Staten Island is so desperate to leave New York City that it may join upstate.
Republican Assemblyman Michael Reilly is sick of New York City’s high taxes and liberal policies and is hoping the northernmost reaches of the Empire State would annex Staten Island as part of an existing proposal to divide the state into three regions.
The far-fetched plan sponsored by Assemblyman David DiPietro (R-East Aurora), dubbed Divide NY, would split the state into three regions: New York City; “Montauk,” containing Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland counties; and “New Amsterdam” for all of upstate.
Reilly would like to amend the bill to get the Island out of the Big Apple.
“In my personal view, I’m leaning toward going up to New Amsterdam,” he told The Post. “I don’t think we would align with the Montauk region.”
The Post previously reported that DiPietro’s plan that would create independent regions, each with their own governor and legislature, running their own schools and setting taxes.
This comes on the heels of a Staten Island secession proposal by Republican Councilman Joe Borelli and about 30 years after 65 percent of red borough residents actually voted to leave NYC in a referendum. The movement went dormant when then-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver prevented it from moving forward without a City Council “home rule message.”
Reilly’s Staten Island colleague, Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, said she supports exploring secession, but doesn’t want to join upstate.
“They don’t have the economy to support themselves … because of policies put in place by the Democratic-controlled legislature,” she said.
Sam Pirozzolo, a Republican running for City Council, is surveying his fellow Staten Islanders to gauge secession support and wants people to seriously consider joining upstate.
The Republican-backed Divide NY bill is likely to be killed in the Democrat-controlled state legislature.