Revisionist History - Coming Soon: The Staten Island Problem

Episode Date: June 29, 2026

On the 250th anniversary of the United States, Revisionist History investigates the overlooked story of New York City almost breaking apart as  Staten Island threatened to secede.  Over the course of five episodes, The Staten Island Problem reconstructs the battle for New York City amidst the turbulent early 1990s — the rise of Rudy Giuliani, the peak of the homicide rate, the Wu-Tang Clan, a young Donald Trump, and the first Black mayor of New York — all through the prism of the city’s Forgotten Borough. And ultimately asks: What do you do when a democracy looks like it’s falling apart?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pushkin. Five miles off the shore of Manhattan, there is a place called Staten Island. We don't live in the glitter of Broadway. We don't live in Yankee Stadium. Where we live in is in everyday Staten Island. We weren't sophisticated. We were not, you know, east side of Manhattan or west side of Manhattan liberals. We were country people.

And 30 years ago, Staten Island decided it didn't want to be part of New York City anymore. Who will you trust your friends and neighbors and the people in Staten Island? Who will you trust the people five miles overseas? Staten Island was trying to secede from New York City, but not without a fight. If nothing else, I hope that I can convey to the people of Staten Island that I deeply care about them and about all of them. If this were a political visit, wine blazes would I come? It's a pipe dream. It's just not going to happen. people are not facing the reality.

My God, what are they thinking? What unfolded over the span of the next four years was a battle for the soul of the city, which I as a person living in the city had never heard about. And the more I researched, the more I realized this is exactly what's happening in the country right now. This is what happens when a group who feels like they've been ignored and forgotten for decades

decides that they've had enough. All of you who are in favor of seceding from the city of New York, would you please raise your hands? This is a story about a democracy falling apart. It's about neighbors turning on each other and a very specific strain of resentment that started in the outer boroughs of New York City and then went national, with people like Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani. We reached for a feeling. that exists in this city. But we're not stopping,

only! In the polls, generally speak, National Inquirer did a poll that's unbelievable that says I win, that you beat everybody. They're right in right into the White House. I'm Ben Nathafafaf. And I have done a deep, deep dive

into this overlooked and misunderstood moment from 30 years ago when New York City almost tore itself apart. Because I think it anticipated everything about how our country is tearing itself apart right now. This summer, we're celebrating our 250th birthday as a country. It's the anniversary of an act of secession.

This is who we are. This is what we do. So it's time to ask a big question. How do you solve the Staten Island problem? The Forgotten Borough, I don't know. I think we just might get rid of that nickname. My position was to ask yourself, what cost freedom? The Staten Island problem is coming July 9th from pushing

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