The least known of the five burrows that
make up the city.
Welcome to Staten Island. Lots of people
hanging out, having a good time.
Cops, firemen, sanitation, whole city
workers.
Looked down on even by people who are
not from New York City.
Think of me as the Barbie you’ll never
get to play with.
I love that.
You’re a tanning professional.
Pizza. It’s a huge rival on the island.
Joan Pats versus Denino’s.
Pizza number one. Higher crime on this
part of the island. That’s a housing
project in here, too.
The mafia bosses were living up here.
We’ll pass by the White House. The mafia
white house.
We’re going to crrepid
crrepid waterfront.
You got cool buildings here, though. I
love this. It’s like country roads.
This person. Thanks, a-hole. You’re from
Jersey. I’m so surprised.
That’s how we feel about all of you guys
down in Florida.
I bet
the Middle East meets America. My mind
is flipping around a little bit.
It’s Staten Island. There’s nothing like
it.
Sarah, you’re from Staten Island. Born
and raised.
Born and raised.
And you’re saying over the phone, most
people don’t understand Staten Island.
Most New Yorkers, you were saying, don’t
even come here.
Me myself, I’ve been to New York, I
don’t know, 50 times, and I’ve never
been to Staten Island.
That’s typical. It’s either I’ve only
ever driven through Staten Island. Or
you’d hear like, I’ve never been there
before. Isn’t that like where there’s a
dump?
Okay.
Which there is, right?
Not anymore. As the years go on, people
are not mentioning the dump so much
anymore, but that was a huge part of
island life and culture growing up.
So, this is postcards. This is the
September 11th memorial. Staten Island
took a quite a devastating hit in terms
of residents that passed, a lot of which
were firefighters. It’s still really
hard actually to look out and not see
the towers there.
Even though you’re physically detached
from Manhattan, it’s right there but a
world away. That’s my feeling at least.
You’re so connected to it because so
many people here work there.
Oh my goodness.
Firefighters.
Thousands of people every single day
still take that ride and go to work. Can
Fitzgerald was up on the 110th floor. So
everybody up there passed everybody
above the impact zone passed away.
firefighter, vice president,
administrative assistant, senior vice
president, firefighter, bond broker,
firefighter, supervisors.
Our family had a major significant loss.
Our cousin is Steven Siller. His story
was that he was off duty. He was
listening to the scanner. He was on his
way to play golf, okay,
with his brothers and he heard the call
come in and he turned around. They
wouldn’t let him through the battery
tunnel because they had already closed
it,
okay? and he strapped his gear on his
back and ran through the battery tunnel
to the towers where he ultimately
passed away. Yeah.
We’re on Richmond Terrace and you’re
going to see a very sharp change.
A lot of different sides to Staten
Island, right?
Lots of different
and we’re going to go through them
today.
Yes, we are.
So, you can speak credibly about Staten
Island because you lived on the south
side and you lived on the north side.
born on the Southshore and I lived there
for the first 25 years of my life. The
other equal half of my life I’ve lived
on the Northshore. Staten Island who
don’t really know Staten Island on this
end. They will consider Jersey Street,
you know, like the worst street on
Staten Island. It’s not really true.
That’s just lower income.
What? Come on, let’s go.
Show me the Staten Island Hawk. There’s
the Staten Island Hawk, isn’t there?
Come on, guy. the are we doing? Sorry,
that’s very static.
You’re gonna bleep that.
So, it’s like it’s it’s like old school
New York here.
If you want to show me getting road
rage, it’s fine. Oh, this is where they
filmed Working Girl. So, it’s a famous
movie from the 1980s. This is the
Working Girl house that Alec Baldwin
runs out of naked when Melanie Griffith
catches him sleeping with someone else.
That right there.
It’s not It’s not what it was,
obviously.
Absolutely.
I knew you were going to get that.
What do you say?
I don’t even know what he said to be
honest, but I knew that when they saw
the camera, they were going to get
excited and want to uh participate.
Well, that’s okay. That’s a good vibe.
So, this is uh 71 Jersey Street. These
are the Richmond Terrace houses, which,
you know, cool. Lots of people hanging
out, having a good time. At night,
police shine a gigantic spotlight. It’s
probably a high crime corner that they
do that on. And I I guess I understand
why they’re doing that, but if I lived
there, that would drive me crazy. It
would
they shine a bright light on that
corner.
Very bright, like a football field. And
then this is a little bit of a different
feel, but this is more public housing
area here.
What’s crime like in Staten Island?
It’s usually drugrelated.
Southshore of Staten Island has a huge
opioid crisis, drug problem type stuff.
So silly question that I know the answer
to, but I think some people might think
we’re outside of New York City, but this
is just as New York City technically is
Manhattan. Your vote goes the same way.
Like every you’re you have city police,
New York City police. There’s nothing
autonomous about here, right?
Nothing at all. This is we pay city
taxes. Our kids go to New York City
public school. Um
Okay. It’s got an interesting feel I
can’t put a finger on. It feels like a
little bit of the rust belt, like
Pennsylvania. Yeah,
it feels a bit like Jersey.
Yeah.
So far,
we’re just a few minutes in.
Yeah, this area is interesting. This
area has the largest population of Sri
Lankans outside of Sri Lanka.
Seriously?
Yeah. This is the Albanian mosque.
It’s mixed up here.
Yes. But you’ll see like new Sri Lankan
restaurant.
Sri Lankan restaurant. Yes.
Salah Harbor. And to me, honestly, if I
had the big bucks on Staten Island, I’d
be living where I’m about to show you
and not where the average money is on
Staten Island. As you get into the hills
on the Northshore here, look at how
quickly
Yeah. That’s That’s literally 1 minute
away.
Yep. So, that’s how the Northshore is.
The Northshore is pockets of little
gorgeous areas. My husband built this
house.
Oh, this one?
Yep.
Nice. That’s a cool house.
Oh, it’s for sale. I got to tell him
that Nixon’s for sale. There was a tree
through the house when
How much do you think that house is
these days?
Oh, I’m sure it’s going to go for over a
million.
Okay.
Oh, yeah. Easily. Now, as we get around
this bend, you’re going to get views of
Manhattan. The houses will be
exponentially more expensive. You can
see
Oh, right. through the trees. Okay. If
you’re above that, you’re seeing all the
way back into Manhattan.
These views are the closest Manhattan
views. So, there are hills.
Sweet. I could see that at night all lit
up.
Yeah, it’s beautiful.
Prime real estate here.
Oh yeah,
that is wild.
How gorgeous.
So, is there a lot of old money up here
or is it new Manhattan money that wants
more of a rural life?
I think you’ve got a little bit of both.
There’s some old money. That is
definitely old money.
So, when you’re in Manhattan, you work
there all the time, right? You’re a
nurse. When you say Staten Island, what
do people think? Usually
it’s looked down on for the most part.
even and that always cracks me up even
by people who are not from New York City
um when they just heard that that’s
something to look down on. It makes them
more of a New Yorker if they like look
down on Staten Island.
So, right around the corner.
Here we go.
That is I’ve never I have never seen a
contrast like that.
So, the history of Staten Island,
it was mostly Italians who came here
first or or who came here? The Italians
came when the Verzano Bridge was built.
There’s a couple of funny names.
Okay. For the Italians.
For the Ferrosano Bridge like uh
like Wapazano Bridge or something.
I don’t want it to be on uh I don’t want
it to be on on camera on I don’t want
I’m not sensitive out. No, I know you. I
don’t want it on camera, but I’m a pizza
bagel.
Pizza bagel is half Italian, half
Jewish.
Yep. That’s the classic Staten Island
combo, by the way.
Is it? Italian Jews.
Italians and the Jews get along well. At
least, you know, from a secular
standpoint here on Staten Island. Um, we
both love to eat. We’re both loud.
You both drive aggressively.
I’m trying to drive
behavior.
No, no, no. Be do it in the Staten
Island. We want this to be a real video.
Hey. Hey, she don’t want you. Move
along. Okay,
guys. He was hitting on
that guy was hitting on the All she’s
trying to do is deliver her Amazon
packages and this guy is trying to roll
up on her like
I never even thought of that. Like
imagine doing Amazon delivery and
getting hit on when you’re like in this
heat too.
Oh god.
On the island you’re calling [ __ ] out
when you see it like that.
Oh yeah.
How do you like living on an island? I
mean does it truly feel like an island
here or no?
Yeah, it feels just like Barbados.
Hawaii. It
feels just like Hawaii. Yeah.
It’s got a Maui vibe. Yeah, it does.
Does have a Maui vibe. Totally. a lot of
native Staten Islanders, um there’s a
little bit of a sense of feeling
trapped, even though we’re not
technically trapped, but at least in my
case and in my husband’s case, because
he was also born on Staten Island, which
in my generation is also a pretty rare
thing to find because most of the uh
kids I grew up with and, you know, that
are my age were born in Brooklyn and our
roots are so intertwined here that it’s
hard to leave, but it just gets more
crowded and more crowded and just you
get sick of it. It’s small.
These were actually homes for sailors.
Like sailors came and retired here.
Sailors. Snug Harbor is another name for
it. And then the Chinese scholar garden
is this way as well.
Chinese scholar garden.
Yes. Tourists from China actually come
here to see that because it’s supposed
to be one of the few authentic Chinese
scholar gardens in the world. Oh,
this is beautiful.
These buildings are also really cool. We
can park over here and walk.
Yeah, let’s get out.
Okay. Yeah, I agree.
The sailors, the maritime people of
Staten Island, this was their complex.
They retired here. This is a beautiful
old church.
Basically their own village.
Yeah. I read there are more parks here
than any other part of New York City.
Staten Island has the most green space.
So, you get a lot of this, huh?
Yeah. This is actually a farm. They have
a farmers market and they actually
provide produce to local restaurants.
So, they have a couple of like
farmtotable
nice
programs that they do. This is where
every Staten Islander has wedding
photos.
Okay. This is the place.
Yeah.
The tunnel of love.
The tunnel. Exactly. Edgars. It’s an
institution on Staten Island and this is
like a little satellite location. But
Edgar’s Ice Cream is the best ice cream
on Staten Island. That’s for sure.
Are you going to do so?
I mean, I certainly would.
Okay, let’s do it. Give this a try.
We actually got the same flavor.
And this is the smallest size.
Yeah. I asked for the smallest cone and
the smallest scoop, and this is what I
got.
We’re going to try some pizza later,
too. Right. You said there’s like a
a pizza showdown going on here on the
island. Joe and Pats versus Denino’s.
Joe and Pats versus Denos. Dessert
first.
Yep.
That is good.
That’s good ice cream.
Rich, creamy,
rich, and Yeah, it’s got substance to
it.
Okay, so the pizza we’re going to go to
later, you’re saying it’s a huge rival
on the island, or are you playing it up
a little?
No, no. We can stop anybody and ask
them. As long as they are a Staten
Islander, you can stop anyone and ask
them.
So, tell me the difference.
Well,
who’s going thick or crusted?
See, I’m a Joe and Pat’s girl. I I
probably should just have like not even
say any I shouldn’t even build it up.
Just let you decide.
Okay. Okay. Let’s leave it at that.
Okay. Let’s leave it there.
All right.
All right, guys. Take a little break to
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to the story.
That’s number three that we had to pull
over for a cop rushing around.
We would normally be like, “Oh, rushing
to Dunkin’ Donuts.” Okay,
we’re heading to the true decrepit
waterfront. Now,
we’re going decrepit. Okay.
Decrepit waterfront.
I like that you’re not giving the full
North Korea tour of Staten Island. Do
you know what that is? No, we’re good.
We’re good.
The North Korea tour is
No. When tourists go to North Korea,
they show them only the nicest things.
Oh, right. Look, I’m like the government
minder. I’m your Staten Island minder.
Yeah, but I like that you’re not giving
me the North Korean.
No, this is the sewage treatment plant.
My kids always call this the Oreo cookie
factory. I don’t know why they said it.
They thought that Oreo cookies were made
there. So, this is very industrial.
There’s no reason for people to utilize
this road around Staten Island unless
they live right here or they are coming
down here to get their car fixed or
chopped or whatever.
You got cool old buildings here though.
I love this.
The north shore of Sion is very old.
They just need a little love in them.
And
yeah. And then over there is also
Howland Hook Marine Terminal where all
of the huge shipping containers that are
coming in from all over the world. That
is like their first stop. Port Ivory is
the port. Here’s where all the tugboats
are. This is actually pretty cool. All
of the tugboats for all of New York
City. This is where they go from.
So, the big freighters get through.
They actually did this crazy project on
the bridge where they raised it to
accommodate these mega ships that were
now bringing all of the stuff over.
Waterfront, Jersey City, and Manhattan
views. And nothing here but broken down
warehouses and stuff. So crazy. So, this
is probably some of the cheapest real
estate going back on these residential
streets here, right?
Yeah.
In New York City.
Like, see, look, look here, though.
Old homes. Yeah.
Look at this one. I love this.
Oh, wow. That’s cool.
Cool.
It’s just so wild when you say New York
City, right?
It could be Tribeca. You could be living
in Tribeca.
You could be living here.
Yep. Like, I imagine LA to be similar.
Totally.
Where you’ve got like the hills. That’s
Los Angeles County. Actually though
that’s Los Angeles County and not like
Los Angeles city. This is actual city
limits.
Okay. So old factories furniture
warehouse Islamic center.
That’s the Howland Hook houses. That’s a
housing project in here too. They often
do stories about the poor conditions of
the apartments that you know they don’t
keep them maintained for the residents.
There’s no like walkable shopping area
here. There’s no walk. There’s nothing
here. And the closest police precinct is
probably 15 minutes away. It’s, you
know, so it’s
okay. So higher crime on this part of
the island.
And what do you think a home like this
cost in these parts? I mean, I think
that probably for, you know, relative,
it’s probably still considered
expensive, but I think that you could
probably pick up a home for 200,000 over
here, which for Staten Island, it’s very
low.
For New York City, obviously, even the
country at this point,
the areas that we’re heading to, you
really can’t get anything for under a
million in a single family. It’s insane.
We’re coming into Port Ivory now, so
you’ll see there’s really nothing here
at all. People do like a lot of illegal
dumping here.
Yeah. It’s like country roads. Look how
like nothing’s being maintained here.
The forest is coming over the road.
Yeah.
So this stuff, these are the containers
coming from Europe.
Yep.
And so whatever products are going to
hit the shelves wherever or the Amazon
warehouses
there, we we have an Amazon warehouse
here that they built recently and it is
huge. and then off to our stores. And
and so here’s the abandoned ivory soap
after.
So there I’ve been here a couple hours,
but potentially a ton of money could
come into Staten Island and change all
of this. Maybe not directly these port
areas that are very utilitarian and
needed, but stuff like that.
I think they try. So there was a
movement in the early ‘9s and then again
um every couple of years I feel like
they revived this movement to secede
from New York City. People try to funnel
money into these areas here closer to
Manhattan, but there’s so much red tape
and bureaucracy. It’s a part of New York
City and it’s just not prioritized in
terms of fund allocation.
Welcome to Staten Island.
Oh, there we go.
When you go on a road trip, this is when
you know you’re back home. We’re going
to get out of this, though. The port is
busy right now. This person does.
Thanks, a-hole. Oh, and you’re from
Jersey. I’m so surprised.
That’s how we feel about the all of you
guys down in Florida.
I bet
they’re trying to get off here and I’m
trying to get over there.
Is he going to Is he going to let you do
it? Oh, he’s giving you the wave.
Thank you. I’m I’m I’m trying. I
appreciate you. Thank you. It help
sometimes it helps to be a woman and
they’ll let you go.
You think you got some privilege on that
one there?
Sometimes.
We are headed up now to the Toad Hill
area of Staten Island.
You’re interested in like mafia boss
homes. The Godfather was filmed up
there.
Really? So, the mafia bosses were living
up here.
We’ll actually pass by the White House,
the mafia White House. So, if you’re
familiar with New York mafia from like,
you know, the 80s and 90s, Paul
Castellano, who was the head of the
Gambino crime family, he lived in the
White House on Staten Island. And we’re
going to go past that.
But a lot of Staten Island is this
though, right? Middle class.
The average is this. Yes.
Is there a lot of Staten Island pride?
People love it here.
No. I would say people are prideful if
people from other places have something
to say negative about Staten Island, but
as a collective burrow, we’re probably
pretty self-deprecating.
We all kind of talk about why we don’t
like it and what we wish was different
or where we would like to go. But if
somebody were to say something negative
about Staten Island that wasn’t from
here, we would be offended by that. You
understand what I mean? Like you can’t
say anything about it, but I can. Now,
this is Toad Hill. This is Ocean
Terrace. I remember thinking as a kid
that that was a palace. This is a new
home, but these homes have all been here
for a good while.
That’s it.
This I call the Kelly Taylor house cuz
that looks like Kelly Taylor from
90210’s house with all those like white
rails.
A lot of godiness here, right?
Lots of goddess. You’re going to see it.
You’re certainly going to see it.
So, what is that? That’s the old school
flamboyant. Let me show off stuff going
on. marble and columns. And then
so this is the Godfather house.
This one right here.
Yep. This is Veto Corleone’s house.
So it’s actually not that big.
Yeah.
Compared to some of these other places.
Yeah. We’re going to see some major
major major houses. But yeah, that’s it.
That’s the Godfather House. Nothing no
great.
It’s not crazy.
Not crazy
at all.
We’ll head up to the White House.
Yeah, this is a I can’t put a finger on
this place.
It’s Staten Island. There’s nothing like
it,
right?
It’s My mind is flipping around a little
bit.
Yeah, it’s Staten Island.
This house is like straight out of the
Middle East.
I’m sure they built this pretty
recently.
The Middle East meets America, right?
Lots of Middle Eastern
cuz the Middle Easterners god as it
comes when they have money and build
homes. Not all of them. I’m not
stereotyping, but
there’s um
you have to travel to the Middle East to
know this, which I thought
there’s a lot of Middle Eastern doctors
up here. where there’s a lot of Albanian
money.
Yeah, that’s some Oh my god.
Look, beauty is in the eye of the
beholder.
Sure is.
It’s in the eye of the beholder.
Sure is.
So, someone thinks that’s the most
beautiful thing ever. That feels like
right outside of Tyrana,
Albania.
Yeah, exactly. Okay, so now to your
left, the White House. So, this home was
originally owned by Paul Castellano, the
head of the Gambino Crime Family.
Yeah, unfortunately we’re not going to
get uh
We can get out and walk around walk
around over here.
This is like New York mafia legend
stuff. He was killed outside of Sparks
Steakhouse in Manhattan.
Okay.
And this house was wiretapped by the
feds and they
There are the feds right there. Yeah.
All blacked out.
Yeah.
It would probably go on the market for
20 million if it were being listed.
Yeah. This estimate is 18 million, but I
would say because of the notoriety and
the amount of stuff on the house, 20
million
from here, probably a mile and a half.
This is all stores and restaurants. And
it used to contain lots and lots of
classic Staten Island businesses, mom
and pops, but recently it just seems
like everything is written in another
language.
But quickly,
it’s the story of big cities in America,
right? the ethnicities turn.
I guess I live in my own like proverbial
bubble.
Yeah, everyone does, right?
Because then I come down here and I’m
like, when did every storefront become a
different lang? Like I don’t even
remember it happening. It must have just
happened so quickly. So Staten Island is
boring, right?
I’m here to show you Staten Island and
I’m here to tell you it’s interesting.
Move away.
But it’s not it’s a it’s a car. You need
a car here.
You need a car here. If you don’t have a
car here, you’re not liking life.
The only way to not have a car here is
to live walking distance to the ferry
and be a and just take the boat in
everywhere, but that’s it really. So,
like a lot of the classic Italian
restaurants were here. This is the Lane
Theater. This was like a classic movie
theater on Staten Island for
grandparents who grew up here.
Well, the it ties moved out.
Well,
they went deeper into the BBS, right?
Yes. Well, or deeper south. Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah. Staten Island has a lot of
beautiful pockets of charm and history
and culture, but a lot of it is this
traffic lights and strip malls.
Yes. Now we’re crossing over into
Southshore Staten Island. This is
Gateway National Recreation Area. So,
this is a federally maintained. We’re on
federal property. Now,
what we’re looking for, you said off
camera, the old Italian guy was tanning
tanning up on the beach. We’re heading
there. As long as there’s a hint of
sunshine, they’ll be there.
Oh, there’s a guy.
They’ll talk to me. No problem.
Okay,
that is exactly why they do that.
They hope that they’re going to get a
wave. Someone’s going to wave at them.
Ooh, it feels nice to be out.
There’s a couple of main places where
people will hang out at the beach. This
is one of them. But the water, it’s not
the ocean as you can see. It’s like the
rarid,
right? Would you swim in there?
No, absolutely not.
What’s up, you guys?
Can I ask you a question?
Stand next to him.
Jerry, she’s going to stand right here.
Yeah, the microphone will pick it up.
Okay. So, Jerry, uh, you live 40, 50
years here, huh?
Yeah.
How are things?
Where is that microphone?
I’m okay.
I’m okay.
Yeah. All right. And this guy, you
imported from where?
I don’t know.
He imported
Bay.
Sheep head Bay. He’s imported from
Sheep’s Head right across the
out here compared to Brooklyn.
Y
I like the old Brooklyn better, but
Brooklyn the way it is now and I could
hear better.
Chill out on the beach a little more
relaxed or what?
It’s just a quieter life and it’s nicer.
And you’re my friend. Where are you
from?
I’m from that island originally from
Is there a hazing process? Do you
just sit?
Yeah, this is the hazing process. You
have to sit here.
Are you a cyclist? You look like a
cyclist. Oh,
I pull off a bike if I try to vis.
Your tan is outrageous.
The microphone’s right here.
Wow.
That is a tan.
She wants to talk into your microphone.
I got to tell you,
got to the lantern fly. They land. Yeah,
the lantern fly. That’s very Staten
Island right there.
You’re supposed to kill them.
They’re invasive from China.
They’re beautiful, but
Yeah, they eat the wood and they’re
destructive.
They’re like termites.
to Brooklyn almost every day.
You what?
I still go to Manhattan Beach in
Brooklyn almost every day.
What are you doing over there?
Because my friends also and I like to go
in the water over there.
So, you’re you’re a tanning
professional. Fair to say.
Yeah.
All of you guys. You even tan in the
winter out here?
Yes. I
in my backyard.
All right.
So, how’d you guys meet each other?
Online or you just met?
Well, I was living here for two days.
The painters are still in the house. I
just I’m going to go down by Gra Hill
Beach. I heard there’s a bunch of guys
that stay down there like in Brooklyn.
I come down here and meet everybody here
in two days and that was it. That’s the
microphone.
There’s a bug on your ear.
I can’t believe this is a microphone.
And who’s this guy up here?
Who’s this good looking guy in the back?
I’m one of the native Stan Island.
You’re from here?
Yes. Born and raised.
Born and raised.
Four generations.
You’re standing to the end? No, I don’t
know.
All my kids left. All my friends left.
I’m born and raised as well.
There you go. People are leaving
because they think it’s better to move
to Florida. I moved down south.
The city’s getting a mile out of person.
Say what you want. Yeah.
Tax is terrible.
So people run to Jersey. It usually goes
like this. City Queens, Manhattan, every
Sten Island. Sten Island goes to Jersey.
Jersey goes to Pennsylvania. And then
finally I say I’m getting the hell out
of here.
Florida. Yep.
It’s a system. Yep.
When you fully give up, you go to
Florida. I have too many roots here, but
I got
What do you do here?
What? What? You have a business here or
what do you do here?
Tired cop, you said, right? Okay.
I stay here.
Police.
Yeah. I have two sons that are on a job
and I feel very bad for them. They’re
getting good money now.
Okay.
They’re making triple the money I ever
saw.
All right.
But it’s terrible. They can’t They can’t
pay cops anymore. Anything they do, they
get they get sued for.
Yeah. Yeah.
The city doesn’t identify it, doesn’t
protect it.
So, I don’t think it’s good to be one,
but it’s still a very proud thing to do.
Yeah.
A lot of you guys out here in Staten
Island, firefighters, police officers,
it’s the biggest blue collar section.
In fact, when Donnie came in yesterday,
the guy ran up for mayor and they chased
them Staten Island. They told the hell
out of here, you know.
Why? Why is that?
Cuz we’re predominantly Republican. All
blue collar workers here. Hops, firemen,
sanitation, all city workers. But your
vote really doesn’t mean much out here
cuz you’re too small of a population.
But it’s not going to matter.
It’s not going to matter. Okay.
If you guys didn’t show up to work, like
if nobody went into Manhattan with the
city shut down in a day
or a couple weeks
ago, if you notice, she’s they they put
speed cameras and cameras cuz cops don’t
want to give tickets out anymore cuz
they’re not going to work. So they put
all these cameras and stuff to get
revenue to make up the difference. So
everyone he got now is a a camera.
Yeah. Speed camera and red light camera.
Light cameras. Now they’re coming out
with stop light cameras cameras.
Well, the whole island is on camera now.
That sucks.
There’s no cat and mouse game with uh
speeding anymore.
Nah. No. They just have the radars.
Why? Why? Cuz we stop the guiding and
let him go anyway. And unless of course
there’s an accident.
Gotcha. Gotcha.
Yeah, that car is overturned.
Sure is.
Looks like this guy just came out of it.
Looks like he’s walking fine.
Pulling apart.
So, the firefighters working in
Manhattan actually live this far away.
Yeah, it’s a tough lifestyle to live
here and commute like say to Midtown,
even downtown. But that is a sacrifice a
lot of people are willing to make to
live in the city limits but have a
suburban lifestyle.
My commute started here cuz this is
where the train station is. So that
would be 90 minutes from here to Midtown
from when I got on the train. If you
were driving at 4:00 in the morning and
there were no traffic whatsoever from
this end of Staten Island, you should be
downtown in 35 minutes. Oh, really?
Yeah. It’s only like 9 miles. It’s not
Are you serious?
Yeah. Yeah.
It feels so far away.
I know. It feels far away because it
takes forever,
especially if you’re taking the boat
over. This is Annadale Town. So, this is
the town that I grew up coming to. It
looks sort of the same.
It’s a cute little place.
Yeah. And so, each Southshore town uh
neighborhood has a little town like
this. This is an institution on Staten
Island. This is the Dove Diner. The
Golden Dove. Everybody who grew up in
this area or on this Southshore has been
to this diner.
You can go anywhere.
Is it a ride on red? There’s no ride on
red in New York City.
Oh, you can’t ride on red? Are you
serious?
I’m serious.
Since when?
Always.
Really?
New York City. There’s no right on red.
Even out here.
Even out here.
See, I understand with the when you have
a bunch of oneways. Maybe
no right on red in New York City. Unless
there’s a sign that specifically says
you can make a right on red, but usually
those signs will say not during the
week, during school hours. It’s such a
you can’t make a right on red in New
York City. And cops know that most
people don’t know that that are from
here. So, they uh take advantage of
that.
This is your average neighborhood.
This is the middle class.
It’s hard to uh I don’t even know what
is considered middle anymore. If you’re
you’re a nurse, right, that’s a good
middle class job, right?
Probably paid pretty well. I have a
higher paying specialty.
So on that salary though, you could
afford say if it was just you.
Yeah. Which it is cuz my husband’s
disabled.
Oh, okay.
Um so which is a um that’s a whole
another going through that process, the
disability process. That is a nightmare
and a half. You could do a whole
freaking video on that. Holy [ __ ]
What? Getting assistant, healthc care
assistance or something or what?
Not even healthcare assistance, but an
actual disabled person that can’t work.
My husband became disabled permanently
in 2021. He has intractable epilepsy due
to a traumatic brain injury.
Um, his traumatic brain injury occurred
in 1994 when he was 15. He was in a
head-on collision here on Staten Island.
It was like front page of the newspaper.
His ambulance went under police escort
to the hospital and then he had a 9-hour
cranottomy. As a 41year-old,
he developed epilepsy uh that was not in
control for two to three years. We had
it I had to actually leave. I didn’t
work for a year. I actually didn’t work
last year. I had to take a leave to stay
home to care for him.
Oh wow. um and he had a business uh a
construction business. He was a general
contractor with his brother and he had a
he was no longer able to um work at all.
There would be times where he didn’t
even know like our home address or like
it was Yeah. It’s it was
stressful.
Yeah. We became a one salary household
and it should be enough to live
comfortably but it just isn’t anymore.
If you go to a Manhattan hospital,
you’re going to make more money, but the
cost of living here is very, very high.
The Social Security disability that we
pay into as a taxpaying society. It is
such a frustrating process and they just
don’t want to give it. And you have to
hire an attorney to go through that
process. They deny everybody pretty much
on the first shot. That’s how they I
guess weed out who’s serious about it
and who’s not. When you finally do get
it, it’s a little pittance every single
month. And that was happening for us
during a time where our city was
welcoming illegal immigrants with
housing and gift like $2,000 gift cards.
And we were very much struggling at that
time and we couldn’t understand why as
taxpaying citizens that were have been
here our whole lives why we had to jump
through such hoops to get you know this
aid that was very much needed. We were
having trouble making sure our mortgage
was paid every month and we just felt
like we we could have used some of those
gift cards that the welcome baskets and
gift cards that they were giving. Right.
I don’t know. I mean like I
Well, I spent a lot of time on the
border uh during those years.
Was it just New York City? I like I
don’t even know like if it was just New
York City that was offering those like
incentives to come and like
they were putting up like hotels.
Yeah, the Roosevelt, right? There’s so
much to talk about on that one.
I’ve made actually tons of videos on the
border
showing the situation from where the
where the problem was starting, right?
But no, it wasn’t just New York City.
Not at all. And so, for example, in
Chicago, the police stations, they were
fully packed with migrants
when I was there. So, actually walking
in the police station, there’s just kids
playing around and and migrants taking
over the whole station, the lobby areas,
it’s just they were these cities were
overwhelmed and just didn’t know how to
manage and like we’re not prepared and
not really forward thinking at all with
this stuff. And then people will
mention, well,
oh, they shouldn’t have sent them to
these cities. Well, they wanted to go to
these cities, A, and B, there are plenty
of towns all over America that dealt
with migrant influxes and school
districts, hospitals didn’t know how to
cope.
Yeah.
Right. Cuz you have a huge influx of
people all of a sudden. Like, how do you
deal with that? For example, Yuma
County, the hospital there, this woman
wanted to give birth.
Uh, sorry, you got to go to Phoenix 2
hours away. You know, because hospitals
take, you know, they take on the most
acute care. Doesn’t matter if you have
insurance or your nationality or your
legality status, anything,
right?
Like
you can’t be turned away at the
emergency room.
You can’t be turned away.
And that’s
that’s a good thing, right?
Fine. That’s a of course it’s
But when you flood when you when you
flood the country with the numbers that
it just can’t handle, then you’re going
to have problems with all these systems.
Yeah. So, like if you get when you do
finally get the judgment that you’re
approved for disability and you know you
it’s supposed to start at the diagnosis
date, which for for my husband that was
in uh January of 2021.
Retroactive payout did not come until it
was 2025.
Oh jeez.
[Music]
Joe and Pat established 1960.
Here we are.
So, we’re going to do slices right from
each place.
Yeah. Plain slices.
No pepperoni. Nothing.
You can if you’re going to, but then you
got to judge it. Pepperoni over there,
too.
I’m going to go pepperoni.
All right. So, pizza number one.
That’s an interesting house.
Someone’s Oh, she’s out there.
All right. She’s wearing a Barbie shirt.
Yeah.
Hey, place looks great.
Thank you.
So cool.
I live right near here. I drive past
here all the time.
Very colorful.
I love it.
How long have you been doing the Barbie
house for?
Oh, last year I started with Barbie.
We’re doing a video on Staten Island.
Yeah. Cool. Perfect. Very nice.
Look at Okay. So, what inspired this? I
know Barbie inspired you, but
it says, “Think of me as the Barbie
you’ll never get to play with.”
I love that.
Clowns out there.
You don’t wear that for your boyfriend
or your husband, do you?
No, I’m single.
Oh, you’re single to mingle.
You’re ready to mingle. Okay. But you’re
you’re very selective.
On my terms, though,
but you’re going to have to compromise
if you want a good guy.
Little bit, little bit, little bit. You
don’t want a yes man that says yes to
everything. You’ll get you’ll get tired
of
that’s fair and that’s smart and loyal
and and very caring
and you feel secure with.
Yeah. Nobody that’s going to be
disrespectful because that’s like the
first thing or the
trust and respect is everything.
Respect and lying. I don’t stand for
that.
Okay.
No.
Well, this is cool. Do you have an
Instagram page?
I have only like my own personal account
which is my
You should make an account for this.
To be honest, it would be a headache to
constantly block delete people. I
already have like an Only Fans page,
too.
You do? Whoa.
Imagine the amount of weird creepy
things I see all day. So, imagine having
this, too. I’ll be like my freaking head
will pop.
And you got you got a camera there so no
creepers can
to protect and preserve the barbe of
your house.
At all times.
Oh my god.
Comfortable here. No problem.
I’m Sarah. Chrissy. It’s nice to meet
you.
Peter.
Peter.
Christine and Christina.
I love it. You guys are awesome. Thank
you for letting us use your studio.
This is This is a great backdrop.
Sure is.
All right.
Feel free anytime you’re around. You
always feel welcome.
I drive past here every day.
Table anytime you’d like.
Oh, you’re so sweet. Thank you.
All right. Let’s try it.
All right. Got our Joan pass.
You can notice the pepperoni.
So, we’re going we’re going thin crust.
Yep.
Very thin crust.
Very thin crust.
Heavy. I mean, it’s the crust is
cracking.
Yep. And very heavy on the pepperoni.
Yep.
And this is your favorite, Staten
Island.
Mhm.
Here, I’m going to give you the camera.
All right.
Mhm.
Mhm.
Mhm.
It’s good.
Heavy on the sauce. lighter. It’s a
sweet sauce, too.
It’s a sweet sauce. Lighter on the
cheese.
Yes. The mozzarella is dotted on there.
It’s not like the stringy shredded
cheese. They use cubes and they dot
them.
They’re going with cubes. And And I
mean, only if you really love pepperoni
cuz they packed it.
They do, but they’re little.
You can see the flour on the bottom of
the crust.
Little burnt edges, which is nice.
Right.
The crust is I love that you get that
crunch.
Mhm.
Okay, I’m going to remember this. I’m
remembering.
Okay.
Um I could eat probably four of these.
They’re so little.
You don’t drive.
No, I’m not comfortable with it. And I
think that’s completely fine. It’s not
for everybody. And if someone’s going to
judge you based on that, then that’s not
the person you want to be around.
Do people judge on you? If you don’t
drive really.
I mean, some guys do, but that’s because
maybe they’re lazy. They don’t.
Yeah. They don’t want to pick you up.
Spend their gas, money, you know what I
mean?
Oh, jeez. Is chivalry dead?
I wouldn’t say so.
Okay, good. Chairs being pulled, doors
opened.
Yes.
That’s so easy to do. Buy flowers once
in a while, which I got to do more of.
Oh, I love flowers.
Yeah. Who doesn’t? But my wife my wife
likes the flowers that I don’t like. So,
I I buy what I don’t like and she likes
them. Did you grow up in Staten Island?
I grew up in this house.
Oh, wow. That’s cool. What’s your take
on Staten Island these days?
I think Staten Island people are very
judgmental, very aggressive. I wouldn’t
even say assertive anymore. I think
people are very aggressive lately.
Just straight up aggressive.
Like, I don’t want them anymore.
Okay. Do you agree with that or
I I mean, I think that uh
judgmental is the religion here on
Staten Island.
Oh, really?
So, when did it start changing or was it
always aggressive and judgmental?
It was always like that.
Always.
Yeah. Even when I was younger, I always
felt that that tension, that energy cuz
I my personality is not New York. I’m
very down to earth. I’m very humble. I’m
actually very nice, very quiet to
myself. Like a bit of an introvert, I
would say. Even though looking at me,
you would never think that, I’m actually
more of an introvert.
Okay.
You know,
what’s your take on Manhattan or the
rest of the city? Do you like it or?
Um, not really. No.
No. Okay. You’re Miami bound. You’re
going to Miami.
Exactly.
[Music]
Okay. Here we go. Denos.
Deninos.
All right. Denos doesn’t do slices.
I guess after a certain time they stop
doing slices. But are you ready?
Yep. We’re going a little thicker with
the crust.
Some blackness, which is nice. some
charcoal.
It’s a nice hot piece.
Pepperonis are different.
Not for
[Music]
I got to say
that’s the one
for me. What about you?
It’s uh
Are you still holding on your
I mean, let’s I I I’m going to take
another couple bites. I have to say it
is hot. It is piping hot, which I love.
It’s almost like they knew that we were
judging or something cuz it’s it’s like
the most perfect Denino slice I think
I’ve ever had. Oh,
converting me. I like the sweetness of
the Joan cat sauce.
Better sauce over there.
Yes. Cheesier.
It’s definitely cheesier. They have the
uh stringy cheese on this. This is a
dinner. This is more substantial pizza.
Yeah. Yeah.
Some people like a tangy sauce. I love a
sweet sauce.
But you’re right. That’s a better light
summer pizza midday.
Yes,
you’re not going to feel heavy
afterwards.
For me, the sauce is everything.
That’s true. That’s a good point. So, it
just depends the mood you’re in.
Take the crust now. It depends on what
you’re looking for, but certainly a
light summery slice drone pad.
John, what you
Thank you, Sarah. That was cool.
Thank you. It was as cool as it could be
on Staten Island.
New York’s forgotten burrow.
Will you ever forget? I’ll never I’ll
never forget that was cool. A lot of
detail here. It’s way bigger.
Yes.
Than I thought it was. We did a lot of
driving today. You didn’t see because
the camera was off.
But I just love the fact and I know it’s
quite obvious, but we’re still in New
York City.
We are.
And it’s like we’re almost in another
state or another country.
Yeah. It’s almost like we’re in another
country.
It feels like a totally different
experience. And so I love when you can
do that because I’ll go back to
Manhattan tonight and that’s what makes
travel cool. And
you never know until you go.
It’s true.
Yeah.
And and now you will know that there’s
probably no reason for you to ever come
back.
Come on, Sarah.
You are great. Um
I’m just joking.
Anything else you want to say? I want to
say that I’m so um not only am I so
excited to see a Peter Santaneloo
YouTube video about Staten Island, but
that I for some strange and lucky reason
got to be the one to Thank you for
making you around here, drive you around
rather
because a place like Staten Island,
there’s no way I’d be able to navigate
this on my own.
No,
it’s too it’s too large. I wouldn’t know
where to go. And uh
how could you?
Awesome.
Thanks so much.
So Joe and Pats or Deninos?
Deninos for sure.
Yeah, I knew. I knew you thought that
way.
All right, guys. Thanks for coming along
on that journey. Have two other videos
from New York City this trip. Check
those out. They’re around here
somewhere. Sarah, thank you.
Thank you, Peter.
All right, guys. Until the next one.
[Music]