The former state senator who pushed for Staten Island's secession from the rest of New York City has died.
John Marchi was 87. The Republican was first elected in 1957 and retired in 2006.
Marchi is perhaps best known for leading a movement to let New York City's smallest borough break away from the rest of the city in the 1990s.
The state Senate in 1995 approved Marchi's secession bill but the bill never came to a vote in the Assembly.
Marchi and several Staten Island colleagues in 1996 successfully pushed through the legislature a bill to close the massive Fresh Kills Landfill.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg described Marchi as one of the "true giants" of public life.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
