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The reason SI is joked about so much is because people from SI walk around all tough with their noses in the air like they own the city. The fact is, Staten Island is no more urban than many parts of Long Island, Westchester, etc. SI is not connected...Long Island has Brooklyn and Queens connected, Westchester has the Bronx connected. I meet so many people from SI who are like "hah! You live in the sticks!" meanwhile my block doesn't look much different than some blocks in SI. The only difference is the streets are more narrow in SI and the houses are probably 5 feet closer to each other than houses in Suffolk. Nassau however has the same density. I think it's the whole, "I'm so cool bro, I'm from NYC!" thing that turns people off. You really can't claim being from NYC in a NJ suburb...I mean that's essentially what it is.
SI is barely accessible...the ferry time says 25 minutes but it's really more like 35 minutes from when you get on the boat to when you get off. Then from there you are still in the middle of nowhere all the way downtown in Manhattan, so you will have to take the subway wherever...by the time you get where you are going it takes like 45 min to 1 hour from SI to Manhattan. I live 50 miles out on LI from Manhattan and it takes me 1 hour 15 via LIRR to get right in midtown. I can beat people from SI leaving at the same time. And that's with people from SI telling me I live in "the sticks". So basically there is no benefit to living in SI if it still takes you about the same amount of time to get somewhere in Manhattan as it does someone 50 miles out on LI or 50 miles up in Westchester. Take proximity to Manhattan out of the picture, and SI is useless in many people's eyes. It has nothing in common with other boroughs...no subway, it takes 1 hour on an express bus to Manhattan, it's mostly suburban, etc. If people from SI would stop trying to pretend they are big city NYC, I think people would give them a break.
This is so true. My good friend lives in SI w her husband and 2 kids, and I only talk to her via Facebook now. We just don't bother driving all the way there to visit her, and the bridge toll is crazy $$. When I worked in the city, my SI coworker got into the office later than me after dealing w the ferry and subway!
This is so true. My good friend lives in SI w her husband and 2 kids, and I only talk to her via Facebook now. We just don't bother driving all the way there to visit her, and the bridge toll is crazy $$. When I worked in the city, my SI coworker got into the office later than me after dealing w the ferry and subway!
Yup, sounds about right. By the way when I said it takes people 1 hour to get from SI to Manhattan I was talking about the CLOSER parts! If you live on SI on the southwestern side or one of the other further areas, it can easily take you 1 hour 30 min, maybe even 2 hours+. This doesn't include waiting time for the ferry which can also easily add another 15+. I like the way we have it out by us. I live in the Ronkonkoma area where even some LI people think I live "far out there". Even so, from about exit 60 ish on the LIE to the Queens border (exit 32 when the walls on the side turn into red brick) is only 35 minutes with no traffic driving in the left lane. With some traffic, 45. And remember, this is for areas some people even consider "far out there". People in Nassau can be at the Queens border anywhere from 1-20 minutes with no traffic on the LIE. To get from SI to its closest borough (BK) is very short distance wise but can still easily take 30+ minutes to get there with all the construction and traffic. It's still a hike to Manhattan considering its proximity distance wise. This is why SI is perceived as a fake borough...it just doesn't fit anywhere. You see the Brooklyn side of the Verazzano and it's all built up and urban with that NYC feel, then you see the SI side, and it's just all trees and crap. The pace is way slower, there are no subways, no tall buildings, "express" buses take as long as the LIRR from about 50 miles out to get to Manhattan, etc.
The reason there is so much mocking of everything SI is just because of the trashy people it produces who in turn think trashy is a positive. People from Queens don't have to prove themselves, people from the Bronx don't have to prove themselves, same with people from BK and Manhattan. People from SI have a chip on their shoulder being from the "forgotten borough" and try to hype it up to make people think they are cool. This backfires as a result. Don't get me wrong, I know some good people from SI, but unfortunately a good portion of the people from there are just wannabe John Gotti's Moderator cut: Offensive. I guess there's also a sort of feeling from people in North Jersey, LI, and Westchester that "My ancestors moved out of those crappy city areas like 60 years ago when they immigrated here, so why can't you guys move up in the world?". I mean there's just no benefit to living in SI in my opinion. You are totally isolated, it takes an hour to get to the city which is also the case with many much further suburbs with nice yards and big houses, you have small or almost no yard, you live in a 2 family house, the dump that was there, etc. Really the only thing people in SI try to cling to is "hey, look at me, I'm cool...technically I'm from NYC!", and most people know it's not really true technically. SI tries to be something it's not...part of the biggest city in America. They are suburbs with a label of "NYC". It should really be part of Jersey or just leave it suburban and remove it as a borough. Find another like Nassau or Yonkers.
Last edited by bmwguydc; 03-24-2013 at 10:39 PM..
Reason: Offensive term removed
Yup, sounds about right. By the way when I said it takes people 1 hour to get from SI to Manhattan I was talking about the CLOSER parts! If you live on SI on the southwestern side or one of the other further areas, it can easily take you 1 hour 30 min, maybe even 2 hours+. This doesn't include waiting time for the ferry which can also easily add another 15+. I like the way we have it out by us. I live in the Ronkonkoma area where even some LI people think I live "far out there". Even so, from about exit 60 ish on the LIE to the Queens border (exit 32 when the walls on the side turn into red brick) is only 35 minutes with no traffic driving in the left lane. With some traffic, 45. And remember, this is for areas some people even consider "far out there". People in Nassau can be at the Queens border anywhere from 1-20 minutes with no traffic on the LIE. To get from SI to its closest borough (BK) is very short distance wise but can still easily take 30+ minutes to get there with all the construction and traffic. It's still a hike to Manhattan considering its proximity distance wise. This is why SI is perceived as a fake borough...it just doesn't fit anywhere. You see the Brooklyn side of the Verazzano and it's all built up and urban with that NYC feel, then you see the SI side, and it's just all trees and crap. The pace is way slower, there are no subways, no tall buildings, "express" buses take as long as the LIRR from about 50 miles out to get to Manhattan, etc.
The reason there is so much mocking of everything SI is just because of the trashy people it produces who in turn think trashy is a positive. People from Queens don't have to prove themselves, people from the Bronx don't have to prove themselves, same with people from BK and Manhattan. People from SI have a chip on their shoulder being from the "forgotten borough" and try to hype it up to make people think they are cool. This backfires as a result. Don't get me wrong, I know some good people from SI, but unfortunately a good portion of the people from there are just wannabe John Gotti's. I guess there's also a sort of feeling from people in North Jersey, LI, and Westchester that "My ancestors moved out of those crappy city areas like 60 years ago when they immigrated here, so why can't you guys move up in the world?". I mean there's just no benefit to living in SI in my opinion. You are totally isolated, it takes an hour to get to the city which is also the case with many much further suburbs with nice yards and big houses, you have small or almost no yard, you live in a 2 family house, the dump that was there, etc. Really the only thing people in SI try to cling to is "hey, look at me, I'm cool...technically I'm from NYC!", and most people know it's not really true technically. SI tries to be something it's not...part of the biggest city in America. They are suburbs with a label of "NYC". It should really be part of Jersey or just leave it suburban and remove it as a borough. Find another like Nassau or Yonkers.
I'm glad the pace is slower, wish it was more so. It's true about the mob wannabes but most are first/second generation from Brooklyn. The traffic and commute is bad, also depends what part of the island. It has gone downhill but I'd still take SI over the other boroughs.
Last edited by bmwguydc; 03-24-2013 at 10:40 PM..
Reason: Edited quoted text
Hi, I only like SI cause my boy friend lives there. I go their every weekend just to see him. I would not go there otherwise. I like the military fort there as well.
Forget others' impression - seriously. Who can have suburbs while being somewhat of a part of NYC?
I have to say that you guys should fight for better transportaion sevices...
Actually, I'd kind of be happier if more people didn't like Staten Island. We have lots of people who move here from Brooklyn and having lived in apartments or homes which share a common wall, they are used to less space. So when builders construct homes which have barely any room outside, little to no offstreet parking, it is roomier by comparison. We like our single family detached houses, with yards, a garage, and a driveway. My Pharmacist, who lives in Brooklyn, basically said that we better make room for people from Brooklyn, because they're going to continue being squeezed out of living space there. He also said it was just fine to knock down beautiful Victorian or Colonial homes to replace them with 3 attached barracks-style homes. Pack 'em in! There have been people talking about building density, and neighborhoods have been rezoned from mixed single/multiple family homes to detached single family just to avoid this, but builders drop a lot of cash to fight it. The roads aren't set up to handle so many people and mass transit (aside from commuting to the ferry to go to work) takes forever. I worked 5.6 miles away from my home. That's 20 minutes by car. However, it was walk to the bus, wait, get off and wait for the transfer bus. It took 2 hours to get to work, about the same time a coworker took driving in from New Hope PA.
Zoning in SI has been a joke. You have a detached house, a car repair shop, a brownstone, factory, mansion, Western Beef, house -- right next to each other.
SI has also the stigma a having too many hairdressers and white trash. However, there are many lawyez, doctez, who live there. Oh a friend of mine is suing SI Hospital for maltreatment of his son. I have heard other have too.
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