Tami Shaloum

I never had a reason to go to Staten Island. Maybe I’d take the occasional out-of-town guest on the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty up close, or pass through once a year on the way to visiting family in New Jersey. One time in college, my boyfriend took me there to meet his parents during a school break. But here I am, a native Long Islander who has lived in Brooklyn and Queens for the last eight years, suddenly considering the prospect of moving there.