Fights in the Forgotten Borough: Part One

In the summer of 2023, Staten Island erupted in protests over the opening of an emergency migrant shelter at a former Catholic school. As New York City grappled with an immigration crisis, some islanders insisted it wasn’t their problem. 

In part one of this two-part series, Staten Island native Ravi Gupta explores the forgotten borough’s complex history that led to this moment, revealing larger truths about the American experience.

Fresh Kills: A History of Consuming and Discarding in New York City (Martin V. Melosi, 1/28/20)
Staten Island: Conservative Bastion in a Liberal City (Daniel C. Kramer and Richard M/ Flanagan, 5/4/12)
Massive crowd of Staten Islanders protests migrant housing at former St. John Villa Academy (Staten Island Advance, 8/25/23)
NYC migrant crisis: Heated protests held outside new Staten Island shelter (Fox New York, 8/29/23)
Staten Island pols ask NYC to establish a curfew at St. John Villa migrant shelter (Staten Island Advance, 8/26/23)
On N.Y.’s Staten Island, anti-immigration protests intensify as migrants stream in (NPR, 9/27/23)
Loudspeaker message outside NYC migrant shelter warns new arrivals are ‘not safe here’ (NBC New York, 9/13/23)
Staten Island Protesters Torment Asylum Seekers With Speakers and Flashlights (Vice 9/29/23)
Ruling overturned: Migrants can stay at St. John Villa shelter (Staten Island Advance, 8/26/23)
Judge sides with Staten Island leaders, says asylum seeker shelter at former St. John Villa Academy should close (CBS News, 9/26/23)
‘Only options left’: City Hall defends use of St. John Villa to house migrants (Staten Island Advance, 8/25/23)
Trump suggests unauthorized migrants will vote. The idea stirs his base, but ignores reality (AP, 1/9/24)
The Myth of Migrant Crime (New York Times, 7/18/24)
Debunking the Myth of the ‘Migrant Crime Wave’ (Brennan Center for Justice, 5/29/24)
America’s Long History of Immigrant Scaremongering (Slate, 7/18/24)
How the Border Crisis Shattered Biden’s Immigration Hopes (New York Times, 1/30/24)
FDNY shuts down St. John Villa shelter over faulty sprinkler, alarm systems (Staten Island Advance, 10/30/23)
Asylum seekers moved from St. John Villa Academy shelter on Staten Island over fire code violations (CBS News, 10/16/23)
‘This is the final nail in the coffin’; NYC makes decision on St. John Villa migrant shelter (Staten Island Advance, 11/10/23)
Mayor Adams Announces New York City has Cared for More than 100,000 Asylum Seekers Since Last Spring (New York City, 8/16/23)
Gov. Greg Abbott sends five more buses of migrants to New York, escalating feud with Mayor Eric Adams (Texas Tribune, 8/24/22)
How NYC is coping with 175,000 migrants from the Southern border (NPR, 2/15/24)
Chaos, Fury, Mistakes: 600 Days Inside New York’s Migrant Crisis (New York Times, 12/26/23)
Mayor Adams Improvises His Way Through an Impossible Crisis (New York Times, 5/20/23)
Staten Island pols express outrage over migrants being housed in a Staten Island hotel (Staten Island Advance, 10/5/22)
Where are asylum-seekers living in New York City? (City & State New York, 3/25/24)
Zones of Devastation From 9/11: Mapping the Victims by ZIP Code (New York Times, 8/21/02)
Escape From New York (New York Times, 1/30/94)
‘Forgotten Borough’ Steps Toward Divorce (The Washington Post, 12/4/93)
The 1993 Elections: Mayor Giuliana Ousts Dinkins by a Thin Margin (New York Times, 11/3/93)
Why Staten Island’s secession fever won’t break anytime soon (City & State New York, 10/30/23)
Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson Tries to Figure Out Why Staten Island Hates Him (Slate, 11/19/17)
Planet of the Guidos (Slate, 1/20/10)
Staten Island and the impact of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (ETD Collection for Fordham University, 2014)
New York’s Red Borough (City Journal, Winter 2018)
How the World’s Largest Garbage Dump Evolved Into a Green Oasis (New York Times, 8/14/20)
Helping Spin Gold From a Pile of Garbage (New York Times, 11/2/09)
Fresh Kills: The Making and Unmaking of a Wastescape (Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Winter 2016)
Fresh Kills: Recovery (The Sanitation Foundation)
Fresh Kills Park (NYC Parks)
Fresh Kills Park Plan (Fresh Kills Park)