Long Island Considers Plan to Become 51st State

"Sawicki and Martin Cantor, director of Dowling's Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute, announced the six-month study at a breakfast Friday on the Oakdale campus before local business and government leaders."

"Both Sawicki and Cantor acknowledged such a split may be tough to sell politically to the rest of the state, but it is important to raise the issue to underline how much the region contributes to state operations and how much less it gets back -- a gap of $2.9 billion."

"'It's time for us to begin to think outside the box. In our case, it's that sandbox in Albany that we must look beyond,' said Sawicki, adding later, 'If we were getting our fair share of education aid from the state, we wouldn't be here talking about this.'"