[ad_1]
If you are an Old Testament fan you already know that it was only Moses who had the strength and vision to pursue a land of milk and honey.
Today, Moses would have to stand in the rear of the line because New Yorkers don’t need to be convinced by holy instructions that it’s time to seek “The Promised Land.” Every day New Yorkers are packing up and leaving the state for other locales, convinced that places such as South Carolina, Arizona or that old standby, Florida, is a better home address. Media reports suggest that over a two-year period, the Empire State is believed to have lost nearly half a million people. That’s the equivalent of losing one out of every three Nassau County residents.
It’s so bad that New York is now leading the nation in what is being called “outmigration.” If it continues our economy will teeter, our Congressional representation will dangerously shrink, our ability to access significant federal funds will become problematic, and those still left in New York holding jobs and paying taxes will be supporting an ever-increasing number of those who don’t.
To her credit, Gov. Kathy Hochul is acknowledging we have a problem. In a State-of-the-State address she offered, “(we need to) take a hard look in the mirror and deal with a harsh reality.” She continued, “To those who left…I have one message: You do not want to miss what is about to happen next.”
Umm. Governor? There are many who do, in fact, want to miss what happens next. And far too many of them are businessmen and women who see the state as a hostile work environment. Even a dangerous one.
There is more than a casual belief among many now outward bound that it is a Progressive, left-of-center state Legislature that is calling the shots in Albany with the governor a hostage to their agenda. We seem to have swung from a previous gubernatorial administration that always seemed capable of literally committing bodily harm on political opponents to a governor afraid to come out of her corner.
To make matters worse, Gov. Hochul now wants to destroy our cherished suburban way of life by seizing zoning control dictated by Albany progressives. If she succeeds in destroying our state constitutionally guaranteed right to local control, the number of those leaving New York will increase exponentially.
This has also become a state where many people simply don’t feel safe because of a Progressive criminal justice agenda that Hochul either didn’t recognize as a crisis or believes she is powerless to confront.
We live in a high tax state where hard-working middle-class citizens find the potential of saving any portion of their weekly paycheck is now aspirational. A national survey finds New York ranks third in a recent study about U.S. states with the highest taxes while one business think tank stated that New York ranks 49th in a State Business Tax Climate Index. Clearly, for Hochul to blame the exodus of New Yorkers on a housing crunch reveals either a deliberate refusal to rein in the Progressive agenda or is oblivious as to the real cause of New York’s outmigration crisis.
In prepared remarks, she has said, “We want the smartest, the best, the brightest, the most innovative, the best risk takers to continue coming here because that’s what made New York what it is.”
The problem, Governor, is that was true once upon a time. If we are to stop the hemorrhaging, we will need to face up to that harsh reality you speak of and recognize the fault starts and stops in Albany.
Rosenberg, a graduate of St. John’s University Law School and resident of Old Westbury, is senior founding partner of Rosenberg, Calica & Birney LLP, a Garden City law firm.
[ad_2]
Source link