A quarter of New Yorkers consider leaving state, poll finds
By Tom Precious
COMENT ON THIS STORY at Inside the News, 'More people think about leaving the Empire State'
ALBANY -- Nearly a quarter of the state's population is at least giving thought to leaving New York for better conditions elsewhere, a new poll has found.
The Siena College Research Institute poll released this morning shows 11 percent of New Yorkers say they are going to move unless conditions in the state improve while another 10 percent say they would like to move out "as quickly as I can." Only 16 percent flatly say they are never moving.
The poll found 52 percent believe the state is moving in the wrong direction, while only 33 percent say New York is going in the right direction. The rest don't know or have no opinion.
The poll found 36 percent have no plans currently to move from the state, while 25 percent say they might move out once they retire.
Broken down by various subgroups, 18 percent of Republican and 16 percent of Latino voters say they will move if things don't improve, while 14 percent of voters age 18 to 34 years old and 13 percent of upstate voters say they would like to move out as quickly as they could.
Those most committed to the state? Black voters, 26 percent of whom say they will never move, and New York City voters, 24 percent of whom said the Empire State will always be their home.The poll found only 8 percent said the economy of the state is good and only 1 percent called it excellent; the rest rated it either fair or poor. Siena said the number of people claiming they are considering moving from the state is the highest since the poll began asking the question; it did not say how many years that has been.
The wide-ranging poll found these other trends:
--Support for legalizing same-sex marriage in New York has slid from a previous Siena poll a month ago, when 53 percent said they supported and 39 percent opposed the right. In the new poll, New Yorkers are split -- 46 percent to 46 percent -- in favoring and opposing gay marriage. Democrats, younger voters, and Jews support it, while Republicans, older voters, African Americans, Protestants and Catholics generally oppose it. Thirty-nine percent of opponents say they will be very disappointed if the Legislature passes a same-sex marriage law, while only 16 percent of supporters say they will be very disappointed if it fails;
--Gov. David A. Paterson's support among voters seems to have bottomed out, with 27 percent viewing him favorably and 60 percent unfavorably -- statistically unchanged from a month ago. And he still would lose badly if the election were held today to potential challengers, including GOP's Rudolph Giuliani and Democrat Andrew Cuomo;
--The vast majority of New Yorkers wants a cap on their property taxes, a move being pushed by Paterson but opposed by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan. Seventy-two percent want an annual cap on the growth of their property taxes, compared to 20 percent who oppose one.Despite the problems in Albany this session, New Yorkers say they want the Democrats to continue control of the State Senate, which they took over in January after 70 years of GOP dominance. Fifty-seven percent want the Senate to remain Democratic, compared to 37 percent who do not. There are nearly twice as many Democrats as Republicans in the state, according to state election board records.
tprecious@buffnews.com
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Anyone wonder why NY is a mess?
This poll confirms exactly what is wrong with NY, the voters are complete morons.
