The pandemic-driven decline in sales tax revenues accelerated in May, when the local share statewide was down 32 percent from last year's levels, the state comptroller's office reported today. Read More
Blog
While Governor Cuomo crawls further out on a fiscal limb, delaying threatened budget cuts in hopes of landing more federal aid, New York State is wrapping up its biggest short-term spring borrowing in 30 years. Read More
New York City’s police department has come under criticism in recent days, with some city officials saying NYPD funding should be reduced. But many of the same New York City Council members parroting calls to “defund” the NYPD were just a year ago pushing Mayor Bill de Blasio to give city cops a big pay hike. It’s a reminder that New York’s elected officials, no matter how principled, routinely don’t want to say “no” to public-sector unions. Read More
In the wake of George Floyd's death under a kneeling Minneapolis police officer, some New York State lawmakers are renewing calls for legislation designed to uncover police disciplinary records. But less than a year ago, state senators in both parties voted in favor of union-backed legislation that would make it harder to fire New York police officers credibly accused of using excessive force or other offenses. Read More
All but a few states imposed business lockdowns and "stay at home" orders in April. However, New York's private-sector job losses were well beyond the national norm—indicating the Empire State's economic recovery could lag behind the rest of the country. Read More
As if the coronavirus hadn’t done enough to disrupt education in New York, Governor Cuomo has injected even more confusion and uncertainty into the public school budgeting and board selection process across the state. Read More
It's official: the viral lockdown has been an economic catastrophe of historic proportions for New York State. Read More
New York State is deploying several thousand contact tracers, workers tasked with interviewing COVID-stricken residents and notifying the people they may have infected. But Governor Andrew Cuomo is taking a notable step that will likely make the effort faster and more efficient: he’s having someone else do the hiring. Read More
Coronavirus hospitalizations are surging in parts of upstate, including three regions that the Cuomo administration authorized to begin reopening today. Read More
A review of federal emergency payments to New York health-care providers reveals a striking disparity: Four of Manhattan's most prosperous private hospitals collected more individually than the 11 city-owned hospitals combined. Read More
New York’s statewide teachers union is exploiting a lack of direction from Governor Andrew Cuomo to force an early end to the school year. Read More
For the first time, Governor Andrew Cuomo has invoked his broad powers under a 2019 environmental law as part of his efforts to block a natural gas pipeline. Read More