Empire State Games Winter Session Still On

According to the Associated Press, local officials in upstate New York say the Empire State Games are back on for the winter.

Community leaders in Lake Placid, the home of the Games, added necessary pressure to have the Games reinstated for that portion of the year. The summer games, scheduled to be held in Rochester, are still cancelled. 

The Games were cancelled Wednesday because of financial constraints at the state level.



The Associated Press said Lake Placid village Mayor Craig Randall and local leaders rallied to keep the winter event going and it will be held from Feb. 25 to 27 at Olympic Regional Development Authority venues.

Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau President Jim McKenna also told the Associated press Thursday they're confident of raising enough money from business sponsorships across the state to support the contests. The state Division of the Budget estimated that the event will cost $150,000 in taxpayer dollars. 

Thursday, New York State Gov. David Paterson spoke about the cancellation of the summer games.

"It's sad. We had to do this two years ago and it's sad that we're going to have to do it now," Paterson said on LoHud.com. "When you get to this level of deep cutting where we're now laying off workers and where we're now cutting into the 43rd and 44th billion dollar of reductions that we started making since I became governor, you're going to unfortunately see some very needed services and activities go by the boards."