[Ianworld]

Not to be opposed to what looks like could be a great organization but I think there is a large divide between the New York City teams and the teams outside the city. Every year the NYC regional is dominated by basically just NYC teams. This is due in part to the size of the regional in relation to the number of NYC teams (33 open slots for about 30 NYC teams) and fact that many NYC schools aren't as well funded or as well equipped as non-city teams. My school is lucky in that we have a real machine shop to work in, not a large one but its all we need. Many teams in NYC don't even have the resources of a drill press or a band saw. Along those lines the majority of NYC teams never get a chance to participate in a regional outside of NYC. The world of FIRST to many of these teams is quite small and local. So while I support the creation of such an organization as NY FIRST I think it would be more beneficial for the teams in NYC to band together in a similar organization albeit on the scale of just the city. The logistics of such an organization of course needs to be spearheaded by a team and it wouldn't be an easy task.

That being said 694 has had the chances and the resources to attend many regionals outside of NYC and attend the nationals multiple times. The scope of our FIRST world is such that an organization that affects NY teams outside the city would affect us. Joining an organization such as this in our case would make sense.

Just trying to shed some light on the nature of FIRST in New York City.