Twenty-eight counties in New York State lie above the Marcellus Shale. Unlike our neighbors to the south, New York has yet to directly benefit from hydraulic fracturing of natural gas. The state of NY has a moratorium on fracking which suspends natural gas drilling in the state until safety and environmental impacts are more thoroughly understood. Likewise, several towns used zoning ordinances to ban fracking as well.
A debate which has been the topic of public controversy has once again surfaced here in NY after a much awaited decision last month by Governor Andrew Cuomo. In conjunction with various officials including New York’s Health Commissioner, recommendations have been made that the potential health and environmental impacts are not yet fully understood due to lack of studies regarding the long-term safety of hydraulic fracturing. It is suggested that the possible impacts are too great to allow fracking to proceed in the state at this time. A supplemental environmental impact statement will be issued next year, however at this time New York State has banned fracking permanently.
Please see the following article for more about this topic: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/17/cuomo-fracking-new-york-state_n_6341292.html