What if Staten Island Left NYC

...and joined Upstate New York? [Politics Brief from WNYC + Gothamist] [Keep friends and family informed. Forward the Politics Brief.]( The Ferry to...Upstate? By [James Ramsay]( Seth Wenig/AP Images Staten Island is trying to secede from New York City, [and not for the first time](. In 1987, State Sen. John J. Marchi, a.k.a. the "Father of Secession," launched a campaign for it. In 1989, Gov. Mario Cuomo signed a law allowing Staten Islanders to vote on a referendum merely to study a possible secession. In 1993, a majority of voters on the rock actually did vote to secede, only to have their decision shot down by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver via an arcane rule baked into state law. And in 2009 and 2011, State Sen. Andrew Lanza tried and failed to resuscitate secession. Now, several Staten Island politicians are again trying to divorce their borough from the other four. But they're also simultaneously trying to divide the entire state into three newly designated regions. And the region they want to join is not the one containing New York City's immediate suburbs, but the one containing Adirondack State Park. Divide NY, the (unlikely-to-pass) legislation put forth by Buffalo-area Assemblymember David DiPietro, would divide the state into New York City, "Montauk" (Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, and Rockland Counties), and "New Amsterdam" (the entire rest of the state). Staten Island Assemblymember Michael Reilly wants to amend the plan to allow Staten Island to join "New Amsterdam." "I don’t think we would align with the Montauk region," Reilly told [the New York Post]( presumably referring to the political differences between his Republican-leaning borough and the suburbs, which have seen an [increase in registered Democratic voters](. "If the city wants to continue going in a radical progressive direction, please just leave us behind!" added City Councilmember Joe Borelli, a secession advocate who recently ran as the Republican candidate for Public Advocate. "The city is fighting a war on the cars we need to drive and loathe police officers — many (of whom) live here. Why wouldn’t Staten Island want to secede?" But while many Staten Islanders see their home as the "forgotten borough," the image of a largely white, conservative, car-reliant population is becoming less and less accurate. "What often doesn’t get said is that the North Shore [makes Staten Island] one of the most quickly diversifying boroughs," writer Claire Jimenez, who recently published a book called Staten Island Stories, [told WNYC's Brian Lehrer]( last week. "We have Liberians, Sri Lankan, Mexican, black, all types of Latino." Besides a changing Staten Island population, there's another hurdle for boosters of the Divide NY secession plan: If they're upset about being taxed to support the rest of New York City (and they are upset about it), joining the upstate region wouldn't solve that problem. Counties upstate are even poorer. Republican Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, a former mayoral candidate who's now running to unseat Democratic Rep. Max Rose in New York's 11th Congressional district, says she wouldn't want to be tied to Upstate New York. "They don’t have the economy to support themselves … because of policies put in place by the Democratic-controlled legislature," she told the Post. And then, it's not even clear if a majority of Staten Islanders would back secession today. Borelli, who's [co-sponsoring]( a City Council bill to study the possibility of secession, [admitted]( that support for this is much stronger on the South Shore, the whitest and most conservative part of the island. Booker Likely Won't Make the December Debate. What Then? Despite raking in over $1.3 million in donations in the 36 hours after Sen. Kamala Harris dropped out, Sen. Cory Booker still isn't polling high enough to make the December 19th debate. (He needs to hit 4 percent in several national or early-state polls; he's currently sitting at around 2 percent.) And he's not pretending like a debate spot doesn't matter. "When your caller ID shows that a pollster is calling, pick up the phone and answer it please," he told a crowd in Iowa recently. But with Harris — who did qualify for the debate — now out of the race, there's been a spike in criticism over the whiteness of the remaining field (Andrew Yang, [who qualified yesterday]( is the only non-white candidate likely to appear on stage). Booker himself [noted]( that with Tom Steyer's presence, the debate stage will feature more billionaires than black people. Could that image end up giving Booker a boost, with under two months to go until the Iowa caucuses? "By pointing out the monochromatic and moneyed make-up of the lineup," says NJTV's David Cruz, "[Booker] hopes to be present in his absence, and work his way back into the minds of voters as an alternative." ([NJTV News]( What the Future Looks Like for the Working Families Party After a New York State commission [recently voted]( to increase the requirements for third parties to get an automatic ballot line, the Working Families Party may not appear on the ballot in upcoming state elections (WFP and another third party are currently suing). Still, WFP's overall political influence could be on the rise. After a couple decades of close association with big labor unions, the party is changing course, aligning itself more with the Democratic Socialists of America and the broader left-wing Democratic forces behind Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's popularity. "There are social movement actors from Occupy Wall Street all the way to the resistance movement to Trump, who are looking for an electoral political home," Maurice Mitchell, the WFP's national director, told the New York Times. "The next iteration of the Working Families Party is intent on being that political home." While the WFP and the DSA haven't agreed on everything (the former has endorsed Elizabeth Warren for president; the latter backs Bernie Sanders), they both got behind Tiffany Cabán's run for Queens district attorney, and they've both targeted New York State Democratic legislators seen as insufficiently progressive. Another issue the WFP and the DSA are also both working on: Fixing the perception (and reality) that they're largely made up of middle-class white people. Mayor de Blasio's chief of staff told the Times that New York's WFP is committed to changing that, pointing to the recent hiring of Sochie Nnaemeka, a black woman who's the daughter of immigrants, as its new leader. ([The New York Times]( Is Michael Bloomberg Buying Poll Numbers? Mayor Bill de Blasio, who traveled around the country hustling to get in every living room and on every debate stage that would have him, never broke 1 percent in the polls. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who launched his presidential campaign just a few weeks ago, is forgoing the Democratic primary debates, and [spent yesterday]( in a sustainable finance panel at a U.N. summit in Spain, is polling at 6 percent. What explains Bloomberg's relative popularity? A leading theory: He bought $60 million worth of name recognition. (Since launching his campaign on November 24th, Bloomberg has spent more on ads than the four leading candidates combined, for all of 2019.) That said, a massive ad buy doesn't guarantee that voters will tell a pollster they want to elect you president, does it? "Some people may think it's disgusting that there's so much money in politics, that you can buy this national exposure," HuffPost's Amanda Terkel told WNYC's The Brian Lehrer yesterday. "But you have some Democrats who are very, very focused on defeating Trump [who may] say, look, Trump is rich, why don't we have a Democratic candidate who has even more money? We need all the resources we can to defeat Trump." ([The Brian Lehrer Show]( Central Jersey: A Real Part of the State, or a State of Mind? Gov. Murphy/[Twitter]( This doesn't have anything to do with electoral politics, but it is important: Does New Jersey consist simply of South Jersey and North Jersey, or [is there a middle part]( with its own identity? Gov. Phil Murphy has indicated that Central Jersey exists. "We are one New Jersey — North, Central, and South — an extended family striving for success," Murphy said during his inaugural address back in 2017. But then he [told Stephen Colbert]( last summer that Central Jersey is "a little bit of a mystical kingdom — kind of like Camelot." Now, the governor is going back to his claim that Central Jersey is (unlike Camelot) a real place, as shown on the above map he recently tweeted out. If you listen to New Jersey Public Radio via WNJO 90.3 Toms River or WNJT 88.1 Trenton, [tell us](mailto:james@wnyc.org?subject=I%20live%20in%20______%20Jersey): What's your region called? Today: What Is Giuliani Doing in Ukraine? Rudy Giuliani is conducting a "parallel investigation" to counter the Democrats' impeachment probe. Trump, Inc.'s co-hosts break down what the president's personal lawyer is up to. Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. 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