Press Releases

Twenty-three percent of public school teachers and administrators in New York school districts outside New York City were paid more than $100,000 during the 2016-17 school year, according to data added today to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

Abigail Salvatore has joined the Empire Center for Public Policy as communications director, Tim Hoefer, the Center’s executive director, today announced. Read More

A billion-dollar state program to reimburse hospital charity care is having a reverse Robin Hood effect, shortchanging hospitals that serve poorer patients to the benefit of those that serve more affluent populations, according to a new analysis by Empire Center health policy director Bill Hammond. Read More

A Ramapo town police officer who collected nearly $442,000 was New York State’s highest paid local government employee outside New York City during the 12 months ending March 31, according to the 2017 edition of “What They Make,” the Empire Center annual analysis of local government pay. Read More

In the original version of a news release yesterday summarizing the latest state legislative expenditure data posted at SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center reported that the Assembly had “prematurely” begun paying salaries to three members chosen in the 2016 general election to fill seats vacated before those elections, after having similarly begun payments to members elected to already vacated seats in the 2014 general election. Read More

Three members of the state Assembly were added to the state payroll after their November 2016 elections, allowing them to collect almost $17,000 in extra pay, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

The state should halt new technology funding grants under the 2014 Smart Schools bond act, and revise and “reboot” the program guidelines before resuming, according to a released today by the Empire Center. Read More

Nearly two-thirds (264) of the 420 firefighters and fire officers who retired from the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) during 2016 are eligible to collect pensions of at least $100,000, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

More than 300 New York City government employees more than doubled their pay with overtime during the city’s 2017 fiscal year, according to the latest payroll data added to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

The number of retirees receiving pensions over $100,000 from the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) continued to increase during the system’s 2017 fiscal year, according to data uploaded today to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. A total of 3,817 retirees collected pensions over $100,000 during the fiscal year ending March 31. Read More

Former Assembly member Richard Brodsky and the Empire Center’s E.J. McMahon have sent a joint letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo, legislative leaders and the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), urging the state to redirect up to $4 billion in unspent financial penalty settlement funds to help finance desperately needed subway repairs as well as highway and bridge work. Read More

A $500,000 grant to support a solar-powered carousel in Buffalo—raising that project’s total taxpayer subsidy to more than $1 million—was among the 1,782 local pork barrel projects awarded grants by state lawmakers in the final hours of their 2017 regular session. Read More