”

So it isn’t possible to eliminate the art requirement without risking the loss of the entire $1.3 billion federal contribution.

Mary DiChiara of Pleasant Plains was in no mood for explanations, “We can’t get off this Island and they put aside $4 million for artwork for Manhattan? Take the $4 million and fix this bridge.

“They think we’re living on Fantasy Island, and nobody ever wants or needs to get off.”

“Just once, I’d like to see everybody on Staten Island who works in Manhattan just stay home,” she concluded. “Then they’ll see.”

And No Jokes About The Terroir, Smarty Pants . . .

Now at least someone around here has vision:

The visit to this picturesque corner of Tuscany probably will not spawn a best-selling sequel with a title like “Under the Staten Island Sun.” But in the not-too-distant future, Staten Island will bring a little bit of Tuscany to New York, in the form of a vineyard being developed at the Staten Island Botanical Garden.

A group of businessmen from the borough spent a few days this month rambling through lush vineyards, Renaissance villas and an Etruscan tomb, seeking the essence of the Tuscan experience to transplant back home. They hope the vineyard, which they said would be the first large-scale venture of its kind in the city, will entice more visitors to the oft-forgotten borough.

. . .

Work on the vineyard should start in the spring on about two acres of botanical garden land next to the Tuscan Villa and the Tuscan Garden exhibitions under construction. (The Tuscan Garden is based on the Villa Gamberaia, at Settignano, near Florence.)

Experts in viticulture and enology at Cornell University are helping determine which Italian grape varieties will have the best chance of thriving on Staten Island, “which can get pretty damp,” Mr. Salmon said. Because it is illegal to import vine cuttings into the United States, the plants will most likely come from vineyards in upstate New York or, perhaps, California.

Eventually, the idea is to make red wine — and someday maybe white — from the 2,000 vines that organizers of the vineyard figure will be planted at the botanical garden. It will be years, however, before anyone can get a tasting of Staten Island red.

(Word of advice — when you’re naming it, don’t get cute.)

Gambling With The Odds Of Fate Trying To Get Over Superbug

The bug of the hour has an air of great power:

The MRSA “superbug” infection that led to the death of a 12-year-old in Brooklyn last month is now showing up in schools and other public settings on Staten Island.

A Wagner College student came down with MRSA and a high school student at St. Joseph by-the-Sea has been rumored to have a drug-resistant strain of the infection, though officials at the Huguenot school have not confirmed that case.

A Wagner College spokesman confirmed yesterday that a student at the Grymes Hill campus had been diagnosed last week with MRSA, which often manifests as a skin infection and is resistant to most, but not all antibiotics. Officials there issued a campus-wide e-mail recently and mailed a letter to parents stating that a student had been found to have had the infection.

“. . . The student has responded well, and though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not require or even recommend community notification where there is a single, isolated case of MRSA diagnosed, we believed it prudent to share this information,” Wagner President Richard Guarasci wrote to parents.

Sooner Or Later You’re Going To Listen To Ralph Nader . . . Or Not

As good a reason as any not to act like a moron — the tongue-clucking Staten Island Advance:

A 29-year-old man from Richmond Valley with numerous speeding convictions died last night after he was thrown from his speeding car as it tumbled down the West Shore Expressway’s grassy median.

The crash victim, Michael P. Lehmann, of Culotta Lane, lived alone and he died alone.

The Mosquito That Never Sleeps Comes To The Right Place

It may not be the killer bee, but it has the potential to be a lot more annoying:

They’re aggressive, often attack in packs and, unlike most mosquitoes, bite during the day.

And they’re carriers for such debilitating tropical diseases as chikungunya, yellow and dengue fever. They can carry dog heartworm and different types of encephalitis.

The Asian Tiger mosquito has landed on Staten Island. And although the 2007 season is winding down (the first frost will kill most remaining bugs), its presence could be felt even stronger after eggs from this year’s mosquitoes hatch come spring, experts say.

First spotted here in 1997, the white-striped insect scientifically known as Aedes albopictus, has become increasingly prevalent in the borough, causing experts to fear consequences more severe than from West Nile virus.

. . .

Typically, mosquitoes belonging to the Culex family are found in the New York area. The Culex salinarius and Culex restuans, which carry the feared West Nile virus, generally bite around dusk and after dark.

But the Asian Tiger mosquito bites in the middle of the day and, often, several will bite humans at the same time, leaving welts the size of dimes. Besides having disease-carrying potential, the pests can affect quality of life for people who like to be outdoors, Gaugler said. The Asian Tiger mosquito is ranked among the 100 most invasive species on the planet.