Three Reasons You should read this:
- She’s become a great photographer
- Featured in a Calendar “Art is Life”
- Her photo work is included in an exhibit @ Alice Austen
- She had a solo wedding and
was the cover story of the
Staten Island Advance, twice.
- On (or in) Staten Island —
the red-headed step child
and misunderstood borough
with diminishing parking
spaces and as many seething,
clandestine secrets —
Nadette Stasa moves about
with quiet authority.
Nadette is not loud about what she does (except when she is). She doesn’t really need to be. In a city addicted to spectacle, she practices something far rarer and coveted: AMBITION. The kind that comes from elevated taste, some restraint, and an almost editorial eye for what matters and what absolutely does not.
Nadette says:
I was born in Cambridge, MA on February 26, 1965.
For the last 10 years, I have been living on Staten Island and I happily calls this “big small town” my home. I love the Staten Island Ferry, pugs and ice cream (especially ice cream from Eggers)! I spent my childhood performing dance, theater and even opera. With my family, we traveled extensively in Europe.
I speak 5 languages and can say thank you in over 20! After graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (majoring in acting with a minor in romance languages), I went on to pursue an acting career and eventually landed the roles of casting director, producer and voice actor.”
There’s a discipline to her presence— a studied elegance. If Staten Island were a glossy European magazine hiding between the pages of a New York tabloid, Nadette would be the creative director. She understands that luxury isn’t all the noise; it’s control. It’s knowing when to lean in, when to pull back, and when to let the silence close the deal. She knows better than most: How to read the room.
2. Featured in a Calendar “Art is Life”
3. Her photo work is included in an exhibit @ Alice Austen
She says:
I am photographer who
specializes in photos
of, and from, the
Staten Island Ferry.The universe makes amazing images. I see them when, and where, others don’t. And I capture them.
Last spring one of my photos was a part of a showcase of art by New York City employees called “Art is Life”.
I am proud to share that this photo was also chosen for the 2026 “Art is Life” Calendar. Each month features a unique work of art submitted by a City employee. My photo appears for the month of March!
This photo is a part of a series I am working on, titled The Big Orange Boat Portraits. I plan to exhibit more work from this series, in this years “Art is Life” showcase. In the fall, I will have a show of the whole series, stay tuned for the location.
One of my photos from The Big Orange Boat Portraits Series got accepted to a prestigious and juried exhibition at the Alice Austen House Museum on Staten Island. I hope you will mark your calendars and join me on March 14, 2026 from 1-3 PM at the Alice Austen House for the opening of Staten Island’s 4th Triennial of Photography, Resilient Communities.
Please use the link below to RSVP.
https://aliceausten.org/events/exhibition-opening-resilient-communities/
When I am asked,
Are you an artist?” I answer unabashedly, “YES!” And when I am asked, “What kind of art do you do?” I answer that, in addition to photography, my art is “bringing people together.” Whether I am creating a solo wedding, hosting parties or producing events; riding my festively decorated Peace Bike (also known as PEACE MUSEUM NY – the world’s smallest mobile museum); working on writing a book about my experiences at 311, or taking stunning pictures on the Staten Island Ferry, I like bringing communities together. I love bringing people together.”
Nadette says:
Are you an artist?” I answer unabashedly, “YES!” And when I am asked, “What kind of art do you do?” I answer that, in addition to photography, my art is “bringing people together.” Whether I am creating a solo wedding, hosting parties or producing events; riding my festively decorated Peace Bike (also known as PEACE MUSEUM NY – the world’s smallest mobile museum); working on writing a book about my experiences at 311, or taking stunning pictures on the Staten Island Ferry, I like bringing communities together. I love bringing people together.”
Nadette says:
Currently I work as a Call Center Representative at NYC311. I provide non-emergency service and information to the residents of the five boroughs of New York City. 311 is the primary point of contact for anything related to City services and New York City government. I am proud to be a real person answering the phone and I am honored to be, as I like to say, “a New Yorker serving New Yorkers.”
Misfits, decadents and collaborators gravitate toward her for the same reason people still cross bridges and waterways for dinner — discernment. She sees the through-line. The narrative spine. The detail others miss because they’re too busy posting about it and more than anything… She loves the Staten Island Ferry Ride and all the workers there.
There’s also an unabashedly, and sometimes inappropriately unapologetic wit to her. Sometime it’s wet and other times dry, meaningful and effortless. The kind that lands half a beat late and yet always feels intentional.
Nadette doesn’t chase trends; she edits them.
She doesn’t perform ambition; she refines it.
We asked:
Who are your people?
She said:
Who are not my people? I love everyone! And you are Next!
Nadette doesn’t chase trends; she edits them.
She doesn’t perform ambition; she refines it.
4. She had a solo wedding and
was the cover story of the
Staten Island Advance, twice.
4. Solo wedding features :
- FIRST ARTICLE :
https://www.silive.com/news/2025/09/staten-island-womans-solo-wedding-includes-60-pugs-in-formalwear-and-zero-grooms.html - FOLLOW UP ARTICLE :
https://www.silive.com/news/2025/10/staten-island-woman-celebrates-60th-birthday-with-solo-wedding-and-50-pug-procession.html
We asked:
Why should they care?
She said:
Because community is everything.
At my Solo Wedding this past September, I wanted my people to celebrate me, so I can remember that I am beautiful, courageous, strong and loving and that there is nothing wrong with me. Because I forget sometimes and when I forget, life is not worth living. But when my communities remind me of my strengths, I can remind them of their strengths. Together we can step into our true selves, our inner and outer power and our loving light. Because of the way communities show up for other communities, life is worth living again.”
Postscript
In a market that confuses busy with important,
Nadette Stasa is something far more compelling: deliberate.
And in New York — especially on Staten Island — deliberate will usually win.
You may know her as the woman who ISN’T proceeding to New Jersey like the majority of Staten Islanders duly en route to their last and final resting place: Florida, USA. She often heads in the other direction: Manhattan, via the SI ferry.
She rides a bike called PEACE MUSEUM but this mobile exhibit we previously written about on SI-nyc.com some years ago.
This one is different. She is advancing, ambitiously and deliberately with some recent LIFETIME benchmarks.
One local bar owner in St. George quipped about Nadette: “She’s a Whirling Dervish.” This comment wouldn’t be half as funny if it wasn’t so damned true.
CONTACT
Name : Nadette Staša
Instagram : Instagram.com/nadette.staša/ (personal)
Instagram : Instagram.com/photosbynadette/ (photography)
___________________________________________________
Email : yes@8grape.com.
And do have a nice day.
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