New York News

Going South: Cuomo Blames Weather For NY Population Decline

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published September 26, 2018 at 12:07 AM EDT

Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo blamed upstate weather for prompting New Yorkers to flee to other states.

Cuomo told reporters Tuesday that while job losses and high taxes once drove people to leave New York, his administration has ended that trend and improved the local economic situation.

He says many of the New Yorkers leaving the state now are doing so for personal reasons or decisions that he called "climate based."

The comments came after Cuomo's Republican challenger, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, said on Monday that Cuomo has failed to stem the number of New Yorkers leaving for states with lower taxes and more jobs.

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Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

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