I am not 100% sure if they killed it or are the reason it still exists.
If it wasn’t and hour and half away from New York, it would probably wouldn’t even have an economy worth mentioning
Not saying it is 100% perfect, but the New Yorkers do bring money in to the region.
It like the locals in Shore towns in New Jersey, they complain about the Bennys (people from Bayone,Brooklyn, New York, Staten Island etc) but do like the money spend in their towns.