New York Times
November 28, 2010
Founded on August 31st of this year, the "Outer District" is the most recent of the geographical re-divisions of New York City since the 2006 terror attack that leveled Midtown Manhattan and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the process.
Made up of the entire southern half of Staten Island, the "Outer District" has become a success story in regards to the majority of reclamation of Staten Island as a functioning borough of New York City. Two major private security firms, Redbird Securities and Stillwater Security Solutions, supplement a force of National Guardsmen and NYPD in policing this dangerous "modern day frontier." In the wake of the November 8th, 2010 riots and the resurgence of violence on Staten Island, a push was made to expand the control of the militarized "Reclaimed Zone" which rests as the nerve center of the Outer District.
On November 8th and during the following week, a concerted effort between the Department of Homeland Security and the island's private security firms established a further western perimeter of the Reclaimed Zone, and details of this push are only now reaching the public.
Door-to-door sweeps were made of residences and abandoned structures from Oakwood all the way west into Richmond Valley bordering Tottenville. During the sweep the Department of Homeland Security claims to have uncovered "several dozen" illegally resident squatters along with caches of illegal firearms, narcotics and other contraband. Due to the institution of martial law a full detail of exactly who has been arrested and on what charges have not been delivered to the public.
Heavy construction over the last week has found the fenced border of the Reclaimed Zone expanded to now enclose more than fifty percent of the Outer District. DoEA spokesperson Jarvis Lamontangue has cited that protected residences like the ones established at Summer Meadows are currently in the process of being finalized within the Reclaimed Zone and security is tightening on Staten Island's southern half.
DHS operations director Jason Pierce has been quoted as saying, "We're hoping by the summer of 2011 to have recovered all of Staten Island. There are plans in the works to reclaim what has been dubbed by its residents as 'The Rookery' and we will not see stability on Staten Island until such a time as all regions of the borough are back under proper protection of the government."
Staten Island's northern half, divided by the verdant expanse of the Staten Island Greenbelt, has been in the news repeatedly over the last three years. Most recently the devastating destruction of the Maxwell Corporation construction site at the Howland Hook facility at the hands of the terrorist group 'Messiah', which led to the deaths of two FRONTLINE officers and several members of the Department of Homeland Security.
Director Pierce insists that a comprehensive sweep of Staten Island while martial law is still in effect will be the only way to re-establish order.
Fringe news media are calling this pending push a "war for Staten Island." Given what the world has seen in the last four years, this may not be as exaggerated as many claim.