New York
From Free Talk Live
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New York is a big state where the socioeconomic regions of the Rust Belt, BosWash and New England meet. It contains New York City in the south-east. The upstate region contains slightly less than half of the population, and parts of it would probably resemble Vermont politically if they had more local control.
New York has some of the best climate for growing grapes and wine making in the United Sates, there are 3 main regions for grapes and wine making. The regions are Long Island, Finger Lakes Region, and Lake Erie Region there is also a small region in Niagara county that is very specialized. The Long Island Region has higher priced wineries, the Finger Lakes Region is the largest wine region in NY, and the Lake Erie Region has small wineries but most of the grapes in the Lake Erie region is used for juice, jam, and jelly. The reason why grapes thrive in these regions 2 of the 3 are located around fresh water lakes. The lakes create a micro-climate around the water which in the spring keeps the temperature lower then the land that is 20 miles away from the lakes, and in the fall the lakes warmer water keeps the temperature in the immediate surrounding land warm. In the fall also water spouts can be seen in Lake Erie water spouts are actually tornadoes that are in the water.
New York's nickname is "The Empire State" the state was originally named the Empire state because of the diverse resources that were located in the state. The modern thinking is that the state is nicknamed the Empire State because of the oppressive taxation and regulations that have been hoisted upon the people in New York. In 2008 the New York State government raised the taxes on cigarettes to the highest level in the United States. New York also has a State income Tax, and a State sales tax. The residents can seek relief from tobacco taxes on the Seneca reservation which is located in Western part of the state. In 1997 the Seneca Indians angry that the state wanted to tax the cigarettes that they sold set up road blocks on Interstate 90 and other roads that crossed the reservation by putting a pile of old tires on the road and setting them on fire. State Troopers were called from all over the state to try and put down the protesters eventually the state gave up and allowed the Seneca Indians to sell tobacco without any state sales tax.
