As Mayor Bill de Blasio works out of Staten Island this week, he's reignited a longshot pitch for a tax hike on high-end real estate sales. NY1's Josh Robin filed the following report.

Staten Islanders call their home the forgotten borough. Mayor Bill de Blasio thinks they should forget that slogan.

"We believe in a five-borough government.  We really believe that people need to know the government is going to treat them fairly in all five boroughs," de Blasio said.

It's hard to say perceptions of fairness will grow, but the mayor is trying in some areas at least.

His third-day stops stuck to the North Shore, where he won in 2013 while handily losing Staten Island as a whole.

He announced that ferry boarding will, as of September, be re-opened on the terminal's lower level. It closed after the 2001 terror attacks.

Then, he hit a senior center, where no issue was too small. One table was miffed the letter carrier is arriving as late as 6 p.m.

"Yeah, I think somebody, if not himself, look into it," said one resident.

De Blasio hopes seniors repay by reviving his failed bid to tax home sales over $2 million to build affordable housing for 25,000 senior citizens. 

The hike would hit very few homes outside of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

It's seen as DOA in Albany, but de Blasio said, "We've been fighting for it, we're going to keep fighting for it."

An aide handed out flyers to phone the Republican-controlled state Senate.

That wasn't the only flyer that City Hall staffers handed out. Another one touts all the investments and improvements on Staten Island under the de Blasio administration.

Not that it's seen as helping turn the island entirely into a place de Blasio could win.

"Most of it's symbolic at this point, where he's perceived on Staten Island as being anti-cop and a representative of traditional urban liberalism that most Staten Islanders don't support," said Richard Flanagan of the College of Staten Island.

Enter Bo Dietl. The mayoral candidate trailed the mayor on a mission to "usurp the de Blasio show."

"All of a sudden, Bill de Blasio pops up here? What have you done for the last three-and-a-half years?" Dietl said.

Interaction was limited to Dietl calling out his pet name for the 6-foot-5 inch incumbent.

"Bye bye Big Bird. Bye bye Big Bird," Dietl said.