Letter from James Marci

Zeldin Coalition Will Save NY

I love New York. It’s the tourism slogan here in the Empire State, but I do truly have a love for this place. New York is my home, it’s where I’ve been brought up, and I feel as though I have a loyalty to protect it. New York is my home and fellow New Yorkers are my family. It’s because I have this strong connection to our state that I feel a deep sense of despondency when I hear my fellow New Yorker say that they are giving up on New York and leaving for supposedly greener grass.

Over the past decade, population loss has affected many parts of New York, including right here in Otsego County. This consistent population loss is not sustainable for our communities, and something needs to change quickly. I’m glad to see that on the campaign trail, Congressman Lee Zeldin, who is running for governor against Kathy Hochul, is choosing to address this problem directly.

When I heard Congressman Zeldin speak at a campaign event, he told the crowd that if he could ask Kathy Hochul one question, that it would be a fill-in-the-blank question, and that the question would be, “New York is leading the nation in population loss because?” I, too, would like to hear if Hochul could fill in that blank on the record. Zeldin then said that New Yorkers are leaving because, quite simply, they are hitting their breaking point.

Zeldin’s unofficial campaign slogan is “Save Our State.” Unfortunately, New Yorkers don’t have confidence in the economy, and we are in an “SOS” kind of situation. I believe that we need to stray from the status quo created by Eliot Spitzer, Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul. Zeldin’s recent pledge to moderate on abortion leads me to believe that Zeldin’s main priorities are focused on fixing New York’s economy, rather than on divisive social issues. Zeldin has been endorsed by several Democrats, and it seems to be that he is building the right coalition to save New York.

James Marci
City of Oneonta