Should NY State Be Split In Two?

allow me to elaborate on a few of the new york city people that say the rest of NY would be worse off.

i ask them do you know where your water and electricity come from in NY..HMMMM anyone anyone. that's right your water comes from a lovely little town in upstate NY and your electricity that powers everything in your city comes from where NIAGRA FALLS that's where. and what does NYC do with ALL the extra power we give them (and don't say I'm wrong with this i worked with the NY power authority) you sell it to the east cost and about a tenth of a percent ever reaches us in the west. so in NY were to become 2 seperate states NYC would then have to pay BILLIONS for the electricity and water and west ny would have a choke hold on NYC IE nevada and california

i think NY should split into two States. Albany uses NYC and Long Island like we're a "magical money tree". we pay some of the highest taxes in all the USA so the people 'upstate' can pay hardly any taxes and live on acres and acres of land.

i have a great new name for "upstate". its 'East Ontario'

Or "Upper Ohio".

here are my picks for upstate's new name:

1. Iroquois, after the dominant local tribe

2. Erie, after the famed canal that traverses the state

3. Albania, after its disreputable capital city, and legendary Balkan country

Or Russia, because there's a Moscow, NY.

This is a really bad idea. First, there would now be 51 states instead of 50. Second, what's to stop other states then following suit? Philadelphia would probably then secede from the rest of Pennsylvania, maybe L.A. would secede from California - who nows where it would end? We would end up with more and more states, and consequently even more local government than we already have. What a mess! Definitely a really terrible idea.

Nobody Wants a Broke State ! Just take a ride across the Washington Bridge too Jersey . New York State Counties depend on the added revenue from the City to support it . With that said, Why would the upstaters want to leave ? Every State in the Union would kill to have what New York State Counties has in New York City because it's a money maker ! Just another dumb-ass comment from some out of touch Pol. Really how do they pay there taxes upstate with the Unemployment rate up their ? Can somebody explain that to me .

If NY splits, it would screw up the way the stars are arranged on the US flag.

Would the new NYC State Troopers gear up with American Apparel Unisexy uniforms ?

HA!

Only if we JUST get to break off the 5 boroughs.

Four boroughs. Staten Island should be given to New Jersey. They deserve each other.

WTF? What kind of fucking article is this. Where are they planning to dissect the state from, what are the lines, tell people about that first.. Also, I think Long Island should be split first, I recommend three states, not two.

Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx one state, Nassau and Suffolk one state, and leave the fucking staten island to damn mohawk or mullet or whatever you want to call-state.

Lol, Somebody's got a problem with S.I. ! But yeah Long Island needs to go ! I mean it's just a waste, Hard as hell to get to and travel through ! If you don't have a car forget about it, When it snows, Your trapped out there . While Nassau County Buses accept Metrocards, Suffolk County takes only the Metrocard Transfers from the Nassau Buses . I guess they think they shit smell that good out on the ISland .

all for it. why whould NYC continue to subsidize upstate? That's where a significant portion of our financial troubles stem from - cut them loose and stop using our tax revenues to support your conservative ways.

further more, the new state should just be the 5 boros of NYC, LI can go with upstate!

Um, upstate can have longisland. And Shelley Silver, Hiram Monserrate, Pedro Espada, etc. Just make sure we get ERNIE ANASTOS!

These are the finals for upstate's naming:

01. Buffalo

02. New Appalachia

03. Niagara-Mohawk

haha screw you upper NY, we are where the money is. No one knows NY from Albany or Syracuse or any other dumpy town up there so suck ittttttt

Why not make NYC the Jewish equivalent of the Vatican. Problem being they'd probably then invade Long Island, Yonkers and New Jersey.

just sayin..

NYC, LI, Westchester, Rockland should be called Gotham.

Everything else should be called Methland

rockland???

Why not Rockland?

NYC + LI + our watershed + everything south of I-84 = New York

New upstate NY name: Kiss My Ass

If you gave Westchester, Putnam, and Duchess the choice between upstate and downstate, do you REALLY think they'd choose downstate?

Here's a hint, they wouldn't.

While we're at it, we should move the western and southern borders to everything east/north of I-287, as far down as Perth Amboy.

Shouldn't referendum-crazed California be the first to split up, before NY?

It wouldn't have to be a secession from the state to form another state; we could just become the District Of New York. Then the SLA would actually be able to get some work done, since they'd have our bars and restaurants off their hands.

And while we're at it, how about some fucking jetpacks?

That's right, It could be like D.C.

I love this idea!

Heck! Free NYC from Albany and Washington!

ANYTHING to be free of the loonies in Albany! Except most would return to the city...crap.

Right, Albany keeping Sheldon Silver would have to be part of the deal!

Its a great fantasy to have less of a fiscal burden ($10 billion).

But I feel like national politics could be at play here too. The current situation in the US Senate and the domestic agenda before us begs a vote of NO. We must deny these outrageous back door strategies by Republicans to regain even a small grip on the machinery of Congress.

We've been teased with this possibility since 1969, back when Mailer and Breslin made it a plank of their mayoral campaign...and I've wanted it to come true ever since!

Ditto, Breslin had it right back then and never gave up on it.

pretty certain that all the other states would have to agree to the creation of a new state (one of the two halves would be the new one). as this would eat into the balance of votes in congress i can't see the other states going along with it. as the bulk of NYS's income currently and historically comes directly and indirectly from NYC, I can't even see NYS voting for it.

We'd be the 11th biggest state, in population. Then again, if we were a country, we'd ALSO kick ass...

sign me up. i hate upstate.

Does anyone know how these figures are calculated? If it simply boils down to where the money is spent then that hardly seems fair. For example, since New York City has virtually zero food production capability most of the food has to be trucked in from upstate, Long Island, New Jersey, etc. Those trucks wear out the roads. If the state pays to pave it does the spending only count toward the towns where the roads are located? If the city seceded then those places would have two options: raise taxes and pave the road or let it fall into disrepair. Either way, prices go up and the city pays for it. The city is also not sufficient in water, electricity generation, prison space, landfill space, etc.

And all of this talk about "our taxes" is kind of funny. How many of you made seven or eight figures this year? Those are the people that pay the bulk of the taxes around here. How would you feel if Tribeca decided to keep all of its tax money for itself and seceded?

Seems to be the mentally of almost every city in a state.

People in upstate NY think NYC gets all he attention, while people in NYC thinks all their money goes upstate.

Look at PA, you have Philly and Pitts and then tons of rural land in between mostly.

Lots of money goes upstate because 90% of the people live on 5% of the land.

(sigh)

What is it about those GOP J_______s that every time they don't get their way, they bitch and complain and want to secede?

They did it in SI, LI and now here.

What is it with us that we don't encourage them? (That goes for the Confederate "teabag" states as well!)

Well, if they *did* secede, they'd still make us pay for it, IMO.

Could you imagine living in a state that has put Giuliani and Bloomberg in power for the last 15 years? I love how people think NYC is this freewheeling liberal fantasy land just because we have the village and some museums.

This is pretty funny, and accurate.

New Appalachia? And here i thought it would be called Shitsville.

The facts are that NYC relies on the rest of the state the same way the state relies on NYC. If every state started to split up because the losing party continually loses we'd have thousands of "states". Ridiculous.

Let New Appalachia go! I'm tired of subsidizing them, and listening to their rants that we in the city take all their money.

Unfortunately they will come to their senses (or at least some of the folks in power . . ) and stop this succession -- as happened with Staten Island.

NOTE: obviously, the REPUBLICAN party is far more corrupt than the (very corrupt) DEMOCRAT party, and few voters would ever vote for Republican candidates if they knew the facts.

(Just look at how many Republicans voted for the biggest tax-and-spend "nanny-state" liberal "lifelong Democrat" (Tax Hike Mike)---3 times in a row! These are the same people who were tricked into believing Bush was great and that there was a Virgin Birth.)

Again, almost everything is the fault of MEDIA. (They even put the Nazis into office in Germany. How'd THAT work out?)

"Govt will always break the law / but it's the MEDIA who drive the getaway car" - cxb

More important, what the name of the new state? We, the lower half, obviously get to keep New York, but upstate, what's that name gonna be?

Another vote for Buffalo for upstate and New York for the city. I wouldn't be upset about Mohawk for upstate either.

Keep the downstate portion as 'New York' and put the rest of it on Ebay.

Yes, to Ebay along with all of Michigan.

Niagara Mohawk.

Upper U.S.

Let's call the rest of the state Mudville.

Actually there was talk of this a few years ago but from NYC reps. They wanted to call NYC "Gotham". I kid you not.

I'd move back in a minute if I could live in Gotham. Oh wait, about a million fanboys just thought the same thing. Nevermind.

I love it, Gotham State!

buffalo.

The Empire

Joe Robach for Douche of the Year?

Sure, let's cut those fuckers loose and watch the state of New Appalachia fall into ruin. It really is incredible that some people still think upstate NY subsidizes the city.

YOU PEOPLE ARE SUCKERS!

FUN FACT: Team Rudy Giuliani used the Staten Island secession HOAX in 1993's election to DRAW OUT all the conservative S.I. voters to help him (barely) beat Dinkins.

The WHOLE thing was a trick and it fooled EVERYONE (but me and a couple other people).

THIS IS THE SAME SCAM AGAIN: more REPUBLICANS will come out to vote for this "symbolic" vote than DEMOCRATS, cheating the election!

It's 2009 and you STILL take everything at face value?

Wow.

No wonder NYC residents are the dumbest humans on earth! (You pay the most $ for the smallest apartments and shittiest ghetto city! You also pay the highest taxes in history!) (Scandinavians actually get some things in return, SUCKERS!)

those people always get me. i used to live in albany and around election tmies would always hear politico ads for candidates 'tired of seeing upstate dollars go to nyc :) '

without realizing nyc actually has its OWN and SEPARATE tax forms and generates much of its own revenue.

A better idea: http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/rnc/9573/

"If New York were its own country, its army, the New York City Police Department, would be the twentieth-best-funded army in the world, just behind Greece and just ahead of North Korea. Its GDP, $413.9 billion, would be the seventeenth largest, just behind the Russian Federation and just ahead of Switzerland. With more than 8 million residents, it would be more populous than Ireland, Switzerland, or New Zealand; roughly half the countries in the Middle East (including Israel); most of the former republics of the Soviet Union; and all the Scandinavian countries besides Sweden."

Let's do it!