Earlier today, Governor Andrew Cuomo gave his annual “State of the State” speech where he presented a broad plan to transform the state through various legislative measures and executive actions. Once such action that Mr. Cuomo seemed particularly pleased with was his plan for a new whitewater rafting challenge in the Upstate Adirondacks.

“I believe if they see Upstate New York, they will come back, but we need to make that happen,” Mr. Cuomo said of the region’s tourism capability. “For example, New York has some of the best whitewater rafting in the nation, I bet you maybe that you didn’t even know that. So this year, we’re going to sponsor a national rafting competition called, ‘The Adirondack Challenge.’”

While Mr. Cuomo didn’t elaborate on the event’s specifics, he did proceed to jokingly promise Albany’s legislative leaders will be getting in on the rafting action.

“We are going to have a special part of the Adirondack competition, which can be between government officials,” he continued. “And we’re going to start a politician division, actually. We’re going to have a set of rules that were very carefully drafted and reviewed by [the state's] counsel.” Read More