Among the citizens of Long Island the thought of becoming the 51st State of the Union is an idea that is as tantalizing as it is farfetched. According to Linda Tagliaferro who publishes Linda's Long Island Blog on About.com, Suffolk County comptroller Joseph Sawicki Jr.'s suggested that Long Island should become its own state, because Long Island sends New York State $8.1 billion in taxes, but only gets back $5.2 billion.
That is all nice and well, I honestly don't care about their plight. Upstate New York is also neglected when it comes to the New York State budget. We are so neglected in fact that Albany doesn't even recognize all the regions north of Poughkeepsie. Much like the pseudo-slur, "Hispanics" lumps over 2 dozen different nationalities, half a dozen different ethnic groups at least three separate races and one language that has broken into over a dozen unique dialects into one group, Albany in their pompous attempt to make NYC the center of their affections simply calls it Upstate New York as if the only logical way to perceive New York is NYC and what lies above it.
So it seems that the great Island of Long is not alone. It fairs just as badly as the rest of the state because according to state officials the only part that matters is New York City, right Mr. David Patterson? Well that brings me to my point. New York City would definitely be a disputed territory in a case between New York State against Long Island, if it were to come up before the Supreme Court. What would happen to, the Big apple? Well the Big Apple is a conglomeration of 5 counties that comprise what once was NYC, The Borough of Manhattan, what once was the city of Brooklyn, or Kings County and their three surrounding suburbs. The union of these 5 counties is now what we all recognize as the mega metropolis of New York City.
Two of NYC boroughs however sit at the mouth of what is in effect, Long Island. They, by the way are the second and third most populated boroughs of the city and consequently also the two richest after Manhattan. What this would mean for NYC is it's break up. With Brooklyn and Queens comprising what could come to be known as North New York it could stand in direct competition to what is left of a butchered, New York City for resources, business and labor force. A power house of a city like that in direct competition with NYC and most likely Long Islands new state capital would surely sink the Big Apple into a bankruptcy that would cripple it for decades.
So far this is al speculative conjecturing but it does make me think. What if it did happen? We as citizens shouldn't be so ginger about the way our state government neglects certain areas and empowers others. Remember that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.