Gotham Gazette has an interesting article about Upstate legislators interfering with New York City policy, Rural Legislator, City Issue: How Upstaters Decide:
This year, New York City residents will see legislators from all over the state vote on issues that directly affect their lives. From the transit bailout to school control, rent regulation and perhaps even term limits, the city will watch legislators from rural areas, small towns and suburbs decide its fate. This drama plays out every year, but last year the defeat of congestion pricing and enforcement cameras for bus rapid transit left some New Yorkers wondering how legislators from outside New York City make their decisions when they vote on issues that only affect New York City.
Not to harp on this subject, but this is a structural issue which will always affect New York City. Big surprise that the State appears to be shortchanging the City in Stimulus Bucks – there are only so many Downstate politicians versus the rest of the state. This will continue, unless either structural issues revolving around representation is reassessed or New York City becomes an independent state.
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