Assemblyman Thiele and Senator LaValle forget that Brooklyn and Queens are part of Long Island. Statehood for Nassau, Suffolk, New York City and Westchester would be the only thing that makes sense.

NYS would never let it happen. We're the state's cash cow.

I would support turning the towns into smaller counties and/or a consolidation of Nassau and Suffolk into a "city" only if it meant consolidation of the school districts and utilities into one district. I think by removing all the wonderful village bureaucracy and sharing the educational expenses across much larger areas, many residents will see a drop in their property/school tax bill. Some would see an increase but I don't think I would be one of them.

I'd like the idea of a Peconic County even more if Brookhaven was a part of it.

Statehood would need to include Brooklyn and Queens and probably Staten Island, and while I love the idea, it will never happen.

Seems like secession is alive and well! There is no reason why statehood for Nassau and Suffolk would need to include Queens, Brooklyn or any other part of the city. It would be great to get away from the City dominated State government.

Of course it matters. You'll start seeing an EZ Pass toll booth at the Cross Island if we secede. Until we have a bridge to Connecticut from Suffolk or Nassau we are at the mercy of the NYC

Why are we even discussing this? You know it will never happen in any form.

united we stand - while there may be some benefits to LI, there will also be many negatives. And overall for the state - a net loss.

dumb

Long Island it is -island!And should use privilegies of island-water-area ,fichery ,etc!
According to international law and custom!

NO! NO! NO!. I want Gov Cuomo to help us keep these guys in check. I don't want to go into the future being run over by some out of control political machine.

It would simply cost too much to do! Won't happen, as much as some of us might like the idea.

It seems this idea comes up once a generation and Long Island remains part of New York State.

Let's start with the basics. Nassau and Suffolk Counties are dependent on New York City (most notable Manhattan). Yes, there is some industry on Long Island and Hauppauge has a nice technology park, but let's face it Nassau and Suffolk Counties are just a giant bedroom community to Manhattan.

So, if Nassau and Suffolk became their own state. What would be the tax base? How would income and property taxes change (most likely increase)? How much would it cost to put in a "state infrastructure" (state capital, legislature, state police, state court, et. al.)? And then LI would have to pay New York State for taking over all the state and community colleges (they will not just give those way). Not to mention the state parks, as well. And this will be done with strip malls, housing developments and scattered industry; not economically feasible.

While there are 2.8 million people in Nassau and Suffolk Counties; starting a new state would be a costly venture, in an area where taxes are some of the highest in the country.

In other words, if you think your taxes are bad now, forming a new state will make your taxes worse. The only way this will work is that Westchester, Rockland, New York City joined with Nassau and Suffolk to form a new state. All these counties are effectively dependent on New York City for the very existence; like it or not.

We wouldn't have people up in Albany putting all the weight on us to provide the state taxes and all of our taxes that we use to support the state can go to long island causes. Furthermore, Long Island would probably become closer a swing state in elections (considering Long Island was a republican stronghold until the early 90's), and we may be able to garner increased tourism and attention from candidates for various federal offices. It is a great idea, but for both these reasons the state would never let it happen.

Statehood is fine but, and a big but. Nassau was always a political mess and overcrouded. NY city will never give up Brooklyn and Queens (formally a Queens boy) and Suffolk will never want to be a Nassau. I like Suffolk as it is with the last remaining open spaces and water surrounding it. As for me let it be.

The entire point of statehood is to get AWAY from New York City. Taxes would decrease significantly because Long Island would no longer have to fund the rest of the state. Suffolk County for instance sends $8 billion to Albany but only gets $5 billion in return.

I did a little research and it's practically impossible for LI to break away from NY and become a state, because breaking away from an existing state is pretty much forbidden. "The U.S. Constitution is rather laconic on the process by which new states could be added, noting only that New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union", and forbidding a new state to be created out of the territory of an existing state, or the merging of two or more states into one, without the consent of both Congress and all the state legislatures involved." When has the entire federal and state legislators ever agreed on anything? Never! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state

The concept is ridiculous. If you think living on Long Island is already too expensive, wait until you'd have to replicate everything that New York State already provides this island. Not to mention all of the residents of LI that currently work for NYS and those that are vested in the NYS retirement system. Toss those jobs and investments away. Ridiculous to even consider. Are there not more important issues here on LI for these politicians to focus on?

The point is missed here. I am not for a state. Period. To those who are presenting the argument as a choice, i am raising the ramifications to the taxpayers. Its all what ifs and I see the proposal as a disaster especially if any part of nassau and NY were included. Who wants ot pay for their mess. As I stated earlier, let suffolk be as it is. Get after politicians to get what Suffolk deserves.

I just heard about this website and found this to be a very interesting topic. Long Island could probably be a successful state if we were to consolodate all school districts by township. As far as New York State is concerned, we never get back what we give. It's time to stop supporting upstate. We need the money here on Long Island.