Upstate New York towns explore seceding to Pennsylvania

Some 15 towns in New York's Broome, Delaware, Tioga, and Sullivan counties — areas located in and near the Southern Tier region bordering Pennsylvania — are looking into options for leaving New York to join their southern neighbor.

The motivation for secession is financial: New York has the harshest tax burden in the nation, and the state banned fracking in 2014. The Southern Tier has extensive deposits of oil shale, which before the ban were to have provided a much-needed economic boost for the area.

"The Southern Tier is desolate," said Jim Finch, a town supervisor who supports the secession proposal. "We have no jobs and no income. The richest resource we have is in the ground."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up