A group of Republican lawmakers in Staten Island are talking about seceding from New York City in response to Zohran Mamdani's Nov. 4 election as mayor.
"It’s only going to get louder," Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella tells USA TODAY, noting that a majority of residents in the Republican-leaning borough didn’t vote for Mamdani, a self-professed democratic socialist. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a moderate Democrat who ran as an independent, won 55% of mayoral votes in the borough, New York's most conservative, while Mamdani received nearly 23% and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa got 21%.
Other elected officials argue Staten Island remains the "forgotten borough" and, despite the failure of previous secession attempts, they want to see how far a renewed strategy can propel them in 2026 with Mamdani soon leading the city.
Now, state Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo raised eyebrows last month when he hosted a rally where he read a "Staten Island Independence Declaration." Dozens of attendees signed a related petition as the event took place on the island where British soldiers were first told about the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776.
Pirozzolo tells USA TODAY he’s "not declaring a physical war" on New York City, but secession should be strongly considered. He believes that Mamdani’s victory may not bode well for Staten Island’s nearly 500,000 residents.
