Overview

Staten Island is New York City’s smallest yet fastest growing borough: a conservative, suburban community of nearly a half a million on the fringe of the nation’s most liberal, global city. Staten Island: Conservative Bastion in a Liberal City chronicles how this “forgotten borough” has grappled with its uneasy relationship with the rest of the City of New York since the 1920s. Daniel C. Kramer and Richard M. Flanagan analyze the politics behind events that have shaped the borough, such as the opening of the Verrazano Bridge and the closure of the Fresh Kills Landfill. Lost opportunities are discussed, including the failure to construct a rail link to the other boroughs of New York, to adequately plan for the explosive housing boom in recent decades and, some say, to create an independent City of Staten Island. Unlike much of New York City, Staten Island is a place with robust party competition and lively democratic politics with hard-fought campaigns, bitter feuds, and career-ending scandals. Staten Island’s two most successful politicians of the twentieth century—Republicans John Marchi and Guy Molinari—defended the borough’s interests while defining an urban conservativism that would influence politics elsewhere. In fact, Staten Island has played a pivotal role in the winning electoral coalitions of Republican mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg and continues to spark the imaginations of New Yorkers on a scale that is disproportionate to the borough’s relatively small size. Staten Island: Conservative Bastion in a Liberal City will allow readers to gain access to the borough-based roots of New York City’s politics. This book will be of special interest to anyone who wishes to understand the dynamics of middle-class life and democratic representation in a global city.

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9780761858317

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The new book, Staten Island: Conservative Bastion In a Liberal City, makes clear that the Island has played a crucial role in city and national politics. SILive

The new book, Staten Island: Conservative Bastion In a Liberal City, makes clear that the Island has played a crucial role in city and national politics. SILive Although its population exceeds that of Wyoming, Staten Island is the smallest New York borough and consequently gets no respect. Urban scholars have written a number of city biographies. Kramer (emer., City Univ. of New York) and Flanagan (College of Staten Island, CUNY) have written a borough biography. Their book covers the island from the 1920s though 2010. It is a well-written and thorough examination of the relationship between the political leaders in New York and the forgotten borough. Topics include the growth caused by the construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the efforts to close the Fresh Kills Landfill, the succession movement, and the rise of Reagan Democrats. Kramer and Flanagan identify the current challenges of the borough as the lack of adequate mass transportation, a serious shortage of hospital beds, and unregulated development. They argue that the borough's subordinate status and relatively small population have made it exceedingly difficult to get the New York City government to address these problems. While the political analysis relates the developments on Staten Island to the more general political science literature and national political developments, this book would be of the greatest interest to students of New York City politics. Summing Up: Recommended. CHOICE

Author Information

The late Daniel C. Kramer joined the faculty of the City University of New York in 1967, retiring as professor emeritus of political science in 1999. Richard M. Flanagan is associate professor of political science at The College of Staten Island, City University of New York.

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