‘Friends’: Plot Hole Suggested Joey Tribbiani Was From Staten Island Not Queens
During the lengthy run of Friends, we learned a lot about our six favorite pals. We also learned a fair bit about their upbringings. Even Phoebe Buffay, whose early life was dark and traumatic, was openly discussed on Friends. Still, there is one Friends mystery that seems to plague the show. No one is sure if Joey Tribbiani was from Queens or Staten Island. While it’s largely believed that he hailed from Queens, a plot hole from season 1 suggests that he was from Staten Island. We did a little investigating.
‘Friends’ fans largely believe Joey was born and raised in Queens
Joey Tribbiani shared a lot about his early life during the run of Friends. Fans learned that Joey was from a large Italian-American family. He was one of eight siblings and the only boy in the group. His family made regular appearances during the show’s run, too. Over the years, Friends fans met several of Joey’s sisters. He also introduced his mother, Gloria, his grandmother, and his father, Joey Tribbiani Sr to his pals.
It is largely assumed that Joey grew up in Queens before moving to Manhattan to pursue his acting career. Queens was referenced more than once in the series. It seems pretty obvious that the sporadically successful actor was from the famed borough. In season 1, his own father suggested otherwise, though.
Joey Tribbiani Sr. introduced a plot hole when he mentioned taking the ferry
While it’s largely assumed that Joey was originally from Queens, a season 1 episode suggests that the Tribbiani family either moved out of Queens or never lived there in the first place. In the season 1 episode, “The One with the Boobies,” Joey Tribbiani Sr. visited Joey at his apartment. He explained to the gang that he decided to stay with his son so he didn’t have to take the ferry back and forth.
While multiple ferry routes now service New York City, including some routes stopping in Queens, the Staten Island Ferry is the most famous of the city’s ferry routes. The term “the ferry” is largely used by New Yorkers when discussing the Staten Island Ferry. Traditionally, most passengers who use the service live on Staten Island and use the ferry to access Manhattan.
Based on what Joey Sr. said about staying with his son, we can assume he lived on Staten Island. Whether they always lived there and Joey was actually from the area or if the couple moved to Staten Island at a later point remains unknown. It would make sense for the family to have hailed from Staten Island, though. According to several sources, Staten Island has the largest concentration of Italian-Americans in the state. Queens also has a substantial Italian-American population, though.
Joey Tribbiani’s sports team preferences might hint that he wasn’t from Queens, but he probably was
While Mr. Tribbiani’s statement is the only spoken clue that the Tribbiani family were Staten Island residents and did not reside in Queens, we can also look at Joey’s sports team affiliations to better understand where he was from. While Joey appeared to be a Mets fan early on in the run of Friends. His baseball affiliation switched somewhere along the way, though. The soap opera star once proclaimed that the “Mets suck!” While it isn’t a prerequisite for Queens residents to be fans of the Amazin’ Mets, most of the team’s fans are from Queens. Joey was also a diehard fan of the New York Rangers, not the New York Islanders. While there are far more New York Rangers fans than New York Islanders in New York City, many Islanders fans do come from Queens and Long Island.
In short, sports team affiliations notwithstanding, it seems more likely than not that Joey was from Queens. Mr. Tribbiani’s mention of the Staten Island Ferry was probably just a slip-up that created a plot hole. Joey knew too little about Staten Island to be from the borough. Queens was mentioned as his hometown more than once, so unless a surprise reboot redefines Joey’s backstory, we’ll assume he was from Queens and his father misspoke.
