During Senator Obama’s lean yet spirited primary campaign in New York, a small building on 139th Street in the Bronx served as one of his seven offices in the city. Six months later, with the Democratic National Convention kicking off today, the office space is up for rent and crumpled “Obama for America” posters are collecting dust behind grates on the front wall. A peek through a broken window shows all the signs of an abandoned building, with only some stools and paint cans and a box of Champagne glasses visible.

Like its sister locations across New York, the Bronx office shut down after the primary, as official on-the-ground organizing slowed to a crawl. Still, the volunteers who staffed those offices say they hope the closures are temporary — despite the Obama campaign’s reluctance to spend money in a state where many say victory is considered almost certain.

“I hope that it reopens, because I think it’s important to have that presence in Harlem,” Governor Paterson’s sister-in-law, Eloise Paterson, who volunteered at a different Obama campaign office on Malcolm X Boulevard, said. “It would mean a lot to a lot of people.”

Year after year, candidates from both parties have paid lip service to New York, a solidly Democratic state, while focusing resources on more contested races. But a number of lawmakers and political experts say they expected more attention from the Obama campaign, which has touted a “50-state strategy” to win the election and has raised vast amounts of money in New York. Spending more resources here, they claim, could benefit both Mr. Obama and local politicians looking to dovetail with the energy of his campaign.

“I do think the activity in New York is probably not matched by what people’s expectations had been,” a Democratic political consultant in Manhattan, Basil Smikle, said. “You don’t want voters to think that now that the primary is over, you’re taking them for granted.”

In the scheme of electoral strategy, New York is first and foremost a donor state. Mr. Obama has raised about $28 million here, close to four times the amount raised by Senator McCain, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. The only state where the Illinois senator raised more money is California. He has spent roughly $2.6 million on New York, which is less than 1% of his expenditures across the country. Mr. McCain has spent even less money here, though it represents a greater proportion of his nationwide expenditures.

The New York spending figures exclude several major payments to polling companies, online advertisers, and airlines that are based in the state but appear to service nationwide campaign efforts.

Given New York’s size, expenditures here have amounted to “petty cash,” a political consultant, Joseph Mercurio, said. He said he expected Mr. Obama to spend more, but that ultimately it would not affect the outcome in New York, which he said would likely deliver its 31 electoral votes to Mr. Obama.

Another political consultant, Hank Sheinkopf, framed the issue more bluntly: “Spending time in New York for either of these two candidates is as effective as buying an igloo and putting it in Florida,” he said. “They’re appropriately not spending a lot of time here except to pick up money, which is the primary purpose in New York in a Democratic campaign.”

Based on a dozen interviews with consultants and elected officials not affiliated with either campaign, most experts agreed that significant campaign expenditures in New York would be a waste of resources. Others said there are important reasons for Mr. Obama to increase his presence in New York, even if he is likely to win it.

For example, Mr. Obama is struggling to win over Jewish voters in battleground states such as Florida. Because New York is home to one of the world’s largest Jewish populations, he would do well to establish strong connections here, Assemblyman Dov Hikind said.

“It would be a very smart thing for the Obama campaign to actually reach out and come to New York, in particular with the Jewish community,” Mr. Hikind, a Democrat of Brooklyn who is supporting Mr. McCain, said. “It could potentially have positive repercussions way beyond New York.”

Many officials said they are also hopeful that an energetic presidential campaign here could have an impact on local elections. Democrats are making a bid to take over the state Senate this year and expect that the increased turnout for the presidential race will work in their favor.

Despite the office closures and low spending levels, Mr. Obama’s supporters have not been dormant in New York. Fund-raising and voter registration drives are being held at the grassroots level.

In the meantime, the Obama campaign says it is gearing up for a renewed push here after the Democratic convention this week. Mr. Obama tapped a former co-chairman of the state Democratic Party, David Pollak, to lead his New York operations earlier this month. Mr. Pollak also pledged to open soon the first official New York office for the general election. The McCain campaign has taken some criticism for basing its regional headquarters in New Jersey.

“We want to have an active presence around the state,” Mr. Pollak said, noting that he plans to capitalize on “very indigenous and grassroots enthusiasm for Senator Obama.” He made his comments in an interview at a “Camp Obama” event in Manhattan on Saturday, where New York volunteers were trained to conduct voter outreach in battleground states.

The McCain campaign claims that Mr. Obama’s lack of focus on New York has helped create an opening for an electoral upset. Polling numbers released last week show that Mr. Obama holds an eight-point lead over Mr. McCain in New York, down from an 18-point lead in June.

“Wind is just getting in our sails in New York State, and we can feel it,” the chairman of Mr. McCain’s New York campaign, Ed Cox, said. “New York is going to be in play, and that’s going to surprise everybody.”