Month: July 2016

According to the Albany-based nonprofit Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative think tank, 54 percent of Westchester County teachers and administrators were paid more than $100,000 in 2015-16, compared to nearly 50 percent in Nassau County and slightly more than 45 percent in Suffolk. “School taxes make up the biggest part of our property-tax bills, and personnel costs make up the biggest part of our school budgets,” said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center. “Taxpayers have a right to examine that spending and decide for themselves whether they’re getting their money’s worth.” Read More

"These data are the clearest proof yet that the state's hostile business climate constitutes more than just high taxes," said Ken Girardin, an analyst with the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank. "Start-Up NY has been hailed as a silver bullet and instead, it's just been a shiny object that's distracted Albany from having a serious conversation about what's necessary to make New York legitimately attractive to businesses." Read More

New Yorkers have gone from Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” to Bob Marley’s “Exodus.” Read More

It’s a New York state of decline. Read More

New York’s state legislators would like a raise, but a review of state payroll data shows that more than three-quarters of them already earn more than their frequently cited $79,500 statutory base salary. The extra pay consists of annual stipend Read More

New York’s state legislators would like a raise, but a review of state payroll data shows that more than three-quarters of them already earn more than their frequently cited $79,500 statutory base salary. Read More

The only reason many of these broader details are known is because the Empire Center filed an open records request in June seeking information as to where all the money has gone. The think tank recently posted on its website, SeeThroughNY.net, a database of the nearly 6,000 projects. Read More

Some New York hospitals are commanding far higher prices than their competitors, and market leverage – not quality or demographic factors – is the most likely explanation. Read More