There are and have been several movements regarding

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Only one of them – the state of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

– succeeded. Among the unsuccessful ones, the most prominent included the proposed state of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, consisting of everything on the island outside

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

; a state called Niagara, the western counties of New York state; the northern counties of New York state called

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

; making the city of New York a state; a proposal for a new Peconic County on eastern Long Island; and for the borough of

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

to secede from New York City. Article 4, Section 3 of the

Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

includes a provision that "no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress." At the time of Vermont's secession in 1777, the Constitution of the United States did not yet exist. By the time Congress recognized Vermont and admitted it to the Union in 1791, the Constitution was in effect and the legislature of New York had consented. All later secession proposals would require similar consent.

History

Tensions between what eventually became upstate and downstate New York had existed since

Leisler's Rebellion Leisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late-17th century colonial New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Coloni ...

in 1689. That rebellion was more heavily supported in the lower Hudson Valley, near modern New York City, than it was in the Albany area, which remained loyal to the English crown (at the time, the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

was underway in England). Although the rebellion was settled in 1691 when Leisler was executed, tensions between the upper and lower Hudson Valley remained high for another two decades afterward.

Vermont, 1777

The only successful secession from the state of New York was that of

in 1777, and whether that amounted to secession depends on the validity of New York's always disputed claim to Vermont. After Vermont had been governed for fifteen years as a de facto part of New Hampshire, King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

had ruled on July 20, 1764 that the disputed territory belonged to New York and not to New Hampshire. The disputed territory later became the state of Vermont. The government of New York refused to recognize the property rights of homesteaders who had settled there under the laws of New Hampshire from 1749 to 1764. Armed militias, formed by settlers in the region (most prominently the

Green Mountain Boys The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as the Vermont Republic (which late ...

) prevented the government of New York from evicting settlers from their land and largely prevented New York from governing at all. Sovereignty also continued to be relatively passively asserted by New Hampshire until 1782. After the

United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ...

, the people of the New Hampshire Grants (as the region was then called) could no longer hope for redress from the courts of England. Consequently, they issued the Vermont Declaration of Independence in January 1777, including a long list of grievances against the government of New York. For 14 years after that, Vermont functioned as a ''de facto'' independent country. The question of recognizing it and admitting it to the Union was occasionally discussed in the Continental Congress, but New York's representatives successfully opposed it. On March 2, 1784, New York's governor, George Clinton, asked Congress to declare war on Vermont, the object being to overthrow Vermont's government and reincorporate Vermont into New York, but Congress did not act, and some members proposed recognizing Vermont and offering it admission to the Union. On March 6, 1790, the legislature of New York expressed its consent to the

admission to the Union Admission may refer to: Arts and media * "Admissions" (''CSI: NY''), an episode of ''CSI: NY'' * ''Admissions'' (film), a 2011 short film starring James Cromwell * ''Admission'' (film), a 2013 comedy film * ''Admission'', a 2019 album by Florida s ...

of what they called "the community now actually exercising independent jurisdiction as 'the State of Vermont'", provided an agreement on the boundary between the two states could be reached. In the ensuing negotiations, Vermont's commissioners insisted on also settling the numerous real-estate disputes arising from conflicting land grants from New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont, rather than leaving those to be decided in a federal court. On October 7, 1790, the commissioners proclaimed the negotiations concluded. In January 1791, a convention called by the state of Vermont ratified the Constitution of the United States, declaring that it would be part of the law of Vermont as soon as Congress admitted that state. On February 18, 1791, Congress decided to admit Vermont to the Union two weeks later on March 4.

Post-Revolution era

In the battle over the ratification of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

in 1787–1788, Governor George Clinton in Albany, wishing to preserve his power, led the local

Anti-Federalists Anti-Federalism was a late-18th century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution. The previous constitution, called the Articles of Con ...

in opposition, with support for the Constitution coming from

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

and the

Federalists The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

, who were largely urbanites and saw opportunity in a stronger national union and published ''

The Federalist Papers ''The Federalist Papers'' is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. The co ...

'' as their manifesto in several New York City newspapers, including ''

The Independent Journal ''The Independent Journal'', occasionally known as ''The General Advertiser'', was a semi-weekly New York City journal and newspaper edited and published by John McLean and Archibald McLean in the late 18th century. The newspaper's content include ...

''. There was a large divide, and with the recent independence of

, a threat of secession of New York City and the southern counties to join the new Federal government. The leaders of

Richmond County Richmond County may refer to places: Australia *Richmond County, New South Wales, a cadastral division Canada *Richmond County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Richmondshire, the original Richmond County in Yorkshire, England United States ...

, which maintained an ambiguous position, threatened to join

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. With secession threatening to marginalize Governor Clinton and a lightly developed upstate, the Constitution was ratified and the crisis passed. At the time, much of what is now upstate New York, particularly

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...

was disputed and unsettled frontier territory, with

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

claiming portions of the mostly undeveloped land. This frontier land was not included in the

Northwest Ordinance The Northwest Ordinance (formally An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio and also known as the Ordinance of 1787), enacted July 13, 1787, was an organic act of the Congress of the Co ...

, but it was not until the

Phelps and Gorham Purchase The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the purchase in 1788 of of land in what is now western New York State from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for $1,000,000 ( £300,000), to be paid in three annual installments, and the pre-emptive right to th ...

and the

Holland Purchase The Phelps and Gorham Purchase was the purchase in 1788 of of land in what is now western New York State from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for $1,000,000 ( £300,000), to be paid in three annual installments, and the pre-emptive right to t ...

that it became New York territory.

Civil War era

In the period of national crisis immediately preceding the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Democratic Mayor

Fernando Wood Fernando Wood (February 14, 1812 – February 13, 1881) was an American Democratic Party politician, merchant, and real estate investor who served as the 73rd and 75th Mayor of New York City. He also represented the city for several terms in ...

proposed the secession of New York City as a sovereign

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

to be called the ''Free City of Tri-Insula'' (''Tri-Insula'' meaning "three islands" in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

), and incorporating

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and

. In an address to the city's Common Council on January 6, 1861, Mayor Wood expressed a

Copperhead Copperhead may refer to: Snakes * ''Agkistrodon contortrix'', or copperhead, a venomous pit viper species found in parts of North America * '' Austrelaps'', or Australian copperhead, a genus of venomous elapids found in southern Australia and Ta ...

sympathy with the seceding states and a desire to maintain profitable

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...

, confidence that the

would prosper on the

import tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and polic ...

s that then supplied 2/3 of federal revenue, and especially dissatisfaction with the state government at Albany. But the idea of leaving the United States proved too radical even in the turmoil of 1861 and was poorly received, especially after the Southern bombardment of Fort Sumter starting on April 12. The war, and especially conscription, was nevertheless often unpopular in the city, sparking the deadly

New York Draft Riots The New York City draft riots (July 13–16, 1863), sometimes referred to as the Manhattan draft riots and known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of white working-cl ...

. The neighboring

City of Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county i ...

, in contrast, was staunchly Unionist. Coincidentally, the upstate locale of

Town Line, New York Town Line is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 2,367 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community is located o ...

voted to secede from the Union, contributing five soldiers to the Confederate troops. (Twenty residents fought for the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

.) Since Town Line was an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

with no legal status, the secession vote had no legal effect, and the Confederacy never recognized it. Town Line ceremonially "rejoined" the Union in 1946; its residents paid taxes during its time "out of the union," which amounted to 85 years.

1969

In 1969, writer

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...

and columnist

Jimmy Breslin James Earle Breslin (October 17, 1928 – March 19, 2017) was an American journalist and author. Until the time of his death, he wrote a column for the New York ''Daily News'' Sunday edition.''Current Biography 1942'', pp. 648–51: "Patterson, ...

ran together on an independent ticket seeking the mayoralty and City Council Presidency, challenging Mayor

John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...

with an agenda to make New York City the

51st state 51st state in American political discourse refers to areas considered candidates for U.S. statehood, joining the 50 states that have constituted the United States since 1959. The phrase has been applied to external territories as well as parts o ...

. When questioned as to the name of the new state, Breslin said the city deserved to keep "New York" and that upstate should be renamed " Buffalo", after its largest city.

2000s

On February 26, 2003, a bill was introduced by

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...

Council Member Peter Vallone, Jr., and sponsored by 20 of 51 City Council members, reviving the idea of

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

for secession from New York State in the context of the

red state vs. blue state divide Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in ...

and opposition to the policies of Governor

George Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...

. A committee report was written but otherwise little action was taken, and the bill was reintroduced with one additional sponsor on the same date in 2004. Like Mayor Wood, Council Member Vallone emphasized the fiscal benefits of secession, with revenue now derived not from tariffs, but from

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

. Council Member Vallone reintroduced the bill in 2006. In January 2008, Vallone again offered a bill for the secession of New York City from New York state. After Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

testified to New York state legislators that New York City gives the state $11 billion more than it gets back, Vallone stated: "If not secession, somebody please tell me what other options we have if the state is going to continue to take billions from us and give us back pennies? Should we raise taxes some more? Should we cut services some more? Or should we consider seriously going out on our own?" The New York City council planned to hold a meeting on the topic.

2010s

In 2015, fifteen towns in Sullivan, Delaware, Broome, and Tioga counties were reported to be looking into seceding from the State of New York and joining the state of Pennsylvania. One reason given for the movement was Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

's move to ban

hydraulic fracturing Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frack ...

, which is legal in Pennsylvania. Concurrently, groups of state legislators from Long Island and upstate New York introduced legislation to gauge support for partitioning the state; the bills were introduced shortly after

Sheldon Silver Sheldon Silver (February 13, 1944 – January 24, 2022) was an American Democratic Party politician, attorney, and convicted felon from New York City who served as speaker of the New York State Assembly from 1994 to 2015. A native of Manhattan' ...

, who had served as Speaker of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

for two decades and was an ardent opponent of such a partition, was deposed from his post as part of a federal investigation.

Long Island secession

, there also have been calls for

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

and Suffolk Counties to separate from New York State. Former Suffolk County

comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...

and former state assemblyman Joseph Sawicki (a Republican) called for a separation of Long Island from the rest of the state, saying that the region, one of the wealthiest in the state, receives only $5.2 billion in state payments and pays $8.1 billion in taxes. Nassau County executive

Ed Mangano Edward P. Mangano (born March 24, 1962) is an American politician from the state of New York. A Republican, he was the Nassau County Executive from January 2010 to December 2017, and a former legislator in Nassau County, New York. He was electe ...

came out in support of such a proposal in April 2010 and commissioned a study on it.

also had a movement pushing for secession of the entire geographic island (Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties) from the state of New York.

Upstate secession

A parallel Upstate New York statehood movement seeks separation due to taxation and economic concerns."The Big City; The Moochers From Upstate? Cut 'Em Loose"
John Tierney,

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, May 24, 1999. Such proposals often include excising Albany (and presumably the

Hudson River Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to Yo ...

) along with New York City, due to a perception that Albany is primarily controlled by politicians from the New York City area. A separate but related movement only includes

(and sometimes portions of

Central New York Central New York is the central region of New York State, including the following counties and cities: With a population of about 773,606 (2009) and an area of , the region includes the Syracuse metropolitan area. Definitions The New York ...

and the

Southern Tier The Southern Tier is a geographic subregion of the broader Upstate New York region of New York State, consisting of counties west of the Catskill Mountains in Delaware County and geographically situated along or very near the northern border ...

) in the secession efforts as an independent state or commonwealth entitled "Niagara." Much of upstate New York (unsettled by Europeans until the 19th century and inhabited only by the

Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

) was not part of New York State during colonial times. Due to an oversight or perhaps to foster competition, two Kings of England (

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

and Charles II) awarded the same upstate New York territory as part of sea-to-sea grants to

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

and

New York Colony The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...

respectively;

Pennsylvania Colony The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn after receiving a land grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania ("Penn's Woods") refers to Wi ...

also separately laid claim to much of the territory now in the Southern Tier up until 1774. It was not until 1786, with the Treaty of Hartford, that the dispute was settled; New York got territorial rights, but Massachusetts got to sell the land to developers. In 1792, a portion encompassing modern-day

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

(given to New York in the treaty) was sold to Pennsylvania. The

Niagara Frontier The Niagara Frontier refers to the stretch of land in the United States that is south of Lake Ontario and north of Lake Erie, and extends westward to Cleveland, Ohio. The term dates to the War of 1812, when the northern border was in contention b ...

, which had been explored by and part of

French Canada French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...

, served as the western front of the Revolutionary War and (as British territory) the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, and did not fall securely into American sovereignty until the end of that war. An upper portion of the Province of New York seceded: the northeastern corner of the province became self-governing in 1777 during the American Revolution, and it was granted statehood in its own right as

in 1791. It was the first state in the union which had not been a separate British colony. Support for a separation from within upstate surged in the second half of the 20th century, possibly due in part to several U.S. Supreme Court rulings (see ''

Baker v. Carr ''Baker v. Carr'', 369 U.S. 186 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that redistricting qualifies as a justiciable question under the Fourteenth Amendment, thus enabling federal courts to hear Fourteen ...

'' and ''

Reynolds v. Sims ''Reynolds v. Sims'', 377 U.S. 533 (1964), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that the electoral districts of state legislative chambers must be roughly equal in population. Along with ''Baker v. Carr'' (196 ...

'') that established a mandate of

one man, one vote "One man, one vote", or "one person, one vote", expresses the principle that individuals should have equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of political equality to refer to such electoral reforms as universal suffrage, ...

in all state legislatures. The rulings gave New York City significant legislative advantages over upstate, which coincidentally entered a prolonged economic and population decline at around the same time. Former State Senator and U.S. Congressman

Randy Kuhl John Randolph Kuhl Jr. (born April 19, 1943) is an American Republican politician. He is a former member of the New York State Assembly, the New York State Senate, and the United States House of Representatives. Kuhl represented New York's 29th ...

, from rural upstate

Hammondsport Hammondsport is a village at the south end of Keuka Lake, in Steuben County, one of the Finger Lakes of New York, United States. The Village of Hammondsport is in the Town of Urbana and is northeast of Bath. History Lazarus Hammond founded ...

, advocated splitting the state into "New York" and "West New York" and introduced several bills to that effect during his time in the state senate. State senators Joseph Robach, Dale Volker, and

Michael Ranzenhofer Michael H. Ranzenhofer (born August 15, 1954) is an American politician from the state of New York. From 2009 until 2020, Ranzenhofer was a Republican member of the New York State Senate from the 61st district. Education Ranzenhofer earned a ...

, Republicans from Western New York, proposed a nonbinding referendum to gauge support for dividing the state in November 2009. Republican Assemblyman Stephen Hawley introduced a bill in February 2013 to give each county an opportunity to provide feedback on potential partition of the state. Hawley, who had introduced similar bills previously, supported the idea on the grounds that the financial and logistic situations in each region of the state were vastly different. The Public Policy Institute of New York State said in May 2004: "Secession would be impossible, and the last thing New York needs is some kind of destructive Upstate-Downstate showdown. But given the prolonged lag in Upstate’s economy, it is time to think seriously about whether there is a way of restructuring the relationship to give Upstate the opportunity—indeed, the freedom—to reduce some of the disadvantages that are smothering its economy.""Could New York Let Upstate Be Upstate?"
The Public Policy Institute of New York State, May 2004. The Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank, advocated using the 2017 constitutional convention to grant more

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

powers to local municipalities to address the upstate/downstate conflicts, before the referendum that would have allowed the convention was

defeated Defeated may refer to: *Defeated (Breaking Benjamin song), "Defeated" (Breaking Benjamin song) *Defeated (Anastacia song), "Defeated" (Anastacia song) *"Defeated", a song by Snoop Dogg from the album ''Bible of Love'' *Defeated, Tennessee, an unin ...

Intrastate secession proposals

Peconic County secession from Suffolk County

Peconic County is a proposed new

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

that would secede the five easternmost

towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of Suffolk County: East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and Southold, plus the Shinnecock Indian Reservation. 71 percent of the east end voters in 1997 approved a nonbinding resolution to secede. However, the

did not approve the enabling legislation. East End newspapers speculated that the Assembly was afraid it would encourage a tidal wave of secessions in the state including

seceding from

and perhaps even causing the division of upstate and downstate New York. This move to secede fell dormant in 1998.

Staten Island secession from New York City

The "Greater City" exists as a result of actions of the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...

, and, as such, could be reduced in size by the same mechanism. A non-binding

in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

was held in 1993 to consider whether it should be allowed to secede from the City. The New York City government and Mayor

David Dinkins David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African American to hold the office. Before enterin ...

opposed the vote, contending that the referendum should not be permitted by the state unless the city issued a

message supporting it, which the city would not.

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as t ...

disagreed, and the vote went forward. Ultimately, 65% of Staten Island residents voted to secede, through the approval of a new city

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

making Staten Island an independent

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, but implementation was blocked in the State Assembly. The Staten Island secession movement was defused by the election of

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

as New York City mayor on the same ballot. He had campaigned on the promise that Staten Island's grievances would be addressed. Giuliani's plurality in his narrow victory over Dinkins was aided by overwhelming support from Staten Island. Two of the borough's biggest demands were closing the

Fresh Kills Landfill The Fresh Kills Landfill was a landfill covering in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Staten Island in the United States. The name comes from the landfill's location along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in western State ...

and making the

Staten Island Ferry The Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry route operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. The ferry's single route runs through New York Harbor between the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island, with ferry ...

free, both of which were done. However, after the election of

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

as Mayor in 2013, interest in secession was revived. In 2019, New York City councilman

Joe Borelli Joseph Charles Borelli (born July 27, 1982) is an American politician and the New York City Council member for the 51st district and Minority Leader of the New York City Council. He is a Republican. The district encompasses much of Staten Islan ...

announced his plan to introduce another set of bills to study the feasibility of secession. In December 2019, Michael Reilly, a Republican assemblyman from Staten Island, expressed interest in joining upstate (the “New Amsterdam” Region) in the event it broke off from New York City. The Divide New York State Caucus, Inc. proposal and current bill to partition the State into three autonomous regions includes the right for "owners of parcels of land that are adjacent to each other ..within a single county may separate from any city (cities) and/or town(s) ..and incorporate a new town." Such an action would require: (A) "one fifth (1/5) of the owners of land in the proposed new town sign a petition agreeing to the map and charter"; (B) "must have at least two thousand (2000) people residing in it"; and (C) "If a majority of those voting approve of it" at the "next election day in November".

Dividing New York State into three autonomous regions

By the 2010s, the Divide New York State Caucus, Inc. had drafted a proposal to partition the State into three autonomous regions: The “New Amsterdam” Region (Upstate), the “New York” Region (the City), and a third region of “Montauk” (Long Island, and Rockland and Westchester counties). The proposal that includes the three autonomous regions, as of July 2021, bills A05498 and S05416. The Assembly sponsor is Mr. David DiPietro of Assembly district 147. The Senate sponsor is Republican Senate minority leader

Robert Ortt Robert Gary Ortt II (born May 23, 1979) is an American politician who is a member of the New York State Senate. Ortt represents the 62nd district, which covers Niagara and Orleans counties. First elected in 2014, Ortt is a Republican. Prior ...

of Senate district 62. In addition to the sponsors are several co-sponsors, notably of which includes recent Assembly minority leader

Brian Kolb Brian M. Kolb (born August 14, 1952) is an American politician who served as a member of the New York State Assembly for the 131st district from 2000 to 2021. Kolb also served as minority leader from 2009 to 2020. Early life and education Kolb ...

of District 131. This proposal would leave the "state governor ..with only token powers about the same as the queen of England" as described by Assemblymember DiPietro. By dividing into intrastate regions, instead of separate States, it would by pass Congress who is seen as the major hurdle. It would give each region its own governor, legislature, and judicial branch. The plan is to amend the State Constitution via a Constitutional Convention or a legislative majority. Unlike standard bills, a constitutional amendment does not need the governor’s approval. An alternate plan is having municipalities to use the NYS constitution home rule clause to encourage the legislature to submit the amendment to the voters. The plan calls for regional senators and assembly representatives from both regions to also serve as the New York State Legislature. Both regions would also have an elected Regional Governor, Regional Lieutenant-Governor, and Regional Secretary of State. The residual state government would still have an elected Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, and Comptroller. Most reporting has been in the New Amsterdam Region:

WKTV WKTV (channel 2) is a television station in Utica, New York, United States, affiliated with NBC, CBS, and The CW Plus. Owned by Heartland Media, the station has studios on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield (with a Utica postal address), and its ...

out of Utica City; ''

The Evening Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'' of Steuben County; Hudson Valley Post;

WHCU WHCU (870 AM) is a commercial radio station in Ithaca, New York, that programs a news/talk radio format. The station has been owned by the Cayuga Radio Group subsidiary of Saga Communications since 2005. Programming is simulcast on FM translato ...

out of Ithaca City; abc6 out of Albany;

WETM WETM-TV (channel 18) is a television station in Elmira, New York, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on East Water Street in downtown Elmira, and its transmitter is located on ...

out of Chemung County; FingerLakes1. Although it has been picked up in the Montauk Region as well by WSHU, an NPR affiliate, in and around Connecticut and the far reaches of Long Island. So far only Pix 11,

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship (broadcas ...

, of New York City has reported in the New York Region. Fox News has also reported. Rich Azzopardi, a senior advisor to Cuomo, said: "It’s the sort of divisive, unserious and sad pandering that was easy pickings for omedy Central’s‘The Daily Show’". A spokesman for governor Cuomo said: "The fact that small politicians are once again pushing this un-serious, ignorant and pander-filled press release of a bill may be the surest sign yet that things are getting back to normal n relation to Covid-19"

Notes

References

* * {{cite web, url=http://www.queenspress.com/archives/nfp/2003/0214/nfp.htm, title=Southeast Queens PRESS – Not 4 Publication, access-date=May 5, 2016

External links

Text of Vallone's bill of February 26, 2003

** ttp://webdocs.nyccouncil.info/textfiles/Int%200345-2006.htm?CFID=248056&CFTOKEN=19308489 as reintroduced May 10, 2006br>Committee Report of May 1, 2003
Political history of New York City

Separatism in the United States Upstate New York

History

Vermont, 1777

Post-Revolution era

Civil War era

1969

2000s

2010s

Long Island secession

Upstate secession

Intrastate secession proposals

Peconic County secession from Suffolk County

Staten Island secession from New York City

Dividing New York State into three autonomous regions

See also

Notes

References

External links