Britain’s exit from the EU has triggered a call from a New York City councilman for Staten Island to secede from the five boroughs of the city, DNAinfo reported.
Councilman Joe Borelli described the vote to leave the European Union “inspiring” in a tweet Thursday night, saying that his constituents on the island want their borough to be free of the city.
Staten Island attempted to secede from the city in 1993, when 65 percent of Staten Islanders voted for an independent city charter. However, the state Assembly blocked the measure by delaying it until it was too late to vote on the plan.
The #Brexit is inspiring… especially 2 us on #StatenIsland…Perhaps time 2 rethink what many supported #secession pic.twitter.com/rLoBfPitcY
— Joe Borelli (@JoeBorelliNYC) June 24, 2016
It was not the first time the borough tried to leave the city. There were four other efforts. The Staten Island secession movement first happened in 1989 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the city’s governing structure unfairly empowered the least populous borough.