The Editor's letter from a popular magazine, Pause.
I don't often use my magazine for political soapboxing. As the editor, I understand that the people who pick up my magazine don't read it for the daily news, but more to discover trendy and exceptional dining venues, cutting edge fashion and how to live the upper-class lifestyle. But while I was sitting down with some friends a few weeks ago, the topic of Staten Island came up. It's a shame that ever since terrorists destroyed the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in January, what was once a popular place for the petty criminal and those who can't afford to live on Manhattan has degenerated into a haven for those who wish to live and operate entirely outside of the law. I wanted to see for myself what was happening on the island. So, using the skills of those in my employ, I went undercover and did some digging.
What I found was appalling and shook me to my very core; drugs, involuntary prostitution, even human trafficking of Evolved and Non-Evolved individuals have become the norm. There is an underground fighting ring where willing and unwilling Evolved and Non-Evolved individuals are forced to fight it out against one another — sometimes to the death! Real law has been utterly abandoned, replaced instead by the law of a handful of people in "power" on Staten Island. Cross them and you might find yourself missing a tongue for your trouble. I had to tread carefully on the soil of Staten. I was warned repeatedly that "a pretty thing like me" might find myself in the Happy Dagger — and not as a customer.
Staten Island seems to have been forgotten by the authorities. In the days after the events that rocked our city on the 28th of January, the fine people that populate our police forces and the National Guard tried and eventually succeeded in returning order to our city. But they turned their collective backs on what's now being called the "forgotten island." Citing lack of manpower, they've opted to leave it to its own devices for the moment. Was this a wise move? What about the people who live there and make the daily commute by boat to their jobs on Manhattan and the mainland? In and of itself, that is a dangerous thing to do — especially with pirates trolling the waters in between, attacking boats and stealing whatever and whoever they can.
Staten Island. Forgotten or just conveniently ignored? As a concerned citizen who has been to the island and seen firsthand the cesspool that it's become, I urge you, my readers, to contact the NYPD, Mayor Bianco, the Senator and Governor's offices and urge them to do something about Staten Island. Let them know that you believe those who have to live on or are forcefully being kept on Staten Island are desperately in need of their help! If enough of us show the concern that appears to be obviously lacking from New York's finest, then very soon the people of the "forgotten island" will find out that they're not so forgotten after all.
Nalani Hollingwood
Editor in Chief