The issue is also that the highway network of Staten Island was never completed -- had the MLK and Richmond Parkway been extended as intended, we wouldn't have the massive traffic clusterfuck that plagues the middle of Staten Island during rush hour.

glares at Richmond Road between Dongan Hills and Grasmere

NYC does this very well for a large city IMO. Most of the bad neighborhoods are within walking distance of a park and most of the parks are safe enough during the day. Individual projects have small playgrounds and basketball courts, and there's a decent number of athletic facilities spread across the city as well. A lack of actual good green / park space is my biggest complaint about Jersey City.

Their non-outlet stores are definitely high end.

Newport has Swarovski as well, and Express which I'd call upper-middle class tier. The mall isn't fancy but I don't think I'd call it down market and working class to the extent people here are. Jersey Gardens and Woodbridge are the "working class" malls of the area moreso than Newport.

It's fine, not sure why so many people are shitting on it. It lacks a good warehouse-style shoe store but other than that you got all your mid-tier mall staples, and considering JC has shit for retail it's the only place you can really shop for clothes outside of smaller boutiques unless you take an uber out of town or go to Manhattan.

Wasn't Coach there for a while?

They can't compete with Target / Walmart / Kohls / Ikea / At Home for cheap stuff, and their inventory isn't high end enough to compete with higher end stores. So many stores sell home goods, linens, storage, and small appliances that they're basically redundant in the market.

You'd also have to pull people away from the NYCDOE.