When it comes to the screen – silver or small – Staten Island gets the short end of the stick. The number of movies that take place on Shaolin is depressingly short. When the Island does appear in an iconic film, it’s usually as a stand-in for someplace else, a la the Corleone compound in “The Godfather.” The television side is even worse. New York-based TV shows sometimes have a Staten Island episode and the formula is always the same: Manhattanites (or Brooklynites) take the ferry to Staten Island, meet misanthropic natives who say offensive things, return to city, shaking their heads. There are a few exceptions – “The Mindy Project” features a character from Staten Island who is an articulate, successful Italian doctor – but for the most part, the portrayal of Staten Island stinks. (And no, that wasn’t an invitation for you to make a joke about the Dump.)

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