Sewage from Staten Island restaurant leaks into Clove Lake, endangering anglers and boaters

A whistleblower alleges that The Stone House, a wedding venue and steakhouse in Staten Island’s Clove Lakes Park, has been leaking raw sewage into the park’s fishing and boating lake for as long as 20 years. City Department of Environmental Protection dye tests showed both green and red dye entering the lake, indicating multiple collapses in the restaurant’s sewer line. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is investigating the alleged discharge, though no bacterial testing results have been released.

Under a 2022 licensing agreement, the vendor operating the venue was obligated to spend $200,000 on repairs, including fixing two failing manholes, but the leak persisted and the business kept renting paddle boats to the public. Former Parks Department leaders Lynda Ricciardone and Joseph Homsey are accused of being aware of the contamination yet taking no action. The lake’s water quality data show no recent fecal coliform measurements, leaving the health risk to families and anglers unclear.