WEBVTT - Coming Soon: The Staten Island Problem

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<v Speaker 1>Pushkin. Five miles off the shore of Manhattan, there is

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<v Speaker 1>a place called Staten Island. We don't live in the

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<v Speaker 1>glitter of Broadways. We don't live in Yankee Stadium.

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<v Speaker 2>Where we live is in every day Staten Island. Who

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<v Speaker 2>weren't soophisticated. We were not you know, East side of

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<v Speaker 2>Manhattan or West side of Manhattan liberals.

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<v Speaker 1>We were country people. And thirty years ago Staten Island

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<v Speaker 1>decided it didn't want to be part of New York

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<v Speaker 1>City anymore.

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<v Speaker 2>Who will you trust your friends and neighbors and the

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<v Speaker 2>people in Staten Island?

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<v Speaker 1>Who are you trust the people five miles overseas, Staten

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<v Speaker 1>Island was trying to secede from New York City, but

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<v Speaker 1>not without a fight.

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<v Speaker 2>See, if nothing else, I hope that I can convey

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<v Speaker 2>to the people of Staten Island that I deeply care

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<v Speaker 2>them and about all of them. If this were a

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<v Speaker 2>political visit, whine blazes, would I come. It's a pipe dream.

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<v Speaker 2>It's just not going to happen. People are not facing

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<v Speaker 2>the reality. My god, what are they thinking?

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<v Speaker 1>What unfolded over the span of the next four years

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<v Speaker 1>was a battle for the soul of the city, which

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<v Speaker 1>I as a person living in the city had never

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<v Speaker 1>heard about. And the more I researched, the more I realized,

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<v Speaker 1>this is exactly what's happening in the country right now.

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<v Speaker 1>This is what happens when a group who feels like

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<v Speaker 1>they've been ignored and forgotten for decades decides that they've

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<v Speaker 1>had enough. All of you who are in favor of

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<v Speaker 1>seceding from the City of New York, would you please

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<v Speaker 1>raise your hands. This is a story about a democracy

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<v Speaker 1>falling apart. It's about neighbors turning on each other in

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<v Speaker 1>a very specific strain of resentment that started in the

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<v Speaker 1>outer boroughs of New York City and then went national

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<v Speaker 1>with people like Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani.

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<v Speaker 2>We reached for a feeling that exists in this city,

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<v Speaker 2>but we're not stopping. Harley and the Paul's generally speaking

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<v Speaker 2>national Enquiry did a Paul that's unbelievable. This is a

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<v Speaker 2>win that you beat everybody right right into the White House.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm been thatt of Haffrey and I have done a deep,

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<v Speaker 1>deep dive into this overlooked and misunderstood moment from thirty

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<v Speaker 1>years ago when New York City almost tore itself apart,

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<v Speaker 1>because I think it anticipated everything about how our country

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<v Speaker 1>is tearing itself apart. Right now this summer, we're celebrating

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<v Speaker 1>our two hundred and fiftieth birthday as a country. It's

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<v Speaker 1>the anniversary of an act of secession. This is who

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<v Speaker 1>we are, this is what we do. So it's time

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<v Speaker 1>to ask a big question, how do you solve the

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<v Speaker 1>Staten Island problem? The Forgotten Borough? I don't know. I

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<v Speaker 1>think we just might get rid of that nickname.

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<v Speaker 2>My position was to ask yourself what close freedom.

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<v Speaker 1>The Staten Island problem is? Coming July ninth from Pushkin Industries.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen on the Revisionist History Feed wherever you get your podcasts.