2015 NYC Marathon
Mayor Bill de Blasio at the starting area of the NYC Marathon on November 1, 2015.
(Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores)
CITY HALL -- Mayor Bill de Blasio wanted to create a blog about Staten Island called "Forgotten No More."
Last year, the mayor thought that City Hall should set up a website detailing everything the de Blasio administration has done for Staten Island, according to a person familiar with the matter.
De Blasio suggested the "Forgotten No More" site to staff in spring 2015, the source said. The mayor was looking for ways to let Staten Islanders know that he cares about their concerns.
City Hall confirmed de Blasio's idea.
Instead of setting up a standalone website like he proposed, the mayor's office decided to use an existing social media platform to connect with Islanders.
Staffers quietly came up with a Twitter hashtag for positive stories and tweets about the borough: #OnStatenIsland.
The first official use of the hashtag was Jan. 20 this year, when the mayor's Twitter account linked to an Advance story about funding for a new Staten Island Ferry boat.
"Some, ah, "ferry" good news for Staten Island. Check it out: http://ow.ly/Xl4Ea #OnStatenIsland," @BilldeBlasio tweeted. (The ferry cool pun was borrowed by the mayor from the Advance story.)
So far, 15 official city accounts have used the hashtag in 126 total tweets from the administration. The mayor's office said tweets using #OnStatenIsland have been "liked" on Twitter more than 1,600 times.
"The Mayor wanted to make sure Staten Islanders know that they're not "forgotten,'" de Blasio spokeswoman Natalie Grybauskas said. "Using this hashtag is a way to communicate directly with residents about the efforts we're making to lift up Staten Island communities, and a way for Staten Islanders to be part of that conversation."
Though the "Forgotten No More" site never actually happened, the idea is symbolic of de Blasio's own anxieties about Staten Island as an outer-borough mayor.
Conservative-leaning Staten Island was the only borough de Blasio didn't win in the mayoral election. The Democratic mayor has since struggled to overcome the perception that he does not care about Staten Islanders or their concerns.
De Blasio has a consistently low approval rating among Staten Island voters, despite often going out of his way to address borough needs.
At the urging of local elected officials, de Blasio added Staten Island Ferry trips and increased repairs to borough roads. He also supported a borough pilot program for curbside electronic waste pickup and increased funding the Staten Island district attorney's office.
The mayor even allocated $50 million so Staten Island could have a public indoor pool -- an ultimately costly gesture to make up for City Hall's inaction on another project.
De Blasio came up with the "Forgotten No More" website last year while under fire for his relatively infrequent trips to Staten Island, according to the person familiar with the matter.
The mayor is still sensitive to this criticism.
De Blasio's been to Staten Island just eight times since January, most recently eating at Denino's with police officials on Aug. 2. In April, he hosted a long-awaited town hall in Concord.
"This is my first town hall meeting on Staten Island," de Blasio said when the event ended, "I look forward to the next."
Though many residents continue to disagree with de Blasio's more progressive policies, his efforts on Staten Island may not be completely pointless come 2017. De Blasio lost the borough by just 6,431 votes in 2013.