Hey, Mark Zuckerberg: Angry Staten Islanders want to have a word with you
A Young Republicans group from the 'forgotten borough' of New York pens an open letter to the Facebook CEO, complaining of underrepresentation in the social network's 'events' feature.
And no, it's not about their names.
A group called the Richmond County Young Republicans has issued an open letter to Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, asking them to check up on their geography.
Richmond County, after all, is the same entity as the New York borough of Staten Island, and if you're creating an event on Facebook, you apparently can't list the location of the shindig as "Staten Island." The closest location, reportedly, is "Staten Island Junction, N.J." (And there's nothing that a New Yorker hates more than being associated with Jersey.)
"This hits a sore spot with us and our members," the letter to Zuckerberg read, "as Staten Island has a reputation as the 'forgotten borough' of New York City." Come on, that is totally not true, guys! Everyone in New York knows that the Staten Island Ferry doesn't charge for the ride and sells some of the least expensive beer in the city, making it the cheapest booze cruise in town!
Additionally, Facebook doesn't totally ignore Staten Island. The social network does operate a "regional network" for the borough, as well as regional networks for New York itself and the neighboring boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx; several cities within the remaining borough of Queens, like Long Island City and Astoria, have their own regional networks.
Facebook representatives do not appear to have issued a statement in response.
(Full disclosure: CNET News.com's Caroline McCarthy lives in Manhattan, where yes, we make fun of Staten Island, but not as much as we make fun of Boston, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Long Island, Westchester County, Connecticut, or Williamsburg.)