2 thoughts on “Divided, we will continue to fall

  1. Largely agree with Mr. Korn, although I don’t think a united voice speaking for upstate would be a bad thing. But we do need to get away from the myth that downstate is some sort of financial drain on upstate. We need to stress that upstate NY as a separate state would rank somewhere around Mississippi as far as poverty, education, life expectancy, etc. NYC is what keeps our quality of life good here in upstate (and yes, I do love living up here). But I would like to see development aid better spent, and a united voice with e.g. an agreed annual agenda for the region would help set priorities. Cuom0 administration has gone some way in making this happen, but he only seems to consult elites here (Bob Duffy) when considering what would help us most.

  2. Tom Tobin must be writing from another century. Living downstate for over 20 years (after 20 years in Rochester) and being active in government, I’ve heard little mention of an Upstate-Downstate split. NYC and the 5 nearby suburban counties have 65% of the state population. Downstate Democrats and Republicans recognize the needs of Upstate and legislators like Joe Morelle, Joe Robach and David Gantt brought back a fair share of transportation and education monies. Like the Governor or not, the Buffalo Billion and related development funding went to Western and Central NY. Westchester and Nassau didn’t see any of it. We work better when we work together; when Upstate tries to gang up on Downstate, it can only lose.

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