My choice would be Mt Sabattis in Long Lake, NY. Growing up, I'd visit a friend living in Long Lake and we'd spend evenings playing hockey at the rec area and using headlamps to ski the former rope tow served ski-turned-mountain-bike trail.

There's obviously complications; two in particular. First of the two being the power lines that lop off the original 280' of descent. The second being that while some of the land is owned by Long Lake, some of it is NYS land. Being in the Adirondack Park, it would be extremely difficult to expand terrain legally. However, this is dreamland, so we're going to ignore those two.

Why is Sabattis my ideal spot? Here's some reasons:
-A near perfect north facing bowl from its 2820' northern peak
-1160' of continuous vertical drop - good for 6th in New York (with Plattekill, Bristol just a couple dozen feet behind)
-A near dead zone of ski areas (Gore, Whiteface are both 50 minutes or more away)
-Would bring new economic strength to the Tri-Lakes Area that is desperate for it
-Provide a larger continuous vertical drop than nearby Big Tupper, which at this point is unlikely to reopen
-Getting a consistent 120' or so of snow per year; and more at the summit - quite high for New York State
-Would be the coldest 500'+ drop ski area in New York when considering base elevation, slope aspect and lattitude - not only good for snowmaking but also holding snowpack (and would rank 8th in the Northeast behind Saddleback, Jay, SL, Pico, Cannon, Big Moose and Waterville)
-Offer beautiful views of Long Lake; water views being unique to the Northeast outside of Sunapee and a couple others.
-Super varied terrain. Plenty of mellow sections of the mountain for beginners, plenty of intermediate slope as well as sections on the western side of the bowl funneling to the current recreation area that are equivalent to parts of the Rumor at Gore (~roughly~ 425' horizontal/200' vertical)

BUT most importantly, and uniquely - Mt Sabattis is in downtown Long Lake, something no ski area of its potential size can claim in the Northeast. The land adjacent to the road where the former 280' vertical drop trails is owned by the town, not the state. It's already there. The singularity alone of this should be enough to spur the initial visitation numbers required to remain afloat while development in the area would eventually catch up (again, this is dreamworld. We all know in reality, the Tri Lakes Region and the Adirondack Park is not an easy place for development).

What would it look like? Well, to confront reality slightly, it would be a 2 chair (or 1T 1C) operation. The first lift would take you up the bottom 280' north of the power lines, with the second ascending from south of the power lines the to the north peak of Sabattis up the remaining 880' vertical feet. Who runs this mountain? Is it Long Lake? ORDA? Private owners? A co-op? I don't particular care! As long as it's executed right with Long Lake succeeding, this would be my ideal area.

What do you think about this? What different area would you re-open?