All hail the great State of Long Island

long island flagThe action at the capitol Wednesday included not just David Paterson's State of the State speech, but also the start of the new legislative session.

And that means a bunch of new bills. Among them: A01189, sponsored by Assemblyman Fred Thiele. Here's the description (emphasis added):

Establishes a bi-county commission in the counties of Nassau and Suffolk to study the feasibility of establishing the state of Long Island.

Our only question about this: can they take Staten Island with them?

Hey, this is a time for courage, action and hope.

(Thanks, Peter!)

Comments

Oh please, please, please! Maybe take everything south of, say, Kingston?

Anyone remember about 4 or so years ago, when the State of Long Island was a running joke at Bombers Trivia? Anyone get the sneaking suspicion that Thiele might've attended one night and mistaken it for constituent support?

I used to live on Long Island...this notion comes up every few years...they want to make Riverhead the state capital.

Then someone shows them the numbers, and the idea dies.

Ohhhh, the things I could say.. but my comments would never be approved. So, I'll just say I dig their Long Island Ice Tea.

Their economy can't survive on Jeagerbomb purchases alone. They need to up the import of hair gel, tanning beds, and striped shirts. But wait, think of all the out of state tuition SUNY Albany would then make!

Next thing you know New Jersey will want it's own state!

much like the state of NY sending MORE money to the feds than it gets in return, the counties of Nassau & Suffolk sends a tremendous amount of money to NY in state sales tax. And what do we receive in return? Bloated salaries and administrator-heavy departments replete with too civil service workers as well as unfunded mandates to local school districts. Thanks but no thanks. We've seen the numbers and they DO WORK !

Most of the tax revenue that NYS collects comes from Wall Street, plus 4 zip codes in Manhattan, with a sizable amount from Westchester. Long Island has always gotten far more from the state than it put in, with much more pouring in during the Marino years in the Senate.

I just hope that the bunch of new bills would make long island a better place for everyone.

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