STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Forget the street address. Just make a left at the Dunkin’.
That was the tongue-in-cheek takeaway from a discussion featuring “Mob Wives” cast member Renee Graziano and Jackie Orena on @The Voices of Brooklyn, a New York neighborhood podcast hosted by Chris Dalton and Pat Borriello.
Graziano and Orena appeared together on Episode 67 of the show where the group tackled a question Staten Islanders know all too well: Why doesn’t anyone here give directions using actual street names?
“Why don’t Staten Islanders give, like, a street and a cross street when giving directions?” Host Chris Dalton asked. “They always say, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s right off Amboy by the McDonald’s,’ or ‘Make a left by the Dunkin’ Donuts.’”
Dalton took the observation one step further, joking that Staten Islanders “never tell you exactly where” something is.
But Orena offered a defense of the borough’s landmark-based navigation system.
“When you live in a neighborhood where there’s all numbered blocks and everything, it’s easy,” Orena said. “Once you get out of that area and you’re looking at stores or a gas station or whatever, it’s landmarks.”
In other words, Staten Islanders may not know the cross street, but they know the pizzeria, gas station or long-gone supermarket that used to be on the corner.
Graziano, one of the original cast members of VH1’s “Mob Wives,” agreed that numbered streets are not always the answer.
That was the tongue-in-cheek takeaway from a discussion featuring “Mob Wives” cast member Renee Graziano and Jackie Orena on “The Voices of Brooklyn,” where the group tackled a question Staten Islanders know all too well: Why does nobody here give directions using actual street names?Dr. Gracelyn Santos
The video quickly drew responses from viewers who understood the Staten Island system perfectly.
“We can’t remember every street name, only major street names and landmarks,” one commenter wrote.
“If it ain’t Victory, Richmond, Hylan or Forest, I don’t need to know its name,” another said.
One commenter offered a geographical explanation, noting that Staten Island doesn’t follow the kind of predictable street grid found in many other parts of New York City.
“We are not in a grid pattern here,” the commenter wrote. “Our streets are carved into the Greenbelt. We know landmarks.”
Others were less interested in defending the practice, acknowledging that Staten Island directions can leave outsiders hopelessly lost.
“I would get SO lost every time I went to Staten Island,” one person wrote, adding that relatives would wait for the inevitable phone call asking for help.
Still, plenty of Staten Islanders insisted the directions make perfect sense, at least to people who live here.
“Staten Island is all about landmarks,” one commenter wrote. “If you’re from here, you know the Island.”
And apparently, if someone tells you to go straight until you hit Carvel, make a left and turn at the deli, that is all the information a Staten Islander needs.