Much of our attention will no doubt be focused on the same general issues that preoccupied us in 2015 — issues such as the economy, taxes, government wages and pensions, population shifts and pork barrel spending.
And so, with best wishes to all for a Happy New Year, here’s a last look back at the Empire Center’s web traffic highlights for the year just ended — including updates to our popular government transparency website, SeeThroughNY.net.
The 5 most popular EmpireCenter.org pages in 2015:
Higher Pay, Fewer Jobs – Video features and articles explaining what’s at stake for New York in the proposal to jack up the statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour.
The Empire Center’s Pension Calculator – We’ve made it simple to estimate the retirement income for a state and local government worker and to see what it would cost a private-sector worker to buy an equivalent annuity in the open market.
What They Make—2015 Edition – The Empire Center’s unique annual compendium of average pay for every county, city, town and village government in New York State.
Eleven Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) employees collected more than $400,000 each in total pay last year as average pay surged nine percent, according to 2024 payroll , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Read More
A total of 97 retirees from the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) were eligible for pensions of $200,000 or more during the 2025 fiscal year, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Among the 97 retirees Read More
UPDATE: The final version of the federal budget bill omitted a handful of provisions that had been included in earlier drafts. One would have penalized states that use their own money to provide coverage for undocumente Read More
New York politicians are extremely worried about the threat of global climate change.
Their only bigger worry is that the voters will learn what they plan to do about it.
More than one year past Albany’s self-imposed deadline to make rules for maj Read More
For all Governor Hochul’s talk about “affordability”, it seems electricity prices have not received that memo. Recent from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show New York househo Read More
Five years after the pandemic, Andrew Cuomo is still gaslighting New Yorkers about how many people died in nursing homes.
The latest example came . When challenged about his handling of COVID in nursing homes, Cuomo cited what has become his favorite Read More
Last month’s local school district votes were notable for what was missing from most ballots — propositions to purchase zero-emission school buses.
Cost may be a factor. Bethl Read More
The pension plan covering most New York City government agencies, including the City’s subway system, had 70 members with pension payments of at least $200,000 last year, almost quadrupling 2019’s tally of 19, according to new , the Read More