I think we all know New York is a large and complicated state. Outside of the fact that they belong to the same state, the interests of Western New York aren’t all that similar to New York City and its surrounding regions. The economic and cultural disinterests are striking and easily identified, and we all know a few jokes comparing the two. It is within this reality that my life has evolved, as a kid who grew up and studied in Western New York until the age of 23, and now living, studying, and working within the New York City region for the past four years.

I was recently listening to the radio on my way to work–stuck in traffic, pondering why I hadn’t taken that earlier exit as Google Maps suggested–when I heard an interesting news report. The topic was on the relationship between upstate lawmakers and New York City’s rental laws and regulations (you can hear the short story yourself here: www.wnyc. org/story/campaign-donations-upstate-legislators-your-rent). Kind of a random topic, I know, but something came up that shocked me quite a bit and I believe a good people of Western New York deserve to know the truth about their state representative.

Essentially, New York State Senator Cathy Young appears to be bought by the moneyed property interests of New York City. Large amounts of money has flowed to her campaigns from New York City property companies, representing some of the richest and most powerful landlords in the entire country. You may ask, why would they care about donating large sums of cash to Senator Cathy Young? Well, two reasons are obvious: 1) she sits on a very influential Housing, Construction and Community Development committee within the New York State Senate and 2) she has proven very reliable in representing the interests of New York City’s rich property owners.

From the work of good journalists, we know that tens of thousands of New York City dollars started flowing to Senator Young as soon as she began sitting on the influential Housing, Construction and Community Development committee. Soon after, Senator Young introduced numerous bills to weaken rent laws related to the rights that renters have, especially in New York City. In one perfectly ridiculous example, Senator Young actually introduced and pushed hard for a bill that specifically targeted one building in Manhattan, in which tenants had recently won court cases.

This bill failed in the Assembly, but it is incredibly obvious what Senator Young was trying to do in this instance. She was trying to use the law of the state to target specific renters–who had used the courts to defend their rights–and protect the interests of rich property owners.

Now, why should Western New York voters care about this random news article about a far-away cosmopolitan city? Well, it says a lot about the integrity and interests of Senator Young.

It says a lot about her ability to resist the influence of money and powerful interests from New York City. It says that she does not necessarily concern herself with the interests and problems of her own constituents, as much as she does with her own political and financial fortunes.

I would suggest that voters pay attention to this New York State Senator and remember this story. It could be very useful information when making decisions in coming elections.

Mark Pelham, a Frewsburg native, now lives in Madison, N.J.