Photos show repair status of Staten Island veterans memorial damaged in crash

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Repairs are being made to the site of the Midland Beach Veterans Memorial three weeks after a vehicle collision at the intersection of Midland Avenue and Capodanno Boulevard.

On Tuesday, a group of workers were seen at the site, which was largely repaired. New blocks were stacked and tiles were visibly replaced.

The repairs are being funded by the office of the Staten Island borough president, a spokesperson for Borough President Vito Fossella told the Advance/SILive.com.

Midland Beach Veterans Memorial repairs 2025 — Repairs were seen at the Midland Beach Veterans Memorial on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.(Advance/SILive.com | Luke Peteley)

Back on May 20, police say a 2014 RAM crashed into the memorial. The driver responsible for the damage to the site fled the scene, leaving the vehicle at the location, according to a spokesperson with the office of the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

In the wake of the crash, stones placed alongside the memorial were fractured and scattered. The memorial itself was not damaged in the ordeal, escaping by a matter of inches.

On May 23, Fossella visited the site to examine the extent of the damage.

“We met with leaders from the Midland Beach Civic Association today (May 23) to survey the damage that was done to the Midland Beach Veterans Memorial Tuesday night,” he previously said in a prepared statement. ”Suffice to say, much of the grounds were extensively damaged, although, thankfully, the memorial itself appears to remain intact.”

At the time, Fossella said the monument should not remain in a dangerous state of disrepair.

The Midland Beach Veterans Memorial suffered some damage when police say a vehicle hit the site and fled the scene on the morning of Tuesday, May 20, 2025.(Advance/SILive.com | Luke Petel

The site’s original memorial, a 14-foot wooden monument, was dedicated in 1942, honoring the 117 Midland Beach residents then fighting during World War II, according to previous reporting.

In 1944, a hurricane took it out and it was soon replaced with another one, which included the names of an additional 210 soldiers who joined the fight against the Axis powers in the time since the original monument was erected.

In 1955, the city removed that memorial for a road widening. In 1992, the current memorial was installed.