I can’t count how many times in my lifetime that Staten Islanders have called for their borough to secede from New York City.

I grew up and came of age in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.

I remember a lot about the bad old days.

Murder and other violent crimes were rampant. The streets were filthy. Mass transit was a graffitied disaster. New York City had barely avoided going broke. President Gerald Ford told us to drop dead.

Everybody wanted to leave New York City then, not just Staten Islanders.

But by the early 1990s, Staten Islanders in particular began to feel truly besieged.

The city Board of Estimate had been eliminated, depriving the Island of its equal vote when it came to many big-ticket city issues.

We lost pretty much all our bargaining power when it came to the other four boroughs. We became a lot easier to push around.

Democratic Mayor David Dinkins didn’t seem to care all that much.

Then again, most Democratic........

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