Secession fever is reigniting among fearful Staten Islanders who refuse to believe freshly inaugurated Mayor Mamdani’s promises to the forgotten borough.
While the bright-eyed Democratic Socialist attempted to woo Staten Islanders during a mid-December visit, it only seemed to intensify unrest in the borough that gave him the least support in the November election.
“Staten Island does not embrace the socialist model,” Borough President Vito Fossella told The Post.
“If people feel that their priorities are not being addressed, they have every right to consider breaking away from the city and going in their own direction with their own destiny in their hands.”
Staten Island first attempted to secede from the city in the 1990s, when a massive study was undertaken and a ballot referendum passed with the support of 65% of Island residents. But the effort was shot down in Albany.
The borough’s discontent with the city has simmered over the years, and Fossella created a fund for a new secession study in 2023.
A City of Staten Island, with its 493,000 residents, would be bigger than Miami or Cleveland.
Mamdani’s far-left leadership has triggered renewed urgency in the city’s least-populous and most conservative borough.
He only visited the Island a handful of times during his campaign — and was often greeted with hostility from distrusting residents.
While sitting down with Advance/SILive.com at Shaw-naé‘s House, a renowned restaurant in Stapleton, Mamdani addressed his unpopularity, vowing to prioritize locals’ concerns.
“This is the moment to show Staten Islanders that their concerns will be front of mind in our administration and that we’re actually going to deliver on those concerns,” he claimed.
But said demands — such as slowing the roll on “City of Yes” initiatives — conflict with his campaign promise of more affordable housing.
He went on to ensure that Staten Islanders reaped the benefits of his proposed “fast and free” bus service.
Speaking directly on the idea of secession, the mayor asserted, “I think of Staten Island as a critical part of New York City. You cannot tell the story of five boroughs without the story of Staten Island.”
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He also visited Masjid Un Noor, the borough’s oldest mosque, in Mariners Harbor.
“While we speak of Staten Island as an obligation in our politics, it is in fact an opportunity in our politics,” he told the crowd.
Despite his warm remarks about the borough where only about 23% of voters cast their ballots in his favor, right-wing locals made it clear that they will not be letting their guard down.
“B.S. This guy hates Staten Island. This borough will always get screwed over by City Hall,” one infuriated social media user reached.
“The concerns of Staten Islanders are the farthest things from his mind. Home taxes are too high, the Island is overcrowded,” another echoed.
“Stop the City of Yes and realize Staten Island is not like other boroughs and cannot be made like them. Staten Islanders need to fight him if he does wrong. They must get out and protest, unfortunately.”
Fossella said there is no formal petition or referendum in circulation, but would support anything in the borough’s best interest — whether that means working side by side with Mamdani or giving him the cold shoulder.
Among the strongest voices in the recent bid to flee the city is Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo, who has been leading the renewed charge for the borough’s city exit.
“Mandani has absolutely opened the floodgates to have this conversation again,” Pirozzolo told The Post.
In November, Pirozzolo read aloud his Staten Island Independence Declaration to inspire another secession attempt to a crowd of about 60 people. Dozens of attendees signed this declaration.
