Governor Cuomo, tear down that website
Months have passed since New York state announced that it would cancel its support for the Empire State Games program.
And months have also passed since local communities and businesses in the Adirondacks rallied to save the Empire State Winter Games, which begin this weekend.
“The state of New York has said it can’t do it, but Lake Placid is saying we can do it,” said North Elba town supervisor Roby Politi.
Which is why is is outrageous that the state of New York still has a banner on its Empire State Games website declaring that the games have been cancelled.
Anyone Googling Empire State Games will find this sad, and also false, news: “The Empire State Game programs have been discontinued.”
Only down below a big block of verbiage is the announcement about “the Winter Games” that are still going on, sponsored by “the Lake Placid CVB.”
Bluntly, this is ridiculous. As Chris Morris reports this morning, the effort to salvage the Winter Games through grassroots efforts is exactly the kind of Albany-free spunk that Governor Andrew Cuomo has been calling for.
Given that they abruptly stopped writing checks — without warning, without giving us time to react and adjust — the least Albany could do is turn their Empire State Games website into a direct link that leads to the local Adirondack effort.
Better yet would be a splashy website produced by New York state congratulating local communities, celebrating the fact that the games are still alive and well, and emphasizing the continuity and tradition that is thriving in a new form.
How about a statement of respect and support from Governor Cuomo himself?
In a small way, the state’s clumsy — even insulting — website symbolizes the fears that many people have about the future.
As we’re forced to go it alone, without all those taxpayer dollars, will Albany help us, or at the very least get out of the way?
Or will state officials throw up roadblocks?
The Office of Parks can tear down this roadblock with a few small changes of computer website code.
From now on, anyone clicking on www.empirestategames.org should be sent directly to the www.empirestatewintergames.com where potential visitors will find accurate information about the event.
Tags: adirondacks, Cuomo
OK, I’ll agree, that website is ridiculous and would take about 1 minute to change. So easy, just move the 4th paragraph to the top.
But….
“Empire State Games” includes more than just the Winter event.
It’s true, the the NYS “Empire State Game” program has been cancelled. (they should just eliminate the page altogether)
Search for “empire state winter games” and I think the problem is not so bad, just need better SEO for new site.
Question: Is “Empire State Winter Games” the best name for this event?
I think “Lake Placid Winter Games” may have better marketing value in the long-run.
Maybe the Gov is trying to prove how broke the state is (except for him) by hint, hint hinting the state doesn’t have enough money to take down the web site.
Cuomo is a cyberterrorist.
One advantage to putting stuff on the web is that it *can be* constantly up-to-date. Its corollary is that when a web site owner loses interest/ the program ends/the person paid to keep it up-to-date is laid off the information will linger until the server it is on dies. Those who are left often aren’t aware or have an “It’s not my job” attitude toward these mummified sites. I know that a few files are still active from a photoweb site I had back in the ’90s via Northnet. Northnet was taken over by Westelcom who are apparently still using the old servers which still have some of the files from my dead web site. I’ve emailed Westelcom and asked that an admin remove the obsolete files. I don’t have access to do it myself since the site lapsed long ago. My email was never answered. There are also some (unauthorized) excerpts from that site on an Eastern European website that I can’t get removed. It’s like space trash. The web is littered with it. That said the state should at least trash their site but even that would get it off the search engines immediately. It takes some time for them to catch up.
Is the Lake Placid CVB paying ORDA for the use of state facilities? Are they paying the states insurance bill for those facilities for the event? It seems to me like the state is actually still pretty involved?
Hey, good job, the site is fixed! It now directs readers to the correct site. Too bad it couldn’t have been fixed some time ago!
Paul: Yes, ORDA is being paid for use of the venues; it is the largest line item in this year’s expense budget.
Kim, thanks.
“As we’re forced to go it alone, without all those taxpayer dollars, will Albany help us, or at the very least get out of the way?
Or will state officials throw up roadblocks?”
Institutions who have been used to exerting control will have a hard time giving that up. Even when they stop funding something they will still have the urge to control things.