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Would secession be legal?This came up 20 years ago when Staten Islanders decided they'd had it up to here with various political issues, including the desire for a free Staten Island ferry (now a major tourist attraction). Naturally, many in NYC viewed this much the same way that the North viewed the South before the Civil War.The legality of a Staten Island secession was analyzed inside out.Fordham's Urban Law Journal argued that the Equal Protection clauses of the N.Y. and U.S. constitutions and N.Y.'s Home Rule doctrine allowed a separate City of Staten Island. Residents of Staten Island would vote on whether they wanted to secede, or not; the state legislature would either agree, or not. That statute became known as Chapter 773 of the Laws of 1989.NYC challenged this in court. Here was one borough, the City argued, and all its residents, getting to vote on an issue which affected all of New York "profoundly," while the residents of the 4 other boroughs got no say at all:Page on fordham.eduNot fair, they said.The NY Court of Appeals and Gov. Mario Cuomo disagreed: "The legislative choice to allow Staten Island voters to express their views as to whether, and how, they might wish to separate from New York City--while affording them no unilateral right to do so--is a reasonable classification based on the distinct interest of that subdivision of the State."The vote was held and the voters of Staten Island voted Yes.So far, it's looking good for Staten Island, which means it's also looking good for Long Island.The Staten Island Statehood issue was dropped after the next mayor election. Seems that 86% of Staten Island voted for Rudolph Guiliani. And secession spirit began to wane.* * *Long Island is an expensive place to live. It's easy to get bitter about that.Some residents don't like the idea that L.I. tax dollars flow off the island to the rest of New York State. In 2008, the New York Times ran an article revisiting the State of Long Island scenario and a campaign for secession by Suffolk County controller Joseph Sawicki Jr:Longing for the State of Long IslandAuthor Robin Finn wrote: "Life is good except that, because of the rapacious taxation inflicted by New York State, life on Long Island costs too darn much. Call him a think locally/act locally xenophobe; secession is his $3 billion remedy."Finn left out Suffolk Presiding Officer William Lindsay's opinion. The County website calls secession a solution for the state's "illegitimate taxes and fees."Page on suffolkcountyny.govSecession fever moved west. Dowling College professor and CPA Martin Cantor -- a name we're all sure to hear more of on this issue alone -- calculated that "New York owes Long Island $11 billion":http://libn.com/2008/11/11/dowling-report-ny-owes-long-island-11-billion/Cantor is director of Dowling's Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute and a former Suffolk County Economic Development Commissioner. Here's his report:http://suffolkcountyny.gov/Portals/Comptroller/documents/Symposium%20paper%20by%20Marty%20Cantor%20-%20Nov.%2014,%202008.pdfCantor maintains that throughout the recent Recession, "Long Island’s taxpayers still effectively help subsidize State economic support for upstate New York."If economic recovery continues, extreme proposals like this one won't be taken seriously. Not because it's unfeasible, but because there is so much we don't know. If it isn't broke, don't fix it. And with Long Island's history of crooked politicians, it's hard not to be distrustful of government officials who come up with an extreme scheme like this one. The way things go around here, somehow, even I have trouble believing that if Long Island did secede, anything would be any different. Taxes would not go down. Gas would still be expensive. Public parks would cost hundreds of dollars a season. Electricity would be the costliest in the country. Heat costs would still be unaffordable. etc.On the other hand...If you're one of those people paying through the nose on property taxes, LIRR monthly tickets, $4/gal gas, library taxes for a library you never have time to use, heat bills that rival your mortgage, electric kWh charges that are the highest in the country, and $250 fees to use the public pool at Manorhaven, and you've just been through a winter where the snowplows never made it down the road in time for work, being a citizen of the State of Long Island may make sense. It may be logical. And it may just work.They just need the right politician to pull it off.

A2AIs the Easter Bunny an essential worker?While celebrating Holidays and letting children feel positive is important for people who stay inside right now and (maybe even essential)— let me assure you that the Easter Bunny is not an “Essential Worker”.I will be honest that when I read this question, I was initially appalled. I stopped and- I had to check myself and that reaction.I took a few minutes and wondered why this was the specific irreverence that made me feel angry. I mean, levity doesn’t usually get me — I am personally having a remote Zoom zombie apocalypse themed birthday in May. This is not an outrageous question to ask on many levels. This is how people cope. This is how I also cope.Here’s the thing.In case you are not aware, I live in New York which is currently the epicenter of the Pandemic. In THIS crisis, the essential workers are risking their lives for those who can’t, much like the heroes that ran into the World Trade Towers in that prior crisis. The death counts are not so far off.So let’s talk about why there’s been so much denial surrounding exponential pandemic viral spread, and also about our heroic essential workers who are managing the impact.In case you, the person who asked this, or anyone is not aware I will explain who those are.Essential workers are the people who are NOT at home right now, even though everyone else absolutely has to be at home to stop rapid spread of Covid19. The work they do is too important to keep vital parts of our infrastructure from collapsing so they are doing their essential work anyway — and it puts their lives at risk every single day.Some of those people include Doctors and Nurses, and some of those people work at Grocery stores and factories and their jobs are absolutely essential too. We have learned during this pandemic that a grocery store worker and a nurse and a sanitation worker are essential workers when it comes down to survival. And we have learned that a Hedge fund worker is just not. We should probably think about adjusting some salaries. What makes the jobs of some essential workers vital are their presence in our hospitals and others in our supply chain to you and without them you would have nothing to eat at home right now.All essential workers are -essential for some reason and they are all risking their lives: but many certainly are not paid in reflection of the risk they take working right now. Many are not receiving the deep gratitude they deserve.Doctors and Nurses and healthcare workers are essential and here in New York even though some conspiracy theorists disrespectfully don’t want to believe it, they are preventing even more substantial casualties in a massive Global Pandemic without adequate supplies to keep themselves safe and to keep their patients alive. Our state throws out numbers of what we will need to achieve having adequate resources as things get worse by May and still, some people in the comments sections of places like twitter or on news sites I read say “those numbers are impossible”.In the middle of a disaster, as people suffer and die, other people have the sick audacity to say there isn’t a disaster occurring.Do they really believe that? You know better. We all know betterEvery day we talk about viral growth when we discuss frivolous things like memes and “likes” and “views” and we seem to grasp with no issue how one person in a random location makes a meme one day and suddenly everyone in the world seems to have seen it a day or so later. We accept this. “Hey it went viral” we say. Where do you think that term comes from? Viruses are capable of growing in massive exponential amounts of spread in an unbelievably short amount of time…Also “meme” comes from the term “mimetic” which means a copy of a copy.We talk about replication every day, but apparently when actual viral replication is killing tons of people, suddenly we are unable to understand what it means? I personally think we are smarter than that. I sure hope so. Given that, either some of us are too afraid to pay attention and accept what’s going on and the sacrifices that entails, or have some other reason.What could possibly justify that?New York’s health care system is inundated beyond capacity. We are converting stadiums and convention centers into hospitals and there are tents full of more beds in Central Park. Healthcare workers are getting sick without the correct protective gear. It is terrifying that I can not possibly list all of the incidents of essential workers who have died let alone everyone else. Because we don’t even know all of the incidents or how many people would be counted as sick if everyone was tested.The number almost doubles some days. We don’t have enough tests or hard numbers. And if we don’t lower it by staying inside and other measures — it will keep growing virally. Which means exponentially.We don’t have enough tests or hard numbers to track the exponential growth. And if we don’t lower it by staying inside and other measures — it will keep growing virally Which means exponentially. Fast.I believe the federal government should be helping much, much more. We are grateful for all the help we have received. But we are still not in possession of all we need to keep people safe and action did not happen soon enough, while many in the nation still called this issue a hoax or an overreaction, delaying response critically. We are also thankful that China and Jack Ma donated 1000 ventilators to our disaster. The state of Oregon has given us 140 because this is an emergency. We still don’t have enough to keep up as cases increase.Our funeral homes are so overly full, that last week we had 50 huge mobile morgues around the city. There may be more this week. The idea has been floated if things get dire to temporarily bury some dead in city parks.Does this sound like a place for an Easter Egg hunt at the moment?As for all the people online saying that this will only happen to NY because of how we are set up, that claim that rests on their seeming not to understand viral spread despite immersion in it in communications for years …… have any of you ever received or seen a meme from here or anyplace far away? You don’t have to answer because you or someone within a block of you most likely has. Pay attention because right now literally: no one is confirmed immune.The Black Plague (hopefully we will never reach those numbers and no, this illness is not the same) began in big cities and then spread to the countryside (differently because it was bacterial. Citations for every single thing I’ve written at bottom). As epidemiologists in my third citation below about rural spread say:“So far, sparsely populated communities have been better insulated from the spread. But since no place in the United States is truly isolated, there’s simply no outrunning this virus. Every community is at imminent risk.”Prepare your communities. You can’t run away from a Global Pandemic. Even if you could go to Space, any crew member could be an asymptomatic carrier due the way early and mild Covid19 present . We are all in this until it is under control globally.Anyone who is doing so? Please stop trying to sound like a leader by pretending this situation does not need to be managed: that’s not what actual leaders are doing right now. If you are someone who thinks safety is less important than economic impact, please keep in mind that corpses can not power an economy.This is a serious situation which is not a joke. Be grateful to every single essential worker and If you are not one honor their service to you by staying inside and doing: whatever.If that’s making art or reading or attending Zoom dance parties or making bad jokes or talking crap about the Easter Bunny, OK: I get it. I know I won't always react this strongly to every joke and will make plenty of bad ones.But the Easter Bunny is not at essential worker. Those are the real people risking their lives and their families to help save everybody’s lives.|Citations |What is an essential worker?Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure WorkforceThese are the workers the U.S. government deems 'essential' amid the coronavirus pandemicDeath toll in NY:Disturbing photos show body bags fill hallways of Brooklyn hospitalStaff at NYC hospital where nurse died will now get coronavirus testsFailures in obtaining supplies-Cuomo says NY needs 30,000 ventilators, pleads with feds for help (Cuomo says NY needs 30,000 ventilators, pleads with feds for help)We've sent them a lot of stuff.' Trump says federal help to NY partly why Gov. Cuomo has high poll numbersFact check: Does New York have a stockpile of thousands of unneeded ventilators?Impact on healthcare workers:During a Pandemic, an Unanticipated Problem: Out-of-Work Health WorkersOpinion | I’m a Doctor at the ‘Epicenter of the Epicenter’Chief surgeon at top New York hospital likens the upcoming week in coronavirus fight to war: This is 'our Fallujah'Managing death:New York City sets up 45 new mobile morguesNew York City setting up mobile morgues to deal with growing COVID-19 casualtiesLife on a Block With an Emergency Morgue Truck: “We Hear the Hum of the Refrigerator Going All Night Long” — ProPublicaCoronavirus Victims Are Dying Alonehttps://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/nyc-contingency-plan-to-bury-covid-victims-city-park-trenches-2020-4%3fampRecent developments in donations -China donates 1000 ventilators to New York; Oregon donates 140Impacts to non medical essential workers:DEP Workers Still 'Essential' After Colleague's Coronavirus DeathNYC sanitation workers have been deemed essential in the coronavirus pandemic. They also have one of the most dangerous jobs in America.When Stocking Grocery Shelves Turns DangerousUSPS drivers bringing mail to areas hardest hit by coronavirus demand hazard payCoronavirus Update: EMTs, Paramedics And First Responders From All Over U.S. Arrive In NYC To Help In COVID-19 FightHistoric and contemporary rural spread:Plague surveillance | CDC -Rural areas may be more vulnerable to worst of Covid-19 outbreakhttps://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/06/covid-19-crisis-is-going-get-much-worse-when-it-hits-rural-areas/%3foutputType=ampExponential growth:The Exponential Power of NowCovid19 symptoms:Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) – SymptomsCDC Using Antibody Tests to Gauge Number of Asymptomatic Coronavirus Cases | National ReviewDealing with global pandemics:Pandemics: Risks, Impacts, and MitigationCoronavirus is officially a pandemic. Here's why that matters.Gratitude:New Yorkers stop and give daily thanks and gratitude for coronavirus frontline workersWatch videos of tonight's massive citywide clap for essential workers

I don’t consider myself liberal because:While I want to believe that all people are good at heart and have the capacity to exist for the common good, I know it’s not reality. I know that humans are self-centered by nature and a large portion of people will take the easiest route to get the most for themselves. Because of this belief,I don’t think we can run an entitlement program on the honor system. I’ve lived in areas where entitlement programs were heavily abused. I think this causes two big problems. First, we’re wasting millions of taxpayer dollars that could be better allocated to those in true need. Second, we’re perpetuating a cycle of poverty which in turn keeps crime levels at an unacceptable level.I don’t buy into movements like BLM that try to attack the consequences of a heightened crime level. We need to grow up, take some responsibility, and admit when we have a crime problem in our communities. We can’t get mad at the police for enforcing the law. We also can’t selectively report on police shootings and leave out key facts on the criminal behavior of the suspect prior to the shooting. While I do believe that everyone should get fair treatment under the law, I feel like movements like this are a big scapegoating campaign and hinder any efforts to correct the root cause.I don’t buy into the idea that all wealthy people are evil (I know far too many that worked very hard to get where they are and continue to work 12 hours a day 6–7 days a week to maintain their success), and also don’t think they should be taxed more heavily than anyone else. I think percentages work this out by nature and a flat tax system would ensure that all people are paying a fair share. Let’s simplify the system, save a ton of money in IRS funding, and ensure that everyone is paying their fair share on both ends of the spectrum.I don’t believe in raising a federal minimum wage. I think this totally ignores the fact that there are drastically different costs of living throughout the US. An area with an extremely low cost of living shouldn’t have to base their minimum wage on that of a place like NYC or LA. Minimum wage should be set by local government based on the local cost of living. Cost of living should not include luxuries like a $600 car note, $200 phone bill, $200 cable bill, etc.I don’t support illegal immigration and don’t buy the idea that we just don’t have people here willing to do the jobs that illegals do. There are two problems with this: 1) if your business is not sustainable without paying your employees under minimum wage, then your business is not sustainable. 2) We have millions of capable workers on unemployment and welfare that are either unemployed or underemployed. It’s not fair to say you NEED illegals because they’re they only ones that will work for under minimum wage. Pay minimum wage and get people off of entitlement programs.I don’t believe in abolishing or limiting the 2nd amendment. I believe in the 2nd amendment not only for personal self defense reasons, but also for the idea of protecting our citizens from outside forces and internal tyranny. I don’t buy the argument that the people could never fight the US military (even if you believe the military would attack the people). We’ve seen the complications of guerrilla warfare in all recent military engagements - when you think about the scale you would see within the US, I don’t think that military would dominate as easily as people claim.I don’t like this PC culture we’ve become - especially because it’s a selective PC culture where attacks are more often politically charged and used as a tool to crush political opponents. I can see the hypocrisy of attacking someone for dressing up as Pocahontas, who is a much loved figure in our history, but giving a free pass to someone who is white and has claimed to be Native American whenever it benefited her (yes, saying you’re a minority while applying or working for an institution that practices affirmative action is benefiting you whether they admit it or not.)I believe in equality of opportunity, but not equality of outcome. Systems that are built around the idea that all people should have the same outcome are inherently flawed. Affirmative action is a good example. Look at our college system. Your admittance should be based solely on merit. Look at how unfair our system is to Asian Americans. They get completely screwed (even though they’re a minority group) because they work hard and value education.College isn’t for everyone. We need to put much more emphasis on trade schools. Let’s face it - not all careers need the theoretical background. The college system as a whole is struggling because of elitist attitudes of professors that look down on private sector while they think they’re grooming students for private sector positions. Guess what? All of your grads can’t go into teaching/research. We complain about students graduating and not being able to find a job, but we don’t realize / never question why these grads are coming out with very little knowledge and experience that would land them a job. They are, however, coming out fully indoctrinated politically, which is the main focus at a lot of colleges.I don’t consider myself conservative because:I think that religion has no place in government. I think that the “separation of church and state” is great in concept, but a total sham. Far too many laws are based on religion. I live in an area where you can’t buy alcohol on “the lord’s day”, but am supposed to believe that there is a separation of church and state. If a religion doesn’t believe in gay marriage, that religion shouldn’t have to perform gay marriage. The state, on the other hand, shouldn’t be enforcing religious beliefs.I think that the government needs to stay out of people’s personal lives. As long as actions are between consenting adults, do whatever the hell you want. Want to have giant gay orgies every single night? Go for it! Have fun! Why should government ever be involved?War on drugs. Again, gov needs to stay out of people’s lives. If we’re truly fiscal conservatives, we should be able to see the monetary benefit if we ended the war on drugs and started taxing sales. Look at the states that have legalized weed - it seems to have been very successful. This would also free up a lot of wasted space and resources in our jail system. Now the libertarian in me wants to say that we legalize all drugs, but I do understand that at some point you start to produce people that are a burden both criminally and financially to our society with certain hard drugs.We need to be more open to other cultures. Many conservatives have this fear of other cultures. I do believe that English should be declared the national language of the US and be expected for immigrants, for the sake of order. Apart from that, I think we should embrace other cultures. There is a lot we can learn and did I mention the food? People that only eat “american food” are totally missing out!Poor people aren’t evil. We need to understand that they’re a product of both their upbringing and also a society that tells them that they can’t and don’t need to succeed. “Don’t bother trying in life - the evil rich white men won’t let you succeed. We’ll hand you everything you need instead.” If anything, they’re a victim of a system that systemically and intentionally holds them down and uses them as political pawns. We need to get more involved if we’re ever going to break the cycle of poverty in our cities.Taxes aren’t the enemy. While I agree that raising taxes and pumping money into a broken system is a huge problem, it seems like conservatives tend to think that all taxes are evil. We need to start attacking the misappropriation of tax dollars instead of taxes themselves. When we cut taxes, but leave all of the broken systems in place, you can’t sit there any wonder why our national debt is continuing to build. I live in a city that has pretty high taxes for the area, but actually uses them responsibly. The end result is wonderful and I wouldn’t mind if they raised my taxes further as long as they continued to spend it responsibly and on systems that benefit the taxpayers.