Dear people of New York City: We do not understand. Some of us who live Upstate. We do not understand.

Wait. Let me put that into Big Apple lingo: What??? Are youse nuts or sumpin’?

I refer to your upcoming election. You are going to elect a new mayor who is so liberal Fidel could take lessons from him. And he is promising to reverse basic policies that have made the City easier to visit and live in. And safer. Don’t forget safer.

Apparently you have. This guy says he will sack Police Commissioner Kelly. He wants to kill “stop and frisk” policies that have helped bring your murder numbers down and down. They have taken truckloads of weapons off your streets. He wants to reverse policies of Bloomy and Giuliani that rescued your streets from thugs.
We don’t understand.

Used to be a battalion of squeegee guys would extort cash from us when we drove into the City. Used to be we did not park on your streets — because we enjoyed our car having a radio. Used to be we didn’t dare break down on the Henry Hudson Parkway. Leave for 30 minutes, we came back to a car without wheels. Leave for an hour, no doors. Today we can park and leave the car unlocked.

Used to be New York was about the most dangerous city in the Western World. Today it is the safest. Used to be we wore bullet-proof undies to walk your streets at night. We looked over our shoulder constantly. These days, none of that.

Used to be we went to Toronto to watch musicals. Rather than chance a mugging or two on Broadway. Now we come to New York.

Used to be waiters and hotel clerks and people on your streets abused us. They abused each other. They were nasty. Because in such a wretched atmosphere they trusted no one. Today, we find friendliness everywhere in the City.

Used to be we could spot the City folks when they arrived Upstate for vacations and weekends. They looked hunted. They looked like they had escaped a jungle. Which they had. These days they tell us they love the upstate quiet. But they love the city too.

You know all those busloads of pink-haired ladies coming into town to lunch and catch a matinee? In the bad old years the buses were carrying pink-haired ladies out of the City. 

So what is it with you people and your election?

Finally, you have seen some improvement in your schools. Led by charter schools. Charter schools have made big and positive differences in the lives of your kids. 
And you are going to elect a guy who hates them? He promises to make it more costly for charters to operate. 

Maybe this is our fault. You drink water from Upstate. Maybe we’ve got rabid raccoons peeing in the water. They do that, you know. Can’t stop ‘em.

Maybe some of our new upstate distilleries are dumpin’ hootch into the streams that feed your reservoirs. And we grow a lot of weed up here. Maybe … ? Who knows?

We are simple folks up here. We don’t understand complicated things like running a big city. But this much we do understand: The Big Apple used to be the Big Cesspool.

We avoided it and you fled it. Because it had four or five times the murders it now has. It had muggings by the tens of thousands. It had areas where cops dared not drive through at high speed. Nastiness to visitors was its middle name.

Today it is much, much, much improved. And now you want to elect a guy who promises to dismantle the very programs that worked for you?

Are youse guys whacky or sumpin’?

From Tom…as in Morgan.

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home near Oneonta, in addition to his radio shows and new TV show. For more information about him, visit his website at www.tomasinmorgan.com

It was an exciting week in our community, as we collectively celebrated the groundbreaking of what will be a transformative and historic endeavor. On Thursday, Oct. 24, I joined Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC) President Barbara Risser, Senator Mike Nozzolio, and other community leaders to launch the construction of the Finger Lakes Viticulture Center in Geneva. 

Once completed, the Viticulture Center will bolster FLCC’s world-class Viticulture and Wine Technology Program, enhancing the school’s educational offerings, generating new jobs, and allowing our region to achieve greater innovations in agricultural research and development. To learn more about FLCC’s world-class program, please visit the school’s website at http://flcc.edu/academics/viticulture/.

As your assemblyman, I am extremely proud of my work and collaboration with Senator Nozzolio to secure a $3.2 million investment from the state for the new center. As an FLCC graduate, I’m proud of the expansion the school continues to make. And as a resident of the Finger Lakes region, I’m proud that we serve as an example to the rest of New York on how to create jobs, foster business opportunities, and commit to emerging industries.

Serving as an Example for the Rest of New York

The Finger Lakes region is already home to a number of farms and wineries with a proud tradition of producing quality products. With this week’s groundbreaking, we are continuing to cultivate a growing industry and committing to progress. We are not going to rest on past accomplishments, but instead will seize this opportunity to improve the already world-class viticulture sector in New York. A thriving viticulture industry brings jobs, prosperity, and products of which we can be proud.

The new Viticulture Center perfectly represents the direction New York needs to be going and employs the basic principles necessary to get our economy turned around.

§ A continued focus and investment into emerging industries — like our wineries and agriculture — broadens the opportunities for real job growth and gives industry necessary resources and support to achieve long-term success.

§ Providing educational tools and training enables a new generation of workers to develop skill sets that align with industries that need highly trained workers. Just as the Viticulture Center will lead to new innovation and learning, industries like biotechnology and advanced manufacturing will only succeed here if New York has a skilled workforce that is equipped to meet the demand.

§ Developing public-private partnerships, like the collaborative approach used to make the new center a reality, facilitates the sharing of ideas and taps into the expertise of a number of professionals. Government can do its part — but New York State’s businesses succeed when Albany gets out of the way, and local innovators and entrepreneurs have the freedom to achieve their goals.

As we saw this week in Geneva, this recipe for success has become a reality for our region. The continued progress and focus on our local industry will lead to a brighter future for all New York. Breaking ground on the Finger Lakes Viticulture Center is cause for celebration — for the hard work, for the collaboration and because we are putting ourselves on a path toward a sustainable economy.

Brian M. Kolb (R,I,C–Canandaigua) is the New York Assembly Minority Leader and represents the 131st Assembly District, which encompasses all of Ontario County and parts of Seneca County. Contact him at kolbb@assembly.state.ny.us