One of Staten Island's hidden gems is the unique area at Mount Loretto, the drone footage above gives viewers the ability to take in the scenery from high in the air. This particular video was created by  Paul Fargo, and features a Pink Floyd soundtrack.

Mt. Loretto Unique Area features three hiking trails: Wetlands Trail, Grassland Trail, and Beach Loop. The Wetlands Trail includes a self-guided tour, with eight stops along the trail. Some of the stops talk about the bird life at Mt. Loretto or the wildlife found at a pond, while others discuss the importance of wetlands, both tidal and freshwater. Mt. Loretto Unique Area also features a freshwater pond with an accessible fishing pier. The area also offers a mile of shoreline for saltwater

Staten Island is patiently waiting for the completion of the Empire Outlets shopping mall to be completed in St. George. Aware of this, the people behind the development are doing a pretty good job keeping Staten Islanders in the loop with the progress of the project. They're so invested, in fact, that they've recently employed a drone to capture some interesting aerial footage of the construction site. The drone, not only shows what's going on with the outlet mall, but also with some precautions that are being taken with the coastal area to prevent future "Hurricane Sandy" like situations from causing damage in the future. 

In the video below, you can see the aforementioned drone footage, which was posted on the official YouTube channel of the

Laird Klein would like to introduce our newest agent, Joseph Tranchina. Viewers of CNBC's hit series "The Profit" might recognize Mr. Tranchina from their episode spotlighting Staten Island's Standard Burger. An entrepreneur and business owner, Joseph has been involved in and operated multiple businesses in his career. He hopes to take his business skills, energy, and experience to the NYC real estate market. "My plan is to bring my experiences and knowledge gained over many years working in different industries and translate that into success within real estate."

Though he's most recognized for his success at Standard Burger, and it's CNBC feature, it's far from the only accomplishment on Joseph's storied resume. His work as a sales leader in the

Local young author, Chris Knight of Staten Island, has stepped out of the shadows and come forth as a published author, recently self-publishing his first novel titled "Past and Pending." 

Here's the official description of the comedy/mystery novel as listed on Amazon: 

"When Scott Oak was a teenager, he ran away from home, vowing to never return. A wrench is thrown into his new found life when his childhood friend, Laura, passes away, forcing him into a never ending spiral of conspiracy and mystery."

Knight has lived his entire life on Staten Island and now his first published work is set around the rural streets of the island. A comedic mystery story that throws the main character in a world filled with conspiracy and mystery is available