Many Staten Islanders Very Impressed With Trump's First Days As President

Gothamist ^ | January 31, 2017 | Ben Yakas

[2ndDivisionVet]

While the majority of New Yorkers supported Hillary Clinton in this election—making Donald Trump the first president who is loathed in his hometown—there was of course one outlier borough. Trump garnered over 57 percent of votes on Staten Island, where residents called him their "Molotov cocktail." As one voter told us back in November, "They don't care what he says, or what he does, they just believe in his heart."

But surely after Trump's disastrous first days in the White House—in which he instituted a discriminatory Muslim travel ban (and yes, that is the right terminology), fired the acting Attorney General for standing up for the constitution, promoted the most unqualified candidates for his cabinet, turned staunch conservatives against him, and inspired hundreds of thousands of people to march against him throughout the country—some of those voters must be having buyer's remorse, no?

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Not really. "He's trying to protect the country, and he's doing an amazing job," Aiman Youssef of Midland Beach, who immigrated from Syria to Staten Island in the '80s, told NBC. He said he approves of both Trump and the travel ban: "I think he did a lot in eight days, more than any president did in eight years," he said.

"I'm very impressed with what he's doing so far," added Sam Pirozzolo, who threw an inauguration party complete with a life-size presidential cutout. "He's doing everything he said he would. I don't know that I've ever seen that from any political candidate before."

Even those who were a little hesitant about some of Trump's moves—like alienating the president of Mexico just before a planned meeting—still think we need to take a wait-and-see-approach: "Give him a chance. Everybody wants a chance in life," said Jen Remauro. "This guy, yes he's a millionaire, yes he has a mouth, he likes to run it. But just sit back, relax and see what he can do, because sometimes the impossible can happen." Thanks, Jen, that's such a comforting fucking sentiment it makes us want to relax and curl up in a bomb shelter with a year's supply of Trump Water and Trump Steaks.

NY1 captured the mood of the borough well during a recent visit:

They're shaking their heads over the protests in Manhattan, and JFK airport, over Trump's executive order closing the country to most people from seven predominantly Muslim countries... They say the rallies are a waste of time and that it's too soon to tell whether Trump's policies will be effective.

"He made a lot of promises during his campaign," said one. "And now he's initiating those promises. I don't think anybody should be surprised by how he is initiating them; it's happening rather quickly and I think it's something that is positive."

"Did you see them?" one asked. "Did you see them making fools of themselves? Most of them were."

"They like to protest; people here like to protest; every little thing," said another.

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For a story on Trump supporters' satisfaction with his bulldozer-like approach to executive orders ("In Ban on Migrants, Trump Supporters See a Promise Kept"), the NY Times found a surrogate for this particular ignorant-but-sincere Staten Island attitude in Sal Oliva, a hotel worker and Uber courier from SI who is ecstatic about the travel ban. Oliva, who is gay, cites the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando as one of the major reasons he supports tougher immigration policies, despite the fact that the shooter was born in New York state and raised in Florida (in fact, the total number of Americans killed on U.S. soil by nationals of any of the seven countries is zero).

But fear, propaganda, and ignorance is a deadly mix, which is what leads to perspectives like Oliva's:

Mr. Oliva contended that the media portrays Muslim immigrants only positively. “Every story about a Muslim immigrant is that they are as American as apple pie,” he said. “But I’m sorry, Islam is no friend of L.G.B.T. people. When Islam meets gay people in Somalia or wherever, they get thrown off the roof. And you expect them to be different when they move here? You can’t expect people to absorb our values.”

Mr. Oliva, who works on the Upper East Side of Manhattan — and recently had a picture of Mr. Trump’s face tattooed on his arm — said people in Manhattan did not understand his love for Mr. Trump because their problems were different from his.

Last month, he said, he was waiting for the M101 bus with an Uber package when he struck up a conversation with a well-dressed woman. Watching a snarl of traffic, she blamed Mr. Trump for it. Mr. Oliva told her he loved Mr. Trump and could not wait for him to take action against immigrants in the country illegally, who he said had hurt his weekend income as a house painter.

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It's important to note that not all of Staten Island is like this—there still were over 40 percent of residents who voted for Hillary Clinton. And many of them are outraged over Trump's immigration order, including people who protested in Port Richmond against it on Saturday, as well as advocates such as Gonzalo Mercado who went to JFK that night: "There are people who are completely unnerved," Mercado told NY1. "They don't know what to do. A lot of people are advising not to travel."

And they are suffering too: NBC reported on Barbara Gundrum, whose husband Abdulelah Othman was visiting his mother in Saudi Arabia when the ban was enacted. Othman, who hails from Yemen, hasn't been able to return since. "I am angry. I am outraged," Gundrum said. "This whole thing, it shouldn't be happening. He loves America, he loves his home. He loves being part of this country."

There are people fighting for immigrants' rights on the island too: a group of 35 residents volunteered at a recent community meeting to open their homes as safe havens to their neighbors who are undocumented immigrants. “Many of these immigrant families will not have access to due process,” Cesar Vargas, an undocumented lawyer, told the News. "We’re trying to create an underground railroad-style system to pair up families with immigrants."

[dp0622]

DAMN STRAIGHT!!!!

Sal Oliva...recently had a picture of Mr. Trump’s face tattooed on his arm...

Only an Italian would do that :)

Staten Island. Insane but it’s home!!

Trump!!

57 sucks. Rudy won by 80. We need to do better in ‘20.

[dp0622]

Absolutely!!! Staten Island rocks for Trump

#### the other boroughs!!

[dp0622]

I commuted 30 years. Trust me...you’re saying a mouthful.

You travel an hour and pay 1/3 of the cost of living.

Suckers in Manhattan.

I live right near the verrazano. IS it 22 from there to the battery tunnel exit?

Seems like less. But most aren’t that close to the bridge :)

[dp0622]

Love ya marine mom!!! Staten Island!! Trump!! America!

[dp0622]

Trust me, Staten Islanders couldn’t give a ####.

That’s why when that fat guy died, they protested in manhattan cause the fags there wouldn’t have put them in the hospital for 3 or 4 months.

Southerners, heartland and Italians in the north are the only people that aren’t at all afraid of obama’s sons.

[Texan]

Glad you “survived” and hope your life is better than before the hurricane.

[LS]

Never.