The Staten Island Secession Movement

Fkin five miles off the shore of Manhattan There is a place. called Staten Island We don't live. in the glitter of Broadway. We don't li in Yankee Stadium. whereere we live in is everyday Staten Island You are insopphisticated We were not, you know, east side of Manhattan or west side of Mhattan, Liberals We were country people thirirty years ago, Staten Island decided didn't want to be part of New York City anymore. Who will you trust? your friends and neighbors and the people in Statenland? Who will you trust the people five miles overseas Staten Island was trying to secede from New York City but not withithout a fight If nothing else, I hope that I can convey to the people of Staten Island that I deeply care about them and about all of them. If this were a political visit, why in Blazes would I come It's a pipe dream. It's just not going to happen. People are not facing the reality. My God, what are they thinking? What unfolded over the span of the next four years was a battle for the soul of the city, which I as a person living in the city, had never heard about And the more I researched, the more I realized this is exactly what's happening in the country right now This is what happens when a group who feels like they've been ignored and forgotten for decades decides that they've had enough All of you who are in favor off sececeding from the city of New York, would you please raise your hands This is a story about a democracy falling apart It's about neighbors turning on each other and a very specific strain of resentment that started in the outer buroughs of New York City and then went national with people like Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani We reached for a feeling that exists in this city But we're not stopping holy In the polls generally speak, National Enquirey did a poll that's unbelievable that says, I win That you beat everybody, they were rided right into the White House I'm Ben Matt of Haffrey, and I have done a deep, deep dive into this overlooked and misunderstood moment from thirty years ago when New York City almost tore itself apart Because I think it anticipated everything about how our country is tearing itself apart right now This summer, we're celebrating our two hundred fiftieth birthday as a country It's the anniversary of an act of secession. This is who we are. This is what we do So it's time to ask a big question How do you solve the Staten Island problem Forgotten borough, I don't know. I think we just might get rid of that nickname My position was to ask yourself, what caused freedom The Staten Island problem is coming july ninth from Pushkin Industries Listen on the Revisionist history feed. wherever you get your podcasts