Viability of New York State worries many

ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE ^ | (January 8, 2004) — | By Rick Armon and Enid Arbelo

[Marysecretary]

Agreed. I've said that for years. Now, how do we go about it?

[Alberta's Child]

Point of interest:

I believe there was some anticipation early on in the Thirteen Colonies that New York would eventually split into two different jurisdictions. This may have been at a time when New York City served as the first capital of the U.S. from 1785-90.

This was apparently why the Ivy League schools were originally designated as such. The original intent was to have one Ivy League school for each of the northern colonies: Harvard in Massachusetts, Yale in Connecticut, Dartmouth in New Hampshire, Brown in Rhode Island, Princeton in New Jersey, and the University of Pennsylvania -- New York was the only state with two Ivy League schools: one in New York City (Columbia) and one upstate (Cornell).

[expatpat]

Interesting. Well, it's not too late -- tho' I can't see it really happening.

[expatpat]

I guess the good citizens of Upstate NY need to address it with a petition, to start with. I don't live in NY -- just an interested observer.

[Alberta's Child]

I can't see it happening any time soon, either -- for the same reason that Staten Island's threats to secede from New York City never pan out. Upstate New York actually enjoys a tremendous financial gain from the taxpayers in the New York City metropolitan area.

[ken5050]

Way back, Jimmy Breslin wrote a big piece calling for NYC to secede and become the 51st state..about 6 months after it came out, NYC hit the financial fan under \Abe Beame....the state's finances are terrible, but NYC's are far worse, and the city is a creature of the state...even if the citizens voted for it, the financial guarantees necessary on the combined city/state debt would make it impossible...the good peopel of Staen Island have wanted to secede from NYC for decades..the same problem keeps it from happening....their "share" of NYC's municipal debt load..

[qam1]

What is needed IMO is a severing of NYC from the rest of the State. The rest could then vote more conservatively, and get back to health. Then NYC, like DC, can do its own liberal thing until.....

I agree but also take LI and the Hudson valley which have been over run with NYC liberals

[Marysecretary]

I get sick of paying for NYC's taxload, too. We send our electricity down to them from the grid up here as well. No wonder our bills are getting out of sight. Well, it was a good thought...

[qam1]

I can't see it happening any time soon, either -- for the same reason that Staten Island's threats to secede from New York City never pan out. Upstate New York actually enjoys a tremendous financial gain from the taxpayers in the New York City metropolitan area.

That's not entirely true.

The reason the inbalance between Upstate and Downstate is because of prisions. There are no prisions downstate where NIMBYism rules while upstate because of the poor economics towns fight tooth and nail for them. Take away the prisions and Upstate is getting shafted especially considering that the vast majority of prinsoners are from NYC.

Also just recently the state took on the payments for the debt of NYC from the 1970's so it's the city that's shafted the state residents and throw out all the mandates (unfunded and otherwise) coming out of Liberal NYC and upstate wouldn't need as much.

[qam1]

Center for a FREE and INDEPENDENT Upstate New York

[ken5050]

There's also the rumor that what really destrpyed the plans for Staten Island to secede from NYC was that the residents wanted to then send ALL the garbage from the Fresh Kills dump back to Manhattan.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

NYS is the birthplace of the RINO, or, as they were originally known, "Rockefeller Republicans."

From Rockefeller to Lindsey to Pataki, our GOP leaders tend be be as liberal as some democrats.

[Cyber Liberty]

You forgot (5) legal firecrackers.

[Alberta's Child]

The reason the inbalance between Upstate and Downstate is because of prisions.

Just as Staten Island's greatest benefit was the Fresh Kills landfill.

Prisons -- and schools -- may very well be what keeps much of upstate New York going, but if it isn't that then it would have to be something else.

I think you also underestimate the tax burden that is carried by the New York City area compared to the rest of the state. Despite its large number of urban poor, this area also has a disproportionate number of wealthy people (and middle-class people that are considered "wealthy" in the New York tax code) in the highest tax brackets.

[expatpat]

Hey, I don't see a red county where Ithaca is.......

[wtc911]

Tug Hill Plateau is perfect in every aspect save one...more snow than Buffalo.

[qam1]

The county is fine so I guess maybe Ithaca will have to be sealed off in sort of a reverse Berlin during the Cold War.

[expatpat]

Or lay seige to it (tips on doing this can be found in "The Holy Grail" by Monty Python.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Maybe Ithaca could be a giant prison, sort of like that movie "Escape from New York." This could be the sequel: "Escape from the City of Evil."

[Victoria Delsoul]

People I know in the land development business tell me that upstate New York should be one of the most attractive real estate markets in the country. The place has so many things going for it that are the envy of other regions of the U.S.: great highway, rail, and utility infrastructure, an abundant supply of fresh water, inexpensive raw land, etc.

The fact that the prospects for the region are so poor despite all these advantages is a disgraceful reflection of New York's dysfunctional state government.

I couldn't agree with you more. Whenever we get socialists in government the economy goes south.