WI: Staten Island secedes from New York City in 1997

Fiala 1997

Banned
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On November 3, 1993, while providing Republican mayor-elect Rudy Giuliani with the victory of mayor as well with Queens, Staten Island secedes from the city effective July 1, 1997.
Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari is elected Mayor of Staten Island in 1997 and runs for one term, while promising Staten Island Councilman Stephen Fiala would be his vice mayor and run for the Mayor of Staten Island in 2001.
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Stephen Fiala
Rudy Giuliani loses reelection to firebrand civil rights leader Al Sharpton in 1997 due to the fact that SI is gone from the electoral strategy and Queens goes Democratic due to minority support of Sharpton....
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Where does SI go from there?
 

Fiala 1997

Banned
Enigmajones said:
Gotta say as a New Yorker the idea of Staten Island leaving makes me happy. It’s basically just New Jersey.
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It's a trashy version of NJ. There are a lot of Italian/Irish blue collar suburban-type areas in NJ that are nicer/better than SI.

Queens would be the most conservative boro if SI left...

The Mets, Archie Bunker, etc. are all conservative-leaning.
 

David T

There's a legal problem whether this can be done without the consent of New York City: https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/nyregion/home-rule-factor-may-block-si-secession.html And remember, even after the 1994 elections, the Democrats easily dominated the Assembly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_New_York

Of course this is alternatehistory.com where people never let little things like "the law" or "political realities" get in their way...

BTW, Giuliani would easily have won in 1997 without a single vote from Staten Island https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55046 and while Sharpton would have made a Democratic runoff with Messinger (unlike OTL wherer she narrowly met the 40% threshold) it is very unlikely he would be the Demcoratic candidate given the combined Messinger-Albanese vote. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=52545
 
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ComradeLenin22

ComradeLenin22

Would SI opt be transferred to New Jersey? or would it be a individual county/town in New York State?

If NJ then just for nice looking border then SI as a concept would probably cease to exist as we know it as it would just become swarmed by the developments of Newark and Elizabeth. I could easily see SI becoming ground zero for a development plan to make big apartment buildings and or some skyrises. New Jersey is a highly dense state population-wise and I can only assume that with the ideal coastal land just across from NYC would be a perfect real estate plan for the state.

If SI is just a individual county/city in New York State then it's kinda just a blip on the map (more so than it kinda is as part of NYC). By not being part of NYC, SI gets less funding, tourism, and business. Politically SI is in the Bermuda Triangle but I guess Republicans get to form their little castle in a sea of Blue. The people of NYC suffer somewhat from a even more reduced lack of Republican representation that has effected cities like D.C. or Los Angeles (for better or worse I'm just making a point).

Oh and Staten Island would probably cease to be called that and would be refereed to as Richmond County that has the town called Staten or something like that.
 

jlckansas

It would take an act of congress and all kinds of other things to happen for Staten Island to join NJ. Easiest would be them to be an independent County/city in New York State.
 

KingSweden24

I wonder if SI could pursue its own more developed port infrastructure across the bay from Newark and Hoboken; could be a sound economic policy without the benefits from being inside NYC
 

Fiala 1997

Banned
David T said:
There's a legal problem whether this can be done without the consent of New York City: https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/05/nyregion/home-rule-factor-may-block-si-secession.html And remember, even after the 1994 elections, the Democrats easily dominated the Assembly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_New_York

Of course this is alternatehistory.com where people never let little things like "the law" or "political realities" get in their way...

BTW, Giuliani would easily have won in 1997 without a single vote from Staten Island https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55046 and while Sharpton would have made a Democratic runoff with Messinger (unlike OTL wherer she narrowly met the 40% threshold) it is very unlikely he would be the Demcoratic candidate given the combined Messinger-Albanese vote. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=52545
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You really think so? Giuliani was not liked when it came to the NYPD's police brutality under his watch....Abner Louima, Anthony Baez, etc.
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David T

Fiala 1997 said:
You really think so? Giuliani was not liked when it came to the NYPD's police brutality under his watch....Abner Louima, Anthony Baez, etc.
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He beat Messinger by 17.2 points. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_New_York_City_mayoral_election He beat her in Queens, Brooklyn, and even Manhatttan, losing only in the Bronx. He beat her by 136,541 votes in OTL; he beat her by 34,382 votes on Staten Island. So wiithout SI, he would still have beaten her by 102,159 votes.

The median NYC voter is just not as progressive as you think, and that is not primarily due to Staten Island, which has only a small percentage of the city's population. From Koch to Adams, concerns over law and order have generally outvoted concerns about police brutaltity.
 

Fiala 1997

Banned
Polish Eagle said:
If New York could trade Staten Island for Hudson County, everybody would win.
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I don't think anyone wants SI....Staten Island would just be like Hempstead or Mount Vernon, their own city. Staten Island would be the most Republican city in NY. Other than that, Queens is the second most conservative borough or part of the city.
 

Fiala 1997

Banned
David T said:
He beat Messinger by 17.2 points. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_New_York_City_mayoral_election He beat her in Queens, Brooklyn, and even Manhatttan, losing only in the Bronx. He beat her by 136,541 votes in OTL; he beat her by 34,382 votes on Staten Island. So wiithout SI, he would still have beaten her by 102,159 votes.

The median NYC voter is just not as progressive as you think, and that is not primarily due to Staten Island, which has only a small percentage of the city's population. From Koch to Adams, concerns over law and order have generally outvoted concerns about police brutaltity.
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He barely won in 1993 against Dinkins.....he won reelection in '97 because crime was down and the economy was doing very well....
 
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