STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staten Island plans to secede from New York City. For real this time. Maybe.

Assemblymember Sam Pirozzolo, who declared Staten Island’s figurative independence in November, visited the College of Staten Island archives Friday to review some papers of the late State Sen. John Marchi related to secession.

The nearly-50-year Republican senator chaired the secession commission that formed after 1990’s November elections and was widely considered the father of the secession movement.

“The goal here for me is to see what they did back then,” Pirozzolo said. “The purpose of going through these is to see what the numbers were.”

Pirozzolo wanted to effectively learn what he needs to know for a forthcoming secession effort based on the failed attempt of the 1990s.

A 1993 referendum saw about 65% of Staten Islanders vote to leave New York City. Albany power brokers ultimately blocked that effort, and the 8-year administration of former Republican Mayor Rudolph Giuliani helped quell even some of the loudest calls for secession.

Times have changed, but many of the motivations for becoming an independent city remain the same.

“Secession has always been an undercurrent of a conversation on Staten Island,” Pirozzolo said. “What’s made it come up again? Battery sites, City of Yes, marijuana dispensaries, red light cameras, speed light cameras, all of that is make it come up again.”

City of Yes refers to a trio of rezoning initiatives passed during former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration that made it easier to build battery storage sites and are expected to bring an influx of housing to the five boroughs, particularly on Staten Island.

Official rumblings of secession have sprung up since the failed 1993 effort, including a new study in September 2023 Borough President Vito Fossella announced that year, but has yet to produce.

The borough’s joining of the city wasn’t even a sure thing ahead of consolidation in the late 19th century.

An 1896 New York Times article headlined “Should Staten Island be Dropped?” reported then City Corporation Counsel Francis Scott hesitations about bringing the Island into a five-borough city. It points out Staten Island’s distinct cultural differences from its four borough counterparts.

Pirozzolo has largely avoided making this secession effort about Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration despite their obvious political differences. Not one to shy away from controversy, the assemblyman was uncharacteristically reserved last week when asked about his former colleague in the State Assembly.

“I didn’t really have much a relationship with him,” he said of former Assemblyman Mamdani, who represented part of Queens in Albany.

During a recent interview, Mamdani said his goal as mayor is to better meet the needs of Staten Islanders and assuage any brooding towards secession.

Pirozzolo knows that City Hall and power brokers in Albany would seek to block Staten Island’s exit from the five boroughs, and said he hoped to be better informed through his research before taking on the city and state.

“I see that New York City, New York state would fight us every step of the way, of course. I think it would be intelligent to say to people like yourselves and the citizens of Staten Island, here’s what happened back then,” he said. “My goal is to make sure everybody has a more up to date [understanding].”

While an independent city of 500,000 people isn’t hard to imagine, there is a mountain’s worth of logistical work to get to the City of Staten Island.

In a video recently posted to his social media platforms, Pirozzolo laid out a bit of his early research and what he thinks Staten Islanders should know about his efforts.

“For too long the conversation about Staten Island’s independence has been clouded by speculation,” he said. “This report is not about telling anyone what must happen. It’s about laying out the facts so that people can make informed judgements.”