I am writing on behalf of all of us former Staten Islanders who have been mistreated and unfairly stigmatized due to our immigration to Monmouth County.
I was born and raised in Staten Island, N.Y. I spent 38 wonderful years in a community full of warmth, acceptance and peace.
Two years ago, my family decided it was time for a change and we found a beautiful home in Monmouth County. We saw New Jersey as an ideal place to raise our children; ironically, it was very similar to the suburbia that we had grown accustomed to years ago on Staten Island.
I come from a family of highly educated professionals, an education that I received in New York.
I am a professional working mother who has been fortunate enough to find a wonderful group of friends; however, outside of my community I have found women who have a deeprooted need to start confrontations in retail establishments, salons and restaurants.
I would shake my head and wonder why I was being treated with utter disrespect. I can honestly say that I never experienced this aggression on Staten Island; it truly began when I moved here.
It wasn’t until today that I found out the reason. A woman was being rude and disrespectful to me in a national retail chain.
When I questioned her behavior, she simply laughed and told me to go back to New York where I belonged. I was so taken aback by her statement. It was then that I finally realized what had been going on all along … I’m from Staten Island!
Yes, we are here to stay. We pay our taxes, volunteer at our schools, become emergency medical technicians, but I guess that doesn’t matter to some people of Monmouth County.
After asking some friends who also have moved here, they have also found this to be true outside of our community.
This is my question: Would you tell other ethnicities who weren’t born here to return to their native land? I think not. That would be considered political incorrectness. So why is it acceptable to tell New Yorkers to return to our place of birth?
For those of you who are ready to raise your pens and respond to this letter about the bad experience you had with a Staten Island neighbor, wait a moment.
Do you think it is fair that we are all painted with the same brush stroke? We are individuals and want to be judged by our merits, not as a group of invaders that has desecrated your sacred ground.
I am not here to whine or feel sorry for myself, but I hope those other Staten Islanders who have experienced this misfortune know they are not alone.
Christina Giacobbe-Nuzzolo
Colts Neck