Long Island's Secession

Back in May an angry Republican politician from Staten Island started lobbying state legislators from Nassau and Suffolk counties in order to gain support for his idea for Long Island's secession from the State of New York, and to take along Richmond County as well. Richmond County is Staten Island, one of the five boroughs  of New York City, separated by Jersey from a thin river, from Brooklyn by the Verrazano Narrows, and from Manhattan by almost seven miles of New York Bay. Nassau and Suffolk counties are the two counties on Long Island out past Queens County and Kings County (Brooklyn).

The politician was angry, as were his constituents, about having to bailout the MTA, the non-governmental subway, bus, and commuter train massive bureaucracy. There is one train that runs on Staten Island, and you need the ferry from Manhattan to get to the stop. Bailouts are never fun. They do have bus service.

Staten Island has been trying to escape the yolk of the City for years, and, apparently, the same goes for Long Island and the State of New York. I haven't really done my diligent research on this subject, but I did a little, and I watched the Samantha Bee segment from "The Daily Show" that was on this past Monday. Sometimes humor is the best way to deal with these concepts. When she intones in a voice-over, "Long Island, located just ten miles east of Manhattan, or three-and-a-half hours by car..." I cracked up.

I suggest following this link and watching it for yourself. Depending on where in the US you're from, it may be funny, it may be sad, but all you need is to spend maybe a week out here to hear about six different guys say Shtroang Oyailand, most meathead's pet name for their beloved LI.