New York State Archives

Are We Losing Our Independence?

By Chris Carosa on June 28, 2022

A very good and kind friend of mine from New York City once came to visit. As we were sitting casually in the sun overlooking my front yard, he turns to me and says, “Chris, that open space is a terrible waste of good space. You should pave it for more parking, maybe put up a shed or two. You’ll get more use out of it.”

I tried to explain the fine nuance of local zoning laws, the joys of smelling freshly cut grass, and the pleasant soft coolness an expansive lawn offers, especially on hot summer days.

He would have none of these arguments. He saw only the sterile utility of the land, not the Continue Reading “Are We Losing Our Independence?”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged 1607, 1620, 2020/21 budget, 94-c, America, Andrew Cuomo, Article 10, Caledonia, Colony of Virginia, community, Constitution, Covid, Declaration of Independence, Emergency Executive Powers, Founding Fathers, freedom, Gordon Stanton, government, home rule, independence, Jamestown, New York State, New York State Constitution, ORES, Pilgrims, Rush, Shining City on a hill, Thanksgiving

The Real News About Kathy Hochul Being New York State Governor

By Chris Carosa on August 24, 2021

You’ve probably read the headlines about Kathy Hochul “making history” by becoming the first woman to hold the position of New York State Governor.

If you’re like me, you cringe every time you see the appellation “first” applied to anyone. With the clear exception of sporting events, landing on the moon, and a few others, the term “first” seems more like a back-handed compliment. In today’s world of woke, it makes people wonder if “token” wouldn’t be a better description.

And that’s not fair.

I know. I’ve lived with this designation. The “first” Italian-American to do this… The “first” Catholic to do that… The “first” graduate of Gates-Chili high school to…

Each time, despite the apparent good intentions of various speakers of those words, it always felt condescending.

While I’m proud of my heritage, I didn’t want to be remembered merely as an Italian-Continue Reading “The Real News About Kathy Hochul Being New York State Governor”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Albany, Allegany County, Buffalo, Catholic, Charle Evans Hughes, Chautauqua County, Democrat, Erie County, Fortune Magazine, Frank Higgins, Gates Chili, governor, Greater Western New York, Grover Cleveland, Horace White, Italian American, Jack Kemp, John Roberts, Kathy Hochul, Manly Fleischmann, National Football League, New York City, New York State, Republican, Reuben Fenton, Roger Goodell, self-esteem, Tammany Hall, Tom Perez, United States Supreme Court, William Donovan

Don’t Let Them Divide and Conquer Us

By Chris Carosa on May 18, 2021

A while back I ran across a reporter’s query. It seemed this journalist wanted to know if the “right-wing” is decentralizing the Internet. That struck me as an odd thing to ask given most feel it is the “left-wing” that kicked the “right-wing” out of the clubhouse.

But, hey, if you want to sow division, this is the way to do it.

In 1894, five years before he became governor of New York State, Theodore Roosevelt wrote ever so eloquently of the need to come together as one nation and avoided the divide and conquer strategy that serves America’s enemies well:Continue Reading “Don’t Let Them Divide and Conquer Us”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, Americanism, Andrew M. Cuomo, bandwagon effect, divide and conquer, E Pluribus Unum, Finger Lakes, Genesee Country, Greater Western New York Region, Lockwood R. Doty, New York Billions, New York City, New York State, Regional Councils, reverse myopia, Rochester Chamber of Commerce, social proof, Southern Tier, Theodore Roosevelt, Western New York, Western Region

Who’s Really Going After Cuomo?

By Chris Carosa on March 9, 2021

Allow me to begin with this caveat: I am not a fan of Andrew Cuomo. I do not support the bulk of his policies. I do not condone what many call his “thuggish” behavior. Above all, I feel he is a discredit to all those Italian-Americans who have tried to live a life that transcends the Hollywood stereotype of our honored heritage.

If you doubt any of the above, then go back and reread some of my previous columns.

That being said, even I find it somewhat suspicious that this once-darling of the politically woke now finds himself dodging quite serious accusations against his policies, his administration, and his very character.

My first inclination might have been “couldn’t happen to a nicer guy,” but the coincidences Continue Reading “Who’s Really Going After Cuomo?”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Andrew Cuomo, Grand Jury, Kamala Harris, Letitia James, New York State, nursing home scandal, Rochester

We Need High-Speed Broadband, Now!

By Chris Carosa on January 19, 2021

“I would long since for the time that no votes buy our cares;
For people that once possessed command, high civil office, legions and all else,
now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.”

– From Satire X, Juvenal, ca. 100 AD

When the Roman satirical poet Juvenal wrote these lines centuries ago, he meant it as an exposé of government corruption. It also represented a warning to a populace too eager to sacrifice freedom for immediate delights.

Unfortunately, rather than a cautionary alert, Juvenal’s “bread and circuses” has become a blueprint from which every dictator since has built his empire.

You can now add Andrew Cuomo to the long sorry list of power-mad rulers seeking to Continue Reading “We Need High-Speed Broadband, Now!”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, Andrew Cuomo, Bread and circuses, broadband, Covid, highways, Juvenal, Marjorie Byrnes, New York Post, New York State, Richard Parsons, roads, soma

Ode to a Once Mighty Oak

By Chris Carosa on October 13, 2020

And in that brief moment, its reign ended.

We don’t know how old it really was, but the centuries had exacted their toll. Despite the efforts of the valiant few, the rot that builds with age had eaten its way through the internal fabric that once supported its mighty infrastructure.

When that final gust rushed through, the great citadel had fallen. It had stood for so long that those closest to it, stunned by the fatal reality before their own eyes, could only muster an anemic disbelief.

All that incredulity could not suspend the finality that was. It was gone. Not really. But really.

* * *

The Seneca tribe was a fierce warrior tribe. They had to be. They guarded the “west gate” of the Iroquois Confederacy. From that position, they both protected one flank of their Continue Reading “Ode to a Once Mighty Oak”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Algonquin, Boughton Hill, British, Champlain, Denonville, Department of Transportation, Dutch, Erie, French, Ganondagan, General Sullivan, Genesee River, George Washington, Huron, Iroquois, Mendon, Mendon Foundation, Neutral, New York State, Plains Road, Revolutionary War, Route 15A, Saguenay River, Seneca, St. Lawrence River, Tabacco, Tadoussac, Totiakton, Victor, Wenro

Condemned to Repeat It: This 200+ Year Old Concept Rises Again in 2020

By Chris Carosa on January 14, 2020

“Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
– George Santayana in his 1905 series, The Life of Reason: the Phases of Human Progress.

It’s not new. It’s been with us since George Washington ended his second term as President. You might have heard it ended once and for all during the nadir of the American experiment.

But it’s still here. And for all its association with evil, the worst of our proud heritage, people continue to embrace it like a badge of honor.

Yet, it began with such promise…

No one ever questioned George Washington. He’s our first and probably last Continue Reading “Condemned to Repeat It: This 200+ Year Old Concept Rises Again in 2020”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1796 Election, Adam Bello, Alien and Sedition Acts, Civil War, compromise, Compromise Tarriff of 1833, drivers license, Federal Immigration Law, George Santayana, George Washington, Henry Clay, James Madison, John Adams, John Calhoun, Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, Michael Kearns, New York State, nullification, Sanctuary City, second amendment, The Life of Reason, The Nullification Crisis, Thomas Jefferson, tribalism

Cuomo Courts Amazon with Our Money

By Chris Carosa on November 20, 2018

Let’s get this disclosure out of the way first. We use Amazon. We’re Amazon Prime members. Our parent company, Pandamensional Solutions, Inc., uses Amazon print and distribution services for the books it publishes. In all, we spend a lot of money at Amazon and Amazon generates revenue for us. We have certainly benefited from Amazon.

That being said, we don’t think New York State taxpayers will benefit from Andrew Cuomo’s terrible deal to bring Amazon to his state. Enough was revealed when Amazon announced its decision to “split the baby in half” and create two “second headquarters” instead of one. The “lucky” winners were Long Island City in New York and Arlington in Virginia. Amazon promises to hire 25,000 employees at each location. In addition, the on-line retail behemoth also declared it would open a smaller regional hub in Nashville, Tennessee (where they will hire 5,000).

As we said last year (“This is How the Greater Western New York Region Should Respond If Amazon Picks Another Option,” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, October 26, 2017), bowing to Amazon’s extortion-like tactics was absolutely a terrible idea. We stand by our Continue Reading “Cuomo Courts Amazon with Our Money”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Alexandria, Amazon, Andrew Cuomo, Donald Trump, facebook, Greater Western New York, Inc., Jeff Bezos, Long Island City, Nashville, New Headquarters' Curse, New York State, Pandamensional Solutions, Queens, Richard Thaler, Winner's Curse

New Tax Law Shows Cuomo Tone Deaf to Needs of Greater Western New York

By Chris Carosa on February 6, 2018

Many overtaxed residents of Greater Western New York looked at the 2017 Tax Reform Law as an opportunity to spur Albany into finally aligning its policies to make our state more business friendly. Our region has been particularly hard hit.

A December 28, 2017 report from Channel 13 said several Mark’s Pizzeria locations closed. A local stock market analyst said these closures were the result of the new minimum wage law which requires all fast food chains with at least 30 locations to up their hourly rate to $12.75. Mark’s closed just enough locations to leave it with 29 stores. Coincidence? The founder of Salvatore’s Pizza told 13WHAM they won’t be expanding because of the 30 store rule.Continue Reading “New Tax Law Shows Cuomo Tone Deaf to Needs of Greater Western New York”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged 2017 Tax Reform Act, Andrew Cuomo, AT&T, Frontier, Greater Western New York, Mark's Pizzeria, minimum wage law, New York State, Verizon

Cuomo’s “Free” Tuition Plan Reveals His Techno-Ignorance

By Chris Carosa on January 14, 2017

And away we go… Even before Donald Trump’s Inauguration, the 2020 presidential race has begun.

During last year’s presidential primary sweepstakes, the ever plucky Bernie Sanders (can you call a septuagenarian “plucky?) infamously declared he would abolish all college tuition. Plenty practical folks brushed this Marxist rhetoric aside, but those were the adults in the room. The kids ate it up. (And I wouldn’t doubt the idea appealed to a few of their parents, especially after seeing the burden of the obnoxious levels of debt modern college attendance can require.) Still, no one considered this a serious policy. For any number of reasons, common Continue Reading “Cuomo’s “Free” Tuition Plan Reveals His Techno-Ignorance”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Andrew Cuomo, Bernie Sanders, College, Coursera, freemium, MOOC, New York State