Do you have any plan or have you given any kind of thought whatsoever to improving the economic conditions and infrastructure Upstate?

70 years ago, Upstate was home to three of the 50 largest cities in the country - four of the largest metro areas. https://twitter.com/NYGovCuomo/status/1349761136950968326

We were the Empire State. New York City was still the behemoth it is today, but Upstate cities were some of the most prosperous in the country as well - all thriving and growing too.

Imagine a New York State with prosperity in every corner of the state again

You look at other states that have a superstar city but multiple large, thriving additional metro areas - you're looking at Texas and California, rapidly growing, dynamic, prosperous, the envy of so much of the world.

Unlike them though, we are climate resilient, we have freshwater, we're not in the path of hurricanes and wildfires. We have a public university system and schools that put Texas to damn shame. We have land and affordable housing.

What we lack is a state that gives a damn about our success, that is willing to invest in us and our future again.

New York became the Empire State because we bet big on infrastructure, and it paid off, paving the way for more than a century of growth.

But now we think so small, we've written off any future for Upstate other than decline and decay.

It's arrogant, and it's cruel. It's short-sighted and frankly stupid.

New York could easily be the envy of the nation again if only we had the will and imagination to do it.