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Upstate New York Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 04, 2020 95 Comments
If you don't live in upstate NY, you may not realize how horrible a Governor Andrew Cuomo is. Upstate, a huge region north and west of New York City, is Republican territory, and has been in revolt against Cuomo's outrageous gun control SAFE Act for years. Almost every upstate county has, in an ultimately futile but symbolic act, rejected the SAFE Act.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 08, 2016 7 Comments
Last week we covered the story of three students at the University at Albany who were facing charges for staging a race hoax. The school has now expelled two of the students and suspended another. FOX News reports:
Two New York college students who claimed to be victims of racist attack expelled Two black female college students who claimed to be victims of an assault by a group of white men and women reportedly were expelled from the University at Albany. University at Albany President Robert J. Jones said in an email to The Albany Times Union Thursday that Ariel Agudio and Asha Burwell were dismissed from the college. A third student, Alexis Briggs, was suspended for two years.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 04, 2016 31 Comments
Three students from the State University of New York at Albany claimed in January that they were victims of assault on a bus and that the motivation for the crime was racism. They are now being charged for filing a false claim. CNN reports:
N.Y. college students accused of fabricating racially motivated attack Three New York college students who said they were targets of a racially motivated attack face multiple charges for what prosecutors are calling a false claim. A grand jury on Monday indicted Ariel Agudio, Asha Burwell and Alexis Briggs, all 20, each on a charge of third-degree assault and multiple counts of falsely reporting an incident, the Albany District Attorney's Office said.

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 20, 2016 38 Comments
New York's new minimum wage is being cited as the main reason that a popular Albany restaurant is closing its doors after serving the community for decades. Mental Recession reports:
Beloved Upstate Restaurant Closes, Cites Minimum Wage Hike As Major Reason An Albany area fish fry restaurant is closing its doors after nearly 70 years in business, and the owner is pointing to New York’s $15 minimum wage as a major reason for his establishment’s downfall. Bob and Ron’s Fish Fry, described by New York Upstate as an “Albany institution” featuring “the best fish fry in the Capital Region,” announced they’d be closing their doors in less than two weeks.

Posted by Mike LaChance on April 02, 2016 17 Comments
The State of New York just passed two significant measures. One is a new family leave policy and the other is a new minimum wage of $15 an hour. Liberals are pretty stoked about both items. Smaller businesses, particularly in hard-hit upstate NY, not so much. Expect the people intended to benefit -- lower wage workers in marginal industries -- to be hardest hit because there will be fewer jobs. Entry level positions, where many people get their start, will be harder to come by. New York Mag reports:
New York Just Created a Revolutionary New Family-Leave Policy You say you want a revolution? A political, social, economic policy upheaval that will dramatically alter the playing field for millions of Americans by significantly reducing economic and gender inequality?

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 28, 2015 39 Comments
This is no surprise, particularly given the dismal economic situation in upstate NY. The government under pressure from political activists shut down any hope of fracking even though it works fine elsewhere and has kept parts of Pennsylvania economically alive for years; regulations and taxes are strangling businesses; and almost every day brings a news story about how much more control the state wants over our lives. So people continue to leave. (h/t @michellemalkin) The Albany Times Union reports on the large outflow, offset only by immigrants and immigrant children:
Once again more people are leaving New York State than arriving here, at least when it comes to people moving from one state to another. The Empire Center is out with findings, based on periodic Census updates, that “During the 12 months ending last July 1, 153,921 more residents moved out of New York than moved into it from other states.” ....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 17, 2014 39 Comments
It's tough up here in NY's flyover country, that enormous expanse that starts in the Catskill mountains north of New York City, and runs north towards the Adirondack Mountains through the State Government City (Albany), westward for hundreds of miles along the "Southern Tier" past Elmira and Corning, then up to Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo, which are shadows of their former selves. There are bubbles of prosperity, mostly college towns like Ithaca, but beyond the bubble, it's tough. And depressing. This is beautiful country and countryside, but it has been bleeding population and jobs for decades. Just as used to be the case in the area of Pennsylvania just across the Southern Tier border, less than an hour south of Ithaca. Upstate NY Map Fracking changed all that for the Pennsylvania flyover country. As in many other places around the country, fracking turned around what James Carville once referred to as the Alabama part of Pennsylvania. There were high hopes along the Southern Tier. The prospect that the years-long fracking moratorium would be lifted resulted in large cash payments for mineral rights to farmers and others in this region. Those hopes are dead. As a doorknob. Cuomo to Ban Fracking in New York State, Citing Health Risks:
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