NY used to have a very balanced economy. Upstate manufacturing, mining and farming balanced by trade and finance of NY City
Now it is completely unbalanced. The “financialization” of the US economy by the Fed and its primary-dealer banks means that Wall Street is the only game around. NY City came to dominate NY politics, so fracking-bans, pro-Gov’t and union regulations, and 1000 other rules and laws that make sense to Manhattan Progressives, have destroyed Upstate.
The ideal solution would be to split the State at the Hudson, but that will never happen.
RE; The ideal solution would be to split the State at the Hudson
There has been an existing movement for Long Island to secede from NY State as well... As a Long Islander, I would welcome that.
See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secession_in_New_York