Massarah Mikati is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Divide New York State Caucus, a group advocating for the break up of New York into three separate regions, held multiple meetings over the summer. The meetings were held in an effort to gain needed support from local municipalities to move forward legislation and divide up the state. Under the plan, New York City would be its own autonomous region, Westchester, Long Island and Rockland would make up their own region and the rest of upstate would make up the third autonomous region. “To divide the state is basically economics,” said John Bergener, chairman of the caucus. “The overregulation of densely populated cities being spread statewide has killed the upstate economy.” While the Divide New York State Caucus argues economics are the reason to split the state, other upstate legislators said it is more about culture. “Our constituencies are so very different, our ways of living, our family values, our livelihoods,” Republican Assemblymember Stephen Hawley said. “We need to open our eyes and think about the entire state of New York.” Hawley pointed to examples of downstate over-reach, such as gun control legislation, reproductive rights and the Farm Labor Rights Act. “I don’t think it’s a Republican-Democrat thing at all,” Hawley said. “I think it’s citizens of the state, it depends what values they have and what businesses drive their economies.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.