Press Releases

ALBANY, N.Y. — New Yorkers gave the state’s education system a sweeping vote of no confidence: 47 percent said the state should improve student performance, 41 percent said it should improve performance while spending less, and o Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ALBANY, N.Y. — Empire Center’s shows New York households paid the third-highest residential electricity prices in the country in May 2026, trailing only Hawaii and California. The latest U.S. Energy Information Admin Read More

Twenty Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) employees collected more than $400,000 each in total pay last year, while average pay agencywide rose three percent, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Th Read More

The pension plan covering most New York city government agencies, including the City’s subway system, had 62 members with pension payments of at least $200,000 last year, according to , the Empire Center’s transparency website. According to Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ALBANY, N.Y. — New Yorkers across political, geographic, age, and income groups oppose energy and climate policies that raise energy prices or force changes on homeowners, according to new Empire Center ana Read More

New York households are paying the fourth-highest electricity prices in the country, according to the Empire Center's In April 2026, residential electricity prices in New York averaged 29.45 cents per kilowatt-hour - 56 percent above the national av Read More

Fourteen retired New York City educators received more than $500,000 in pension benefits in 2025, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website. The data was obtained from the New York City Teachers’ Retir Read More

The Empire Center's Bill Hammond today submitted written testimony for a congressional hearing on healthcare fraud. Hammond's testimony to the focuses on evidence of overuse a Read More

Thirty-four employees of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) received more than $200,000 in overtime payments in 2025, as total annual pay surpassed half a million dollars for some, according to , the Empire Center’s go Read More

We like to associate the law with justice—protecting the innocent and punishing the wrongdoers. But sometimes our laws punish the innocent and protect the wrongdoers instead. Dutchess County mom Vika Shock learned this the hard way. In Novemb Read More

Executive Summary New York’s Litigation Environment In a wide range of areas, New York law subjects residents and businesses to greater liability than other states. Consider, for example, that: Unlike most other states, New Y Read More

Recent data from the Energy Information Administration and Empire Center for Public Policy show New York’s average residential electricity prices at 29.99 cents per kilowatt hour. This is 70 percent higher than the U.S. average of 17.6 cents per ki Read More