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I am a frequent visitor to France (and sometimes Italy). I noticed that despite the country’s high unemployment, strong union influence, expensive cost of living and high taxes, the French are able to sustain some industries. So why not make LI another Aquitaine? The North Fork and its wineries can be the next Bordeaux. The South Shore can be Landes. The large swath in the middle can be the countryside where residents can produce artisan cheese and butter. Invite top chefs to put up expensive restaurants in Bay Shore charging $50 for omelettes and croissants. Tell the deli stores to rename their coffees “café au lait” and charge $5 for a small cup. Then partner with Gary Loveman to create a Paris-themed neighborhood in Hempstead, complete with replica of Eiffel Tower, Trocadero, and Arc de Triomphe. Old Country Road should be renamed “Champs Vieux Pays” and Roosevelt Field Mall can be converted into a museum for the arts under the patronage of Kate “Marie de Medici” Murray. And don’t forget to put up banners with the words “Toutes Les Gloires de la Nassau et Suffolk” along the Sunrise Highway, Northern State Parkway and LIE for motorists entering or exiting Nassau to see.
Listen Frenchie...not in my backyard! You'll ruin our 'unique suburban character.' They tried to build 'Le Sonique' but were thwarted by the proletariat.
Just venting after today's LIPA article about MORE patronage (LIPA, this time) and fat public salaries and pensions.
How do you get out of this catch 22....half the jobs are public patronage BS overpaid politically connected appointee crap....BUT if you break public unions and let all those people go there is no private industry looking to fill the void and create jobs here to pick up the slack because taxes and cost of living are so high and govt is too dysfunctional and development unfriendly. Thus we NEED to maintain the BS public trough to keep the standard of living and home prices (maybe) artificially stable. Eventually everyone will have to work for the govt in some way and then it's just a big ponzi scheme of people paying taxes to pay their own salaries with no new revenues. Not sure hurricane Sandy was big enough to etch a sketch LI's economic problems back to a fixable place.
"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."
Thorton Wilder
Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.
Mongoose, you can't lose sleep over this stuff man, I know it's frustrating. The problem is all govt is a mess (although LI is def. worse than most) look at the federal govt and the national debt, and their complete inability to do anything about it! LI is the same thing on a local level. Barring some massive shift that will force change, nothing will anytime soon. It is what it is. Have a great Thanksgiving!
Mongoose, you can't lose sleep over this stuff man, I know it's frustrating. The problem is all govt is a mess (although LI is def. worse than most) look at the federal govt and the national debt, and their complete inability to do anything about it! LI is the same thing on a local level. Barring some massive shift that will force change, nothing will anytime soon. It is what it is. Have a great Thanksgiving!
The roman empire did nothing. Didn't work well for them. LI's issues are way more pronounced than Washington and more acute. A solid GDP and small raise in taxes will drop the debt in a minute (always does). LI has no method for raising revenue nor cutting spending. The bulk of it is salaries, pension obligations and debt servicing...not services. Without a radical shift that makes it lucrative for businesses to move here, nothing can change. Maybe another generation or two of Nimby dullards dying off, moving out or finding themselves the new American poor will change the landscape. Or maybe not. I don't lose sleep over it. I stay grateful for what I have but I always stay cognizant of the two options...stay and try to effect change or get out of dodge. Enough, I'm in a turkey coma and have no business typing.
The roman empire did nothing. Didn't work well for them. LI's issues are way more pronounced than Washington and more acute. A solid GDP and small raise in taxes will drop the debt in a minute (always does). LI has no method for raising revenue nor cutting spending. The bulk of it is salaries, pension obligations and debt servicing...not services. Without a radical shift that makes it lucrative for businesses to move here, nothing can change. Maybe another generation or two of Nimby dullards dying off, moving out or finding themselves the new American poor will change the landscape. Or maybe not. I don't lose sleep over it. I stay grateful for what I have but I always stay cognizant of the two options...stay and try to effect change or get out of dodge. Enough, I'm in a turkey coma and have no business typing.
Maybe just maybe you guys in the TOH can finally get rid of Kate Murray next year, that might be a positive (but small) first step. I have to ask, you always quote that 'unique suburban character line' did some idiot politician actually say that?
Mongoose, you can't lose sleep over this stuff man, I know it's frustrating. The problem is all govt is a mess (although LI is def. worse than most) look at the federal govt and the national debt, and their complete inability to do anything about it! LI is the same thing on a local level. Barring some massive shift that will force change, nothing will anytime soon. It is what it is. Have a great Thanksgiving!
No, I disagree. Sure, the end product may be similar, but Washington is ruled by self-interested, millionaire politicians, but it's special interests that are ruining this country at the federal level. Since early in the Bush administration, corporations have been writing legislation and it's no different today under the Obama administration. The added feature of the Obama administration is our president's friendliness towards unions and big labor. He is, after all, from Chicago.
Long Island's problems are a dog with a different set of fleas. Both counties suffer from a long line of truly awful executives who promise the world and then blatantly ignore any of the causes they were elected for. But LI is a more closed network of entrenched institutions of corruption. From the town supervisors, teachers' unions to library districts, the old boy's network is alive and well and totally ignorant of what the economic realities of living on LI are. Look at the news out of Smithtown just this week, where Vecchio has given town employees a nice raise for next year.
If you're not a public employee, teacher, school administrator, medical professional, ambulance chaser or immigration lawyer, you're likely scrambling to keep up with the pace of property tax increases. We pay the among the highest prices for everything, from utilities (5x the national average), gas (some of the highest gas prices outside of HI) ... and well you get the idea. You're paying for all of the dysfunction in the leadership.
One thing I also agree with, it'll probably not change until some major, cataclysmic event occurs, like a mass tax revolt.
LI is a nasty place to live these days. Very disappointing.
No, I disagree. Sure, the end product may be similar, but Washington is ruled by self-interested, millionaire politicians, but it's special interests that are ruining this country at the federal level. Since early in the Bush administration, corporations have been writing legislation and it's no different today under the Obama administration. The added feature of the Obama administration is our president's friendliness towards unions and big labor. He is, after all, from Chicago.
Long Island's problems are a dog with a different set of fleas. Both counties suffer from a long line of truly awful executives who promise the world and then blatantly ignore any of the causes they were elected for. But LI is a more closed network of entrenched institutions of corruption. From the town supervisors, teachers' unions to library districts, the old boy's network is alive and well and totally ignorant of what the economic realities of living on LI are. Look at the news out of Smithtown just this week, where Vecchio has given town employees a nice raise for next year.
If you're not a public employee, teacher, school administrator, medical professional, ambulance chaser or immigration lawyer, you're likely scrambling to keep up with the pace of property tax increases. We pay the among the highest prices for everything, from utilities (5x the national average), gas (some of the highest gas prices outside of HI) ... and well you get the idea. You're paying for all of the dysfunction in the leadership.
One thing I also agree with, it'll probably not change until some major, cataclysmic event occurs, like a mass tax revolt.
LI is a nasty place to live these days. Very disappointing.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Well written post. I pretty much agree with everything you said except that LI is a nasty place to live. I actually think its still a great place to live, but a nasty place to pay for. Tax Revolt? We can only hope'
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