Posted on 03/28/2008 7:20:21 PM PDT by kingattax
Long Island - bigger than 19 states and more populous than all but the country's three largest cities -- is big enough to stand on its own, secede and become the 51st state, said Suffolk Comptroller Joseph Sawicki.
Sawicki will formally renew his call to make Nassau and Suffolk -- with their 2.8 million people -- its own state at an 8 a.m. breakfast Friday morning sponsored by Dowling College's Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute.
"Before you dismiss me as being on the fringe of craziness, just imagine: Taxes raised on Long Island would be spent on Long Island," said Sawicki, dusting off an idea that he first proposed as a state assemblyman in 1991.
Sawicki said the region in 2004 sent $8.1 billion to Albany in taxes and fees but got back only $5.2 billion. "I don't know about you, but I don't like the way these numbers add up," he said. "It leaves Long Island paying for the rest of the state."
Yes. Then Long Island can concentrate on its own issues. Sounds like a nice idea, but there's no way it could happen. No. Long Island is part of New York, and should remain part of New York. Either way, it really wouldn't affect the communities on Long Island.
Such local movements have been a recurring issue across New York for years. Long Island's East End has sought a separate Peconic County, Staten Island has sought to break away from New York City and Queens Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. has also pushed to make New York City a state unto itself. Most such efforts fail because the rest of the Empire State balks at such political amputations.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Why don’t they just secede and get out of the Union altogether , I wouldn’t mind.
It’s a long shot.
Well, as long as you don’t mind losing all the conservative Long Island FReepers to FReeIsland.com
I’ve heard stranger ideas than this. After all, West Virginia was able to succeed from Virginia.
It’s gone too rodent for me to support such a move. Besides, if it was ALL of L.I., shouldn’t it include Brooklyn and Queens ?
Backed by the Union Army. Who's gonna protect Long Island from being retaken? ;-)
Make it all of NYC and I’d vote for it.
Two more RATS in the Senate.Yah,that’ll work.Just make DC a state and the RATS will control the Senate for the next 50 years.
ping
Goody a whole new bureauracy.. with State county and local bureaucrats.. with all the overhead and waste.. However there could be many republicans.. maybe a republican state..
We could probably counter that by splitting California east and west, Illinois north and south, Ohio NE and SW... You get the idea.
Take from Albany down and leave the rest of us alone.
Well, I don't think there are that many in Long Island, but we can always offer to transplant them here in the states!:)
LOL! They can have it!
Staten Island has been unable to succeed from New York City. In fact, a few advocated Staten Island becoming part of New Jersey. THAT would be interesting!
ummmm - the entire State pays for NYC, Einstien....
try living in a backwater municipality like Rochester and see how much money Chucky Schumer, Hillary and Louise Slaughter bring back here - and then come back with all your "im getting crapped on" metality
Not legally.
I’m from upstate.
Can we secede too?
Howsabout we saw it off at the Westchester County line?
That still leaves you with Ithaca.
We don’t need 2 more permanent Dem Senators.
Exactly! We definitely do not need another liberal state.
Don’t forget global warming. Long Island will be under water in ten years.
If S.I. was shifted to NJ, the Dem legislature would wipe out their GOP representation in short order by chopping it up and shifting the northern half of it to Hudson County (13th) and the southern half to Essex and Union (a reconfigured 6th).
Don’t forget Buffalo. And Rochester isn’t do so well either.
In reality the money flows north from Westchester up.
But as for Long Island, there’s a lot of negative scammers in that area.
Not the nicest group of folks let me tell you.
Visualizing a US battleship firing on the Hamptons....
Are you sure WV didn't secede?
Whoops- caught by the grammar police!
Oh, well.
Why not?!?! And make Kalifornia a country so we could save money on not changing the US flag. ;>)
I’ve been to West “By God” Virginia, and they’re STILL trying to succeed.
That still leaves you with Ithaca.
Maybe we could create a thin, gerrymandered, swath of land and let canada have Ithaca.
If we could take Upstate back, maybe we could undo all the crappy legislation that has driven business out of NY and ruined all the cities that used to provide employment that are now eyesores; like Albany, Little Falls, Utica, Rome, Watertown, Binghamton, Syracuse, Auburn, Rochester, Buffalo.
Then taxes wouldn’t need to be so high and the cities would be able to provide employment again and wouldn’t be the run down, impoverished eyesores they have become.
There’s no reason except the government for why businesses have left the state. Upstate is beautiful and has tremendous resources and agriculture and is conservative. Look at the red/blue state breakdowns by country and you can find every city along the Thruway along with the res near Syracuse.
Maybe we could figure out some way of having the lake take some of it back.
? no.
When West Virginia seceded, it was with the approval of the Virginia legislature!
The Constituition provides that parts of states may enter the Union as separate states, with the approval of the ceding state’s legislature. Even though Virginia considered itself no longer part of the Union in 1863, when people in what is now West Virginia (an area with about 100,000 whites and virtually no slaves), petitioned to be admitted to the Union, a Union with which a Confederation with it’s capitol in Virginia was then at war, the Virginia legislature granted the petition and West Virginia was, ironically enough, added to the Union with which the mother state was at war.
Why not create a North California and South California, too? Better still why not let southern California become a separate country?
great idea!!!!
I would love it if we could break “upstate” away before the NYC cancer spreads out much farther. Unfortunately, many conservatives have left. (And that includes me...I would love to return to the state where my family has lived for centuries.)
Take California with ya.
“I’m from upstate.
Can we secede too?
Howsabout we saw it off at the Westchester County line?”
Actually, I think a “good split” would be to take the entirety of Long Island and New York City, with Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties as well.
Call the new state “Metropolis”, or something like that... :)
Alternative: The south end could retain the name of “New York”, with the nothern state being “Adirondack”.
Of course New York City would become the new state capital. After the policians move out of Albany, de-capitalize it for somewhere more upstate... :)
The resulting new “northern state” would be considerably more conservative from day one, and on a better financial footing.
- John
Do one for one.
— Republican Staten Island
— Democrat Long Island.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Western New York secede from New York State. I’m tired of having my tax money sucked up by the money pit surrounding Manhattan.
“Well, as long as you don’t mind losing all the conservative Long Island FReepers to FReeIsland.com”
Yeah - both of them.
Article IV, Sec. 3
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
Yup. Pittsburgh on the lake. With the same political attitude.
Besides Staten Island, is there another Republican part of New York State which could be admitted to Statehood so that Buffalo can be cut off?
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