Press Releases

Today’s news about criminal charges against five current and former MTA employees for alleged overtime fraud is a reminder that New Yorkers deserve to know how government spends every dollar. Read More

New York’s special education system has ballooned to cover almost a fifth of public school K-12 students and special education accounts for about a quarter of all K-12 costs, all while producing middling results for Read More

Public officials are negotiating with unions in secret and ratifying far-reaching contracts without adequate public input, the Empire Center today warned in a new report, . Read More

More than three-quarters of last year’s retirees from the City of New York’s Fire Department (FDNY) were eligible for six-figure pensions, with 40 of them eligible for pensions over $200,000 according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

The Empire Center today filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Health (DOH) after DOH refused to release records showing the full count of coronavirus deaths among nursing home residents, including those that occurred after patients were transferred to hospitals. Read More

Despite a fiscal crisis that led Governor Cuomo to withhold aid payments for school districts and local governments, the Cuomo administration since spring has approved more than $46 million in new pork-barrel capital grants. Read More

Most of the newest retirees eligible for pensions over $100,000 from the New York State and Local Retirement System were retired police officers, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More

The Empire Center for Public Policy today announced its lawsuit against the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) for refusing to disclose a study DOT claims justified forcing bidders to sign a deal with sp Read More

A combination of state laws makes it harder for elected officials to discipline not only police officers but virtually all categories of public employees, according to a report issued today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More

The Empire Center for Public Policy today filed a lawsuit to force the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to disclose payroll records for MTA police officers that it withheld in violation of the state’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). Read More

Employee overtime at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) decreased by more than $100 million last year, according to payroll data posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. But while the $1.24 billion in overtime was 8 percent below the 2018 record level of $1.35 billion, it was still 46 percent higher than in 2014. Read More

Payroll for Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) in calendar year 2019 increased by more than $150 million, according to data released today on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website. Read More