Staten Island is often treated like a second-class borough by the rest of New York State. According to residents, they don’t get enough funding, they don’t get enough representation, they don’t get enough respect. They’re always the butt of jokes; it is the forgotten island, the place where New York city’s garbage ends up in its many landfills.
Now they have reached breaking point as they face the exorbitant fees of the imminent congestion pricing fees that the city will impose on incoming traffic.
Cries for Staten Island’s secession are not new. The idea goes back to the 1970s, when some residents felt that they were not getting their fair share of services and resources from the state government.
It is also a question of identity: Staten Island residents are conservative; they believe they have different values and interests than the rest of the city and the state. They wanted more autonomy and control over their own affairs.
In 1993, they even held a referendum on secession, which passed with 65% of the vote. However, the state legislature never approved it, and the issue faded away. But now, with the pandemic, the economic crisis, and the political polarization, some Staten Islanders are reviving the idea of becoming their own state. They think that they would be better off on their own, without being part of NY State.
They want to have a say in how they live their lives, without being dictated to by Albany or Manhattan. They want to secede from NY State and become the 51st state of America, or, if that doesn’t work out, then they would not mind becoming another township of New Jersey.
Staten Island’s bitter opposition to the MTA’s congestion pricing plan has revived the borough’s long-dormant secession movement and has become the last straw.
“I think it’s time to secede,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) told The Post. “There’s no real value in being part of this city or the state. We didn’t vote for this mayor; we didn’t vote for this governor; and we didn’t vote for this president, but we’re always the ones getting screwed.”
Malliotakis and City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli are planning to join Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella’s expected lawsuit against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which seeks to block plans to charge drivers up to $23 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.
Earlier this month, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy filed a federal lawsuit against the US Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, alleging the feds didn’t conduct a proper review of the toll’s impact on New Jersey drivers.
“Staten Island teaming up with New Jersey to sue is further proof that we should just let Staten Island secede,” said one progressive Democrat on the City Council. “Maybe they can officially make Staten Island a township of New Jersey.”
The borough’s already gridlocked roads will only get worse when Manhattan-bound drivers try to beat the congestion fee taking the borough’s bridges and highways to get to the free Staten Island ferry, or Brooklyn subway stops, officials believe.
They’re also peeved the current plan doesn’t include discounts for Staten Islanders, who under a special program for residents pay a discounted rate of $2.75 in each direction while using the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge or a one-way $14.75 fee if they commute to Manhattan by first using crossings into New Jersey.
The toll by mail for the Verrazzano is $10.17 each way and $17 one-way by mail to enter Staten Island from a New Jersey bridge.
Staten Island Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks, a centrist Democrat, said she also opposes congestion pricing because of the costs, and “traffic problems and pollution” it will create.
“Historically, Staten Island gets the short end of the stick,” she said. “We pay a higher property tax rate but receive inadequate funding for infrastructure and critical resources. I can see why secession continues to be a talking point, albeit unlikely to happen.”
