Mayor, in newsletter, offends tourists

BELMAR, N.J., July 17 (UPI) -- Belmar, N.J., Mayor Ken Pringle has angered some residents of New York's Staten Island Borough with comments in a newsletter about women from the borough.

Pringle wrote in his July 4 newsletter that an "SI girl behaving badly" caused a ruckus at a Belmar club, the Staten Island Advance reported Thursday.

"As the Staten Island girl was pummeling the Boonton girl's face, she used the hand she was still holding her drink glass in," the mayor wrote. "Now, we're not sure if the glass was stuck to her hand cause of all the hair spray or if this is a technique Staten Island girls learn in Brownies, but we are thankful she left her brass knuckles and straight razor in her other purse."

The mayor also made references to "guidos" -- often used as a derogatory term for young Italian males -- saying they are "as welcome as, oh, Canada geese."

The slurs led one Staten Island councilman to suggest his constituents "avoid (Pringle's) town like the plague."

Mario Flotta of Staten Island, who said he frequently visits Belmar, said he was shocked and outraged by the mayor's comments.

"It's surprising to know that a place where tourism thrives and pays for pretty much everything around here, that someone would make comments like this," he said.