Overview
The Staten Island Clown refers to an individual dressed in clown costume that was seen lurking around at night in Staten Island, New York in March of 2014. The clown’s presence was widely reported online, and it continued to be a topic of interest even after the clown was suspected to be a publicity hoax staged by Staten Island based horror film company Fuzz On The Lens.
Background
On March 13th, 2014, Instagram user Michael Leavy (leavisisland) posted a photo of a clown peaking out from behind a tree on a dark street. The photo’s caption read:
“Ok so I’m a little freaked out right now. I was driving home from Buffalo Wild Wings and saw this waving at me. #wtf … is this real life? #Clown #scary #StatenIsland #BuffaloWilfWings #balloon #freakedout #creepy #life #alone #unreal #somepeople #weird #idk
On March 16th, comedian Vic Dibietto posted a video of the clown, after he saw him during the day, on his Facebook page.[1] As of March 24th, the video has gained over 2,000 likes and over 5,000 shares.
The video and phenomena was reported on March 24th by New York Daily News[2], The New York Post[3], and New York Magazine.[4] The same day, sparked by the media coverage, #statenislandclown[7] became a popular tag on Twitter, tweeted out over 1,000 times in less than 48 hours.
Notable Developments
Hoax Allegations
On March 24th, The New York Post reported that Michael Leavy, who posted the first picture of the clown to Instagram, as well as Robert Privitera[6] who posted a photo to Instagram on March 19th, and Vic Dibitetto, who posted the video of the clown to Facebook are all connected to the Staten Island horror film production company Fuzz On The Lens.[8] Their connections range from direct to minimal; Leavy acts as a filmmaker credited on the company’s “About” page[9], Privitera worked with the company, while Dibitetto was hired to act in a small role for one of their films. When questioned about his possible involvement in a hoax Dibitetto explained:
““I have no idea. I played a gynecologist in one of their films. Who the hell knows. Nothing surprises me anymore.”
Leavy told Buzzfeed[10] on March 24th,
“All I can say is that if people want to believe it’s me or my production company they can feel free to do so, I won’t complain, confirm, or deny. Apparently he was seen last night by more islanders. It’s a small island so a lot of people know each other, it’s just how it is. Especially if it’s a well known production company as active in the community as we, a lot of people would have some ties to each other. It’s bound to happen. But I could tell you it’s interesting getting messages from some other clown spotters Vin Innocente and the comedian Vic Dibitteto asking me if we [Fuzz On The Lens] planned it to specifically goof on them or not.”
Notable Instagrams
Many who encountered the Staten Island Clown took photos and uploaded them to Instagram using the hashtag #StatenIslandClown.[5] The tag was also used to upload photos of other clowns, such as Pennywise from Stephen King’s horror novel IT, and comment on the Staten Island Clown.
Search Interest
External References
[1]Facebook – Vic Divitetto
[2]New York Daily News – Creepy Staten Island clown spotted around borough, spooks residents
[3]New York Post – Creepy viral clown may be linked to film company
[4]New York Magazine – Creepy Clown Haunting Staten Island Probably a Hoax for Horror Movie
[5]Statigr – statenislandclown
[7]Topsy – statenislandclown
[8]Fuzz on the Lens – fuzzonthelens
[9]Buzzfeed – This Terrifying Clown Has Been Roaming The Streets Of Staten Island And Scaring The Crap Out Of Everyone