From 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy to COVID-19, Trump and de Blasio: The top 15 events in Staten Island history – SILive.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - They call us the forgotten borough. But Staten Island has had its share of earth-shaking moments that continue to shape us to this day.

Here are 15 of the most transformative happenings in borough history, in descending order.

Plans for a NASCAR track in Bloomfield were scrapped in 2006 after heated debate. (Advance file photo)

15. THE DEMISE OF NASCAR IN 2006

There was simply too much local opposition to the plan to build an 80,000-seat NASCAR racetrack in Bloomfield. Race-day traffic was the main concern voiced by Staten Islanders.

Mayor Bill de Blasio wrestles with Staten Island Chuck in 2014. (Advance file photo)

14. BILL DE BLASIO IS ELECTED MAYOR IN 2013

The ultra-lefty pol was never a fit for Staten Islanders. Crime exploded on de Blasios watch and his anti-car Vision Zero program earned him the enmity of all borough motorists. He also ate pizza for a fork and had a hand in the demise of one of our groundhogs. Even borough Democrats tired of de Blasio eventually.

Smoke billows from deadly LNG tank explosion in 1973. (Advance file photo)

13. THE DEADLY 1973 LNG TANK DISASTER

The explosion of empty liquefied natural gas tanks in Rossville in 1973 killed 40 workers and made Staten Islanders take a hard look at what types of facilities we would allow in our borough.

Remnants of New York Wheel project could still be seen long after its demise. (Advance file photo)

12. THE COLLAPSE OF THE NEW YORK WHEEL PROJECT IN 2018

The New York Wheel was supposed to lead a North Shore waterfront renaissance. But the project stalled after $200 million was spent at the site. It was a brutal reminder that big-ticket projects often face tough sledding on Staten Island.

Donald Trump in 2016 spoke to a packed ballroom at a GOP event in the Hilton Garden Inn in Bloomfield. (Advance file photo)

11. DONALD TRUMP IS ELECTED PRESIDENT IN 2016

Staten Island was the only borough to vote for Trump for president, underlining the red boroughs outsider status when it came to the rest of the city and state.

The shame and scandal of Willowbrook State School led to a revolution in how societies around the world care for mentally ill and disabled. (Advance file photo)

10. DISGRACE OF WILLOWBROOK STATE SCHOOL EXPOSED IN 1972

The Advance first detailed how those with mental disabilities were living in filthy, inhumane conditions at Willowbrook. It became a national disgrace that led to sweeping changes in the way that we treat the disabled. It was a horrific price to pay for reform.

In this 1994 photo Gov. Mario Cuomo, seated, has just signed a measure authorizing a study and initiating the process of Staten Island's secession from New York City. Shaking Cuomo's hand, left, is State Sen. John J. Marchi. Applauding the signing are, from the left, Assemblywoman Elizabeth A. Connelly, College of Staten Island president Edmond Volpe and assemblymen Robert Straniere and Eric Vitaliano. (Staten Island Advance/Irving Silverstein)

9. STATEN ISLANDERS VOTE TO SECEDE IN 1993

Fed up with being ignored by City Hall and Albany, and with our power diminished after the Board of Estimate was disbanded, Staten Islanders in 1993 voted in favor of a secession referendum that began the process of us leaving the other four boroughs and becoming an independent city. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver eventually killed the movement by insisting that the City Council issue a home-rule message on secession.

Jewett Avenue near the MTA bus depot was underwater as the remnants of Hurricane Ida passed over Staten island on Sept, 1, 2021. (Shared to @siadvance Instagram)

8. BOROUGH GETS WALLOPED BY HURRICANE IDA IN 2021

The intense storm flooded basements, backyards, roadways and the Staten Island Railway line, forcing Islanders to face the fact that our storm-sewer infrastructure just wasnt up to handling steadily worsening major storms.

The election of Rudolph Giuliani as mayor gave Staten Island outsized influence in city government for eight years. (Advance file photo)

7. RUDOLPH GIULIANI IS ELECTED MAYOR IN 1993

Staten Islands votes put the Republican over the top and Giuliani never forgot us. His partnership with GOP Borough President Guy Molinari led to what many consider a golden age of borough influence in city government. Giuliani also beat back crime and restored to prominence a city that many critics called ungovernable.

Remnants of abandoned subway tunnel are seen in this photo from 1937. (Advance file photo)

6. THE BROKEN PROMISE TO BUILD A SUBWAY HERE

Officials promised to build a subway line linking Staten Island to the rest of the city as an inducement for us to join the other four boroughs in the City of New York in 1898. While various holes were dug in the ground over the years, the subway line was never built. Its helped lead to overwhelming traffic congestion here that hurts Islanders quality of life every day.

Staten Island's coastal areas were among those hit the hardest by Hurricane Sandy. (Advance file photo)

5. HURRICANE SANDY DEVASTATES STATEN ISLAND IN 2012

Staten Islands coastal communities were among those that suffered the most from the superstorm, making us re-think how we develop our shorelines and highlighting the importance of maintaining woodlands and other open spaces that can soak up stormwater.

The 9/11 attacks killed 274 Island residents and left an indelible mark on the borough felt to this day. (Advance file photo)

4. TERRORISTS DESTROY THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ON SEPT. 11, 2001

No borough was hit harder by this national tragedy than Staten Island, which saw 274 residents killed on the actual day and has seen many more die over the subsequent decades due to 9/11-related diseases. None who were alive that day have ever forgotten it.

The final shipment of garbage arrived at the Fresh Kills Landfill on March 22, 2001. (Advance file photo)

3. THE FRESH KILLS LANDFILL IS CLOSED IN 2001

They said it couldnt be done. But after a fight led by Borough President Guy Molinari, the final barge of trash arrived at the landfill on March 22, 2001 and Staten Island finally was no longer the sole repository for all the citys garbage. An environmental crime from the day it opened, Da Dump was not only a blight on our landscape, but on our collective soul. The other four boroughs were never more uncaring of us.

COVID-19 public service sign on the West Shore Expressway during the early days of the pandemic. (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance)

2. THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC UPENDS LIFE BEGINNING IN 2020

We could hardly have known that wed still be battling the COVID-19 virus more than two years after the first cases were detected here. More than 2,300 Islanders have perished from coronavirus and untold numbers have had their work, school and social lives upended. Many who have recovered from the virus still feel the long-term effects. Battles over mask and vaccine mandates continue to divide us. We will always watch warily for the next wave of infections.

The opening of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in 1964 changed Staten Island forever. (Advance file photo)

1. THE VERRAZZANO-NARROWS BRIDGE OPENS IN 1964

The seminal moment in the recent history of the borough. The opening of the bridge (spelled Verrazano-Narrows Bridge back then) kicked off a decades-long population explosion that helped fuel massive overdevelopment and resulting traffic congestion, crises that seem to still be worsening today.

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom! Were there any big events that I missed here? Please write to me at wrobleski@siadvance.com. Thanks again for reading.

MORE STATEN ISLAND HISTORY FROM TOM WROBLESKI

From The Bridge to Below the Boulevard: 24 things that only true Staten Islanders know

How mob legend Lucky Luciano, the father of the modern Mafia, survived a one-way trip to Staten Island

Dan Aykroyd talks John Belushi and cocaine-fueled 1980s movie shoot on Staten Island

Recall these vintage shops, patriotic moments and small-town sights of Main Street in Tottenville?

Husband smiles for the camera after bludgeoning unfaithful wife to death in Staten Island motel in 1962

Haunted Silver Lake: Islander slays wife in infamous 1878 beer-barrel murder

How Staten Island helped catch Son of Sam in the summer of 1977

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From 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy to COVID-19, Trump and de Blasio: The top 15 events in Staten Island history - SILive.com