Will Fossella 'Put Staten Island Through This?'

Frank Morano, an executive committee member of the New York State Independence Party and Staten Island activist (and, by his description, a friend of Vito Fossella's), thinks Fossella's recent personal problems run the risk of overshadowing his political work if he seeks reelection.

"I think this would become much more of an issue than the war in Iraq, or the economy, or gas prices, or traffic and transportation issues on Staten Island," Morano told me. (In 2006, Fossella got 3,667 votes on the Independence Party line out of 116,051 total votes cast.)

"So for those reasons, Vito may decide he doesn't want to put Staten Island, and his family, through this," he said.

A sample of some other reaction to the announcement:

Radar says it's all over for Fossella.

Fox News does not go that far.

Erik Engquist notes that Fossella’s initial story evolved.

Staten Island Advance readers react harshly.

Domenic Recchia, one of Fossella’s Democratic challengers, was not immediately available for comment, and a spokesman for Steve Harrison, the other Democratic challenger, declined to comment.