Dear Mayor Bloomberg, Commissioner Khan, and Captain DeSimone,

We the undersigned, peace-minded people of Staten Island, and others from around New York City and beyond, are urging you to approve the permanent installation of the Building Bridges Coalition of Staten Island Peace Pole inside the waiting hall of the Saint George Ferry Terminal.

Every day, the Staten Island Ferry carries tens of thousands of people from Staten Island to Manhattan and back. Many of the millions of tourists who visit New York City take the ferry ride to Staten Island and back. Overall, more than 21 million people ride the ferry every year. Imagine those millions seeing this symbol of peace and taking photos of it and with it. Imagine the powerful message that this symbol sends with those millions of people year after year, and what it says about the people of Staten Island and New York City. Imagine the message of peace touching souls from Staten Island through the New York harbor and across the globe.

The Building Bridges Peace Pole is an obelisk shaped, 7-foot-tall, 4-inch wide, white plastic shell. It has the prayer: "May Peace Prevail on Earth" in eight languages imprinted on its 4 sides. The organization will work with local artists to design a pedestal and encasing that complements the inside of the ferry terminal.

The Building Bridges Coalition acquired the Peace Pole from the "World Peace Prayer Society", a non-religious, non-political, not-for-profit grassroots organization associated with the Department of Public Information at the United Nations. The Peace Pole was introduced last year during the Building Bridges Coalition Thanksgiving event of 2010. Since then, the Peace Pole has toured houses of worship all over Staten Island until it was dedicated in a wonderful public event at the Saint George Ferry Terminal on October 2, 2011.

Aside from this peace pole, there are two installed on Staten Island, at Wagner College and Susan Wagner High School. There are thousands of peace poles installed across the United States and 250,000 across the globe.

The Building Bridges Coalition of Staten Island is a non-religious, non-political, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501C3 organization that is working to build bridges of understanding and respect between different religions, cultures, ethnicities, and nationalities on Staten Island and beyond. For more information, please visit our website: www.BuildingBridgesSI.org and our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Building-Bridges-Coalition-of-Staten-Island/245446322132278.

I urge you to approve the permanent installation of the building Bridges Peace Pole inside the Saint George Ferry Terminal now.