On Friday afternoon, State Senator Diane Savino was still plotting exactly how best to help same-sex marriage couples celebrate their big day on Staten Island.

“Assemblyman [Matthew] Titone and I are going to be there handing out cupcakes and champagne -- or perhaps mimosas, or bellinis,” Savino said.

By the time The Observer arrived at Staten Island's Borough Hall at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, Titone and Savino had come and gone, and the procession of couples seeking marriage ceremonies and licenses had largely tapered off.

The majority of the 38 couples who had registered to marry there had long since come through, leaving plenty of room for stragglers to meander into Borough Hall, sometimes in clothing more fit for a backyard cookout than a wedding ceremony. “That’s the beauty of the entire thing,” commented a passerby on Stuyvesant Street. “They can just hop off their bicycles and come and get married, no red tape, nothing.” Read More