This talk of secession may seem like a fairly new and reactive move on the part of the island’s politicians - most of whom are Republican - but talk of Staten Island seceding has been ongoing for decades.
In 1987, state Sen. John J. Marchi began leading a campaign to have Staten Island secede from the rest of the city - his zest for the movement eventually earned him the moniker “the Father of Secession.” Efforts to secede ramped up in 1989, following the creation of a new City Charter, which eradicated the Board of Estimate that gave the island disproportionate representation. The board allowed the Staten Island borough president, who oversaw about 400,000 residents, the same voting power as the Brooklyn borough president, who oversaw more than 2 million residents. In the new charter, the island’s representation was apportioned based on population size, allowing Staten Island to have three members on the City Council. This led borough residents to question what kind of voice they would have in the city government moving forward.
In 1989, Gov. Mario Cuomo signed state legislation that would allow Staten Island residents to vote on a referendum to study and initiate the island’s possible secession - despite opposition from then-Mayor Edward Koch and Mayor-elect David Dinkins. In 1990, 83% of Staten Islanders voted in favor of conducting a secession study and three years later, 65% of the borough’s residents voted to secede from the city. The referendum for the island’s secession was included on the city ballot in 1993, which some credit with assisting in Rudolph Giuliani’s narrow victory. The Cuomo-backed legislation, however, included an amendment that required the state Legislature to make the final decision on the matter. The legislation was then vetoed by then-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who said the bill needed a “home rule” from the city, to gain its approval
30 сен 2024
