Yesterday, disgraced U.S. Congressman Vito Fossella held a brunch on Staten Island to thank his constituents there for supporting him through the years. It was meant to be a 500-person affair, but so many people wanted to come and pay their respects that the crowd ended up being nearly twice that size. It was a strange good-bye — next month, Fossella will no longer serve in the House and may be facing five days in jail over his DUI conviction. But press reports of the event indicate that Fossella is thinking further ahead than the next few months — perhaps to another run for office. Even though he royally screwed up his public and private life after his drunk-driving arrest, which inadvertently revealed his secret second family, Fossella doesn't appear to have given up. His constituents haven't either — they're rooting for a comeback.

Who are these constituents, exactly? Times reporter Cara Buckley tells us. They are:

Men with oiled pompadours, women with teased updos and floor-length furs, retirees and grizzled members of a Vietnam veterans' motorcycle club.

Sure, the crowd also included several prominent politicians, including the mayor and his girlfriend. But mostly it was just a bunch of extras from the latest TV movie starring Joe Pantoliano.

At Brunch, Fossella Says Farewell. Or Does He? [NYT]