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Hundreds of thousands of New Yorker's can't get through to unemployment and are in danger of running out of food money. Why can't NY state fix their unemployment website?Its worse then that. Hundreds of thousands of people are getting hanged up on, listening to endless recordings and then getting hanged up on, and only the lucky speak to a claims representative.In my own case I called and called and called thousands of times over a three day period. I finally got through to an automated voice, answered some questions and then was told I had to call back to speak to a claims representative.I have been calling all day every day since Monday (today is Saturday) from 8 AM to 7 PM. I either get a busy signal or a long message that says it will transfer me to a claims representative and then another a message that says all claims representative are busy and then it promptly hangs up on me.Today is Saturday. Telephone lines opened at 7:30 AM. I am now using an auto-dialer to call. Less then two hours later I have called 168 times with the same results.The website is not much better. You start filling out one page, click next and it kicks you off. Rinse and repeat. If you start on the phone you cant log in to your account and finish on the website despite your information being in the website.Pronouncements of “the system is overwhelmed what can we do?” fall on deaf ears with me. Its 2020 for goodness sake. Call go-daddy and have them fix your website. Call Amazon (that probably does more business over the web in an hour then there are people in NY state) and find out how they do it. Hell, call Google if you have to. Do something though, this has been going on for weeks now.Let me be clear, this is not just a new problem brought on because of the Pandemic.State officials admitted as recently as last summer that there were problems with the technology used for such applications, describing New York’s unemployment-insurance systems as relics from the heyday of mainframe computers.The software programs that run the systems were “written in the 1970s and 1980s and remain constrained by the technology of that era,” officials wrote.He Needs Jobless Benefits. He Was Told to Find a Fax Machine.I wish NY government officials would just stop blaming it solely on the Pandemic and be honest. The bottom line is NY state is using 40- 50 year old technology and they knew this long before the pandemic. In the 1980’s we were using typewriters and carbon paper. NY state apparently still is.New Yorkers Have Been Trying to Call for Unemployment for Weeks. Now They’re Running Out of Money.Cuomo Apologizes for Crashing Unemployment Site;New York Unemployment Office Adds Over 700 Staffers, but Ex-Workers Still Struggle to FileI am one of the lucky ones. I can live with out it. But if you read some of these stories HELP US - NYS Unemployment Issues it will break your heart. Single mom with children with disabilities. Family of four living paycheck to paycheck worried about food. The horror stories go on and on.People cant pay their bills, people cant buy food, all through no fault of their own and all because a system that they pay into that is supposed to be a safety net doesn't work in the highest taxed state in the Union.I was in the military for 20 years. I have friends all over the country and none of them are having two and three weeks of calling to get through to their unemployment offices. Why are the people in my home town so different then the people that live in Georgia when we pay so much more in taxes?Whats most maddening though is what they have done to address the problem. Instead of looking for high tech help they just hired more people. The solution in the minds of the NY state government is instead of having to wait 3 months now people will only have to wait two. Yippee. They get to keep the antiquated labor intensive system going by throwing a temporary band aid on it.There are easy quick fixes to alleviate some of the problems but all we are getting from Albany is “I am sorry” and press conferences of Cuomo and his brother sharing bro love.Dear NYS Labor Department: 3 simple ideas from unemployed people who can’t reach you (Dear NYS Labor Department: 3 simple ideas from unemployed people who can’t reach you)1: Allow them to leave a name and number for someone to return a call in the order it was received. The current phone system tells people to call back later and hangs up.That means there is no orderly line. People who have not been able to file a claim for two weeks have the same chance of getting through as someone who laid off yesterday and it keeps the phone lines jammed.2: People who file online should be able to finish their applications online. The current system requires most people who file online to still call a representative to finish the claim.3: Allow people to download an application, fill it out and upload it or mail it in.I have heard hundreds of people say the same thing on social media but it just doesn't seem to filter up to the people making six figures in Albany. The only thing they say is, “I’m sorry”Commissioner Roberta ReardonNo, your not sorry. If you were actually sorry you would implement changes to the way you do business.—————-In the time it has taken me to write this I am up to 278 calls. Mental health break needed and my phone needs to be charged. The frustration in my answer is not about me. Its about those hundreds of thousands of NY’ers that are wondering how they will feed there family next week.To all those struggling with paying bills and are worried about feeding their family my heart goes out to you.Edit to add: On April 6th the state of NY issued a press release stating that they have contacted Google for help and that a new interface should be available soon.Whodathunkit?2nd Edited to add: It is now 7 weeks and I just spoke to a claims representative yesterday. Is this 2020 or 1970?

This is from the NYS Prison system on allowable products for inmates, Family Guide: Allowable ItemsTobacco ProductsGeneral RestrictionsTobacco products must be in its original commercially sealed containers.Cigarettes must bear New York State Tax Stamps; no exceptions.Individual itemsSpecific restrictions and conditionsCigarettesMax. 2 cartons per monthCigarette rollerLimit 1; plastic onlyCigarette papersCigarsMax. 50 per monthPipes & pipe cleanersTobacco, chewingMax. 24 oz. per monthTobacco, looseMax. 12 oz. per monthSnuffMax. 24 oz. per month

I'm going to second everything Mike Jones wrote and expand on some of it. This is going to be a long sort of rambling piece.First my home and where I grew up is the greater Utica-Syracuse area although I’ve lived in Troy, worked in Albany, went to college south of Rochester and have spent a lot of time in other parts of New York state with the exception of Suffolk county which is the eastern end of Long Island. I've currently spent about 18 months visiting my brother in Texas. Most of it was spent in San Antonio and the last couple of months have been spent west of Killeen, Texas. So most of what I'm going to say about Texas pertains to those areas and what I've read and had other people tell me about other areas. I originally wrote I don't like Texas, but that sounded too antagonistic to me. In some areas I'm going say that there are critical differences that will always make Texas not feel like home. What I find negative about Texas and positive about New York might be reversed for you.Weather and climate and it's impact on life:First New York has a definite four seasons. There is a spring when the world starts turning green and the pace of life picks up. Summer is a time when a lot of things get done. Fall is the time you see the fruits of your labor and winter is a time of recharging.As result of this life even life in big cities is paced by the seasons. There is a joke that says New York State has two seasons, winter and construction. It's a joke but indicates how the climate affects life. For instance, if I own a 10-wheel dump truck I have to make my entire living from some time in April to some time in October. That is the length of the outdoor construction season.Summer activities effectively run from Memorial Day to Labor day. If you own an amusement park those are the three months when you have to make your money. Yes something like six flags will be open outside that, but that is just trying to pick up extra dollars. In San Antonio I think they run year around.Fall for me is the very best time in New York. The leaves start turning bright colors in late September and continue into mid October. The process starts from north and travels to the south. It's also harvest season.Temperature:If you are used to Texas you are going to find NY cold. I find Texas unbearable hot. I've worn long pants exactly three times since I've been down here and temperature is the number one reason I'm going to leave Texas. It was 104F to 110F when I was helping my brother move. I'd spend 10 minute out in it and 50 minutes inside recovering as much as I could. Worse is the night time temperatures. I don't think it's dropped below 70F at night since May 1. I'm used to most nights even during the summer getting down in the 60Fs. That means if I get up at the crack of dawn I'll have a few hours of reasonable temperatures to work in. The other part of it is that NY has more rain and clouds than Texas. It usually rains two out of five days. Now in the winter the temperature falls below freezing for the majority of the winter. This means that anything that can freeze needs to be in heated space or underground. Winterizing a structure primarily means draining water systems and put antifreeze in traps.I bet you can't wait, but let's talk about snow. Yes we get snow. Some places get a lot of snow. I'd give you some numbers but I suspect anything over 6″ would short circuit your mind so I won't. Here is the thing. Snow doesn't make us shut down. I’m 57 years old and I think the entire state was under a snow energency exactly once and that was two years ago and for two days. Unless it hits right at rush hour our world is built to cope with snow. Parking lots don't have trees and curbs in the middle of them. This allows snow to be pushed from one side to the other. Streets don't have speed bumps. Highway departments are built around snow removal. If you are the local highway superintendent and expect to get reelected you'd better keep the roads plowed in the winter. The thing people don't talk much about is that the winter in particular is gray. It is cloudy much of the time and that gets to some people. Personally the sun gets to me here in Texas. Also in January and February sun means very cold weather. I mean your very coldest days will be the clear days.Another thing is if you see signs that say creek or river in NY you will have water in them all year long. In Texas in just means a low spot with greener grass. We have deep ditches beside most roads. Those are to deal with rain.To sum up the climate, it controls the pace of life to a large degree and you either embrace it or hate it. If you are tied mentally to the outside it will affect you. Texas climate affects me negatively enough that if I was younger I'd live in a tent in a NY winter to not have to deal with the heat. I can find all kinds of ways to stay warm but find it almost impossible to stay cool.Taxes. There is an income tax in New York and property taxes can be higher. I'll get back to them in a second. To me some of the taxes buy more services. For example Medicaid was expanded in NY but not Texas. Even if you are employed and have health insurance it's nice to have back up if something happens to that. Back to property taxes. Yes the tax per $1000 assessed value is a lot higher in NY, but outside of greater NYC generally housing can be had cheaper so it's hard to compare. I have an interest in buying a piece of land and unless you talking West Texas and NYC the best I can tell is that I'm going to pay 1/5 to 1/3 for 10 acres of land in NY compared to Texas and that is before I get water on it. (edited to add) Wells are generallt going to be cheap on NY property as they are generally shallower.The cost of electricity is much higher, but you don't use anywhere near the amount of air conditioning. Generally winter heating can be expensive, but most people don't heat with electric. Gas and oil are the common choices.Distance:New York is a big state, but Texas is huge. Worse is that Texas cities are spread out and sprawl terribly. It was about 50 miles from one corner of San Antonio to the other. I felt that it makes life more difficult than it should be. No city in New York State is that spread out. I'll talk about NYC on its own. To give to reference it's 60 miles from Buffalo to Rochester, maybe 100 from the worst case suburbs. Rochester to Syracuse is similar. If I'm in Albany, Montreal, Boston, Syracuse and New York City are all 150 miles.NYC. New York city isn't just a bigger big city, is a world to itself. It has it's own income tax, a lot of it's own laws. As an example basically process servers are unlicensed in the rest of the state, but in NYC they have to be licensed and bonded. It's also a very dense city. Take as many people as Houston and San Antonio have and cram them all inside of the 410 beltway in San Antonio. There is also no place for it to expand. It sets on islands with State boarders on two sides. This means that it expands upward. The 20 million people that live in greater NYC are spread in three states, NY, NJ and CT.I like visiting the city but I'm fundamentally a rural person. Another characteristic of many NY cities is that they sprawl less than Texas cities or at least seem to to me. Syracuse is a city of 140,000 but within 10 miles of the city limits is farm country. Seventy miles out of Southern Manhattan does the same thing for NYC.Culturally:Outside of NYC there isn't as many Hispanics and they tend to be Puerto Ricans. This mostly shows in the restaurants. On the otherhand there is a huge Italian presence in the state. It's only been the last 25 years or so that in cities like Utica you wouldn't hear Italian spoken on the Street. The current Governor is a second generation Italian and his father who was also governor was a first generation Italian. NYC has a large Latino population along with just about every other nationality possible.Guns:There is some attitude difference but not as much as you would think. I've actually seen more people wandering around with long guns in my part of NY state than I've seen in Texas. I was rural and there was a lot of deer hunting done. I also think there are more public lands you can hunt on in NYS. As far as handguns there is more of a process to go through to get a permit and to put a gun on the permit. It's been awhile since I looked into it as the reasons why I was going to get one changed. Again NYC has it's own rules and process. I havent seen a lot of people carrying guns either place. There is a difference in the general opinion on who it is reasonable to shoot. The concept that you should shoot somebody because they are stealing something but not threating you otherwise isn't going to fly in most of NYS and definitely not in NYC. This extends to criminal punishment in general. Sentences that I see handed down in Texas and say holy moly they they stuffed the entire cactus up his butt without lube people in Texas are saying he didn't get a long enough sentence. It's another of the reasons Texas is never going to feel like home to me.The short version is you may find NY too cold and to packed together for your liking. Culturally there are differences and whether they bother you will depend on your viewpount and how they affect you.