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Which of you would love for Staten Island to secede from New York City if they try to do so again?

• Staten Island, the most suburban of the 5 New York City boroughs, has sometimes been called "the forgotten borough" because it has largely been negleted and ignored by city officials and the outside world. It probably has to do with the fact that it is the most boring New York City borough, so that’s why it attracts the least tourists and visitors out of all the boroughs. The only famous thing I can think of that Staten Island has is the Ferry that goes to Manhattan. As a matter of fact, New Yorkers used to dump all their trash to Staten Island in Fresh Kills Landfill, which was the biggest landfill in the world, before it closed, but now it is being turned into a public park. Staten Island is also the only New York City borough whose majority of its residents are Republicans. It is the only borough that currently has a Republican borough president. Staten Island is also the most isolated borough of all the boroughs and its residents feel out of place and out of touch from all the coolness and hipness that New York City is known for. No wonder that throughout its history, Staten Island has, so far, been the only New York City borough to have tried to secede several times, all unsuccessful tries though, from the City in order to become an independent city. The last time Staten Island tried to secede from New York City was in 1993, and it was met with much enthusiasm. In a 1993 referendum, 65% voted to secede. The vote was in favor of secession through the approval of a new city charter making Staten Island an independent city, but in the end, implementation was blocked in the New York State assembly. The Staten Island secession movement was defused, or at least deferred, by the election of Rudolph Giuliani as New York City mayor, who had campaigned on the promise that Staten Island's grievances would be addressed. Giuliani's plurality in his narrow victory over Dinkins was aided by overwhelming support from Staten Island. Two of the borough's biggest demands were closing the Fresh Kills Landfill and making the Staten Island Ferry free, both of which have since been fulfilled. So, what do you think? How many of you would be for Staten Island’s secession from New York City if they try to secede yet again? Should Staten Island secede from New York City?

• Answer:

  Your knowledge of SI is retarded. The voter enrollment is 85,000 Dems to 62,000 Rep, 8600 Independence, 3000 Conservative, 800 Working Families and 350 Greens (plus 40,000 blanks). Our borough president, Jim Molinaro, is NOT a republican, but a conservative. As for famous things on SI, you are already so ignorant, that I am sure you will shrug off the following: the only Tibetan Museum in North America, frequently visited by the Dalai Lama; Richmondtown Restoration, a colonial village; Alice Austin House, home of one of the first women professional photographers; Conference House, scene of the only peace conference held during the Revolution, with Lord Howe for the Brits and Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge for the USA; Staten Island Zoo, with the best collection of selected reptile species; Snug Harbor, with a large botanical garden specializing in rare and antique species of roses; the home and grave of Ichabod Crane, the home of the real inventor of the telephone, and a lot more. Yes we are suburban, I had three raccoons in my backyard this morning, and a gorgeous golden pheasant sometimes nests nearby. There are also possum, we had an eagle fly through last month, wild turkeys occasionally walk across the property, there are deer in forests a couple miles away. The problem with the other boroughs is that they do not have all these advantages. I've lived, worked and/or gone to school in every borough but Brooklyn, and my wife is a native of that borough. Neither of us would move. As for seceding, we are the only borough other than Manhattan that pays more in taxes than we receive from the city, and Manhattan gets that way thanks to all the big businesses. Our taxes are from homeowners and working people.