NYC vs Upstate

It is well past time for a serious discussion about "The City" and the rest of the state parting ways.  We'll even let New York City keep the name New York

Different regions going their separate ways is not new in this country, most people know about West Virginia parting ways, but it doesn't take a civil war for regions to go their own way.  Kentucky also split ways from Virginia, what is now Tennessee split from North Carolina, and Maine from Massachusetts, and of course, Vermont from NY.

There have also been several movements in other states for regions to go their separate ways, most notably the state of Jefferson in northern California, which arguably would have been successful had it not been overshadowed by Pearl Harbor and WWII.  Most recently, 11 counties in Colorado considered a nonbinding resolution to form a separate state, with five counties voting in favor.

The discussion has happened on and off in NY since the Civil War, but has never really gained much traction, mostly because people brush it off and declare it impossible, even if they may support the concept in principle. Until now

Lets consider a few things, first, lets look at registered voters

According to the NYS Board of Elections, in 2014 NYS had 11,806,472 registered voters. 4,568,362 residing in NYC, 7,238,110 "outside"

Of those voters, "Outside" NYC is fairly balanced, arguably heavily GOP depending on where you draw the line for upstate/downstate.
In contrast, NYC is overwhelmingly Democrat.  In a statewide or presidential election, this disparity effectively silences the Republican and conservative voters of Upstate NY, nearly 2.5 million voters who increasingly feel their votes do not matter, who feel ignored by the state government, and feel dominated and bullied by the political whims of an urban population that does not understand rural needs.

If we look at election results, we often see two separate pictures, but due to the nature of winner take all elections, NYC dominates and Upstate is left out in the cold.

Issues such as the SAFE act further divide the two regions, while if they were to go their separate ways, downstate could happily have strict gun control if it should so choose, while upstate could happily have gun laws that better fit a rural population. On a related note to the SAFE act, a major upstate employer, Remington Arms, is expanding into operations in Alabama and scaling back it's operations in Illion NY, and several other firearms operations have left the state due to the controversial legislation.

The upstate economy is reeling and has been for years, with little hope of change seen in a future tied to urban downstate policies that do not fit well in the upstate economy, Coumo's proposed fixes include casinos and the shady at best startup NY tax free scheme.

Meanwhile NY has the highest tax burden in the nation.


NY is ranked #49 for state tax business climate

The economic policies forced on Upstate NY have crippled the economy, and when local communities seek to explore options such as fracking in the Marcellus shale, they are shut down by a statewide ban on what should be a local matter.

The discussion is happening, and needs to keep happening, be it in the form of home rule;  joining Pennsylvania;  or creating separate regions as the New Amsterdam movement advocates

Realistically, perhaps creating a 51st state is not the most viable of options, the current political environment would likely never allow it, as the politics of Congress place the needs of the party above the needs of the people.  But the above choices are all good, outside the box options that can help free rural Upstate NY from an Urban, dominant downstate.

Here's to a future where a New Amsterdam, or whatever name we may choose for ourselves, is a reality.  In the mean time, lets have the conversation, lets not quit before we start with a defeatist "it won't happen" attitude.

It is the American way to seek our own path, it's well past time we remembered that

Image source: http://www.newamsterdamny.org/