Morano speaks on codifying Staten Island flag as official city flag

And now I invite Councilmember Marano to the podium to discuss his legislation.

Thank you, Speaker, for the opportunity and for your courage.

It does take a lot of courage, as anybody that knows me can tell you, to hand me a microphone without the timer that automatically starts buzzing after two minutes.

But in all seriousness, this is the first opportunity I've had to participate in a pre-stated meeting press conference because this is the first

major piece of legislation that I've been able to pass since joining the council last year.

And I'm very excited about it.

I'm excited about it, even though it's heavy on symbolism and doesn't necessarily change the cost of living for a lot of Staten Islanders.

It doesn't necessarily change what time they have to go up or the length of their commute time.

But the truth is, for two generations, maybe more, Staten Islanders have felt forgotten by the city.

They have felt alienated from New York City government.

They feel as if city government doesn't speak for them.

And they feel, quite frankly, in many instances, unrepresented.

And what we're doing today in codifying that Staten Island flag and making it the third official flag of New York City behind Brooklyn and the boogie down Bronx

is a major step in telling Staten Islanders that the city of New York sees you and wants you to be a part of city government.

So often, Staten Islanders that I meet who are flying the American flag, they don't seem to have that same sense of pride and patriotism in their city and their borough.

Every day, I am meeting Staten Islanders.

Islanders who seem to be counting the days until they can retire and move to Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, New Jersey, wherever.

I want this flag flown all over Staten Island with the same pride that the American flag is on Flag Day and on the 4th of July.

And I think making it official and having our city government say that Staten Island counts is a big first step.

This is done totally in a nonpartisan fashion.

All three members of Staten Island City Council delegation fought for this every step of the way.

And I really can't thank Speaker Menon enough for her leadership, not just on this issue, but on being the best speaker Staten Island has ever had.

Last year, you know how many Staten Islanders were chairing committees or in the leadership of the city council?

Zero.

And now all three of us are in the leadership of the council or chairing committees.

That's no small thing.

Beyond that, we've had the largest investment of capital money in Staten Island under Speaker Menon's leadership that we've seen in decades.

So it's nice for the first time that now not only do we have a speaker that says Staten Island is part of this city, but actually works and hears the needs of Staten Islanders.

And that's not to say anything about her leadership in stopping property taxes and fighting against police cuts.

So I'm very excited that from now on, when you see this flag all over our...

It will now be official.

And it's upside down.

When you see this flag.

A big shout out.

We're going to turn it around.

A big shout out.

There you go.

There you go.

A big shout out to former borough president Jimmy Otto, who commissioned this flag 10 years ago, and to Emil Micah, who designed this flag.

He's Staten Island's own Betsy Ross.

So thank you.

Thank you, Speaker.

Thank you.

You know what?

I don't know how we're going to match that.

We're really not.

You know what?

The next time you pass a bill, we're not putting you first.

Not fair to the other council members.