ec-2015-7348199

What does 2016 have in store for New York State?

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.
  • New Yorkers Keep Heading for Exits – People are the Empire State’s leading, priceless export.
  • Albany’s Secretive Slush Fund – Our NYTorch.com blog post that blew the whistle on the evolution of the $1.1 billion State and Municipal Facilities Program.
  • 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.

The 5 most popular SeeThroughNY releases in 2015:

You may also like

Empire Center Poll: New Yorkers Prioritize Low Energy Prices and Have Little Appetite for Radical Climate Policies

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 analysis Read More

Opinion Poll – Energy

Executive Summary New York voters prioritize affordable energy and show limited support for energy and climate policies that could increase costs. The survey finds broad opposition to home-heating electrification and climate-related lawsuits aga Read More

The Attorney General’s MFCU SNAFU

Attorney General Letitia James' latest fight with the Trump administration focuses on New York's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, a federally funded agency housed in James' office. On T Read More

New York’s Electricity Prices Fourth Highest in the Country

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 average Read More

Energy Data Bulletin June 2026

June 2026 Summary and Insights Electricity. In March 2026, New York's average residential electricity price was 28.55 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). New York ranked 7th highest among the states and 50 percent above the Read More

Fourteen NYC Educators Receive Over Half a Million Dollars in Pensions

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’ Retirement Read More

Healthcare Revelations in the Enacted Budget Financial Plan

The state financial plan published on June 10 disclosed key information about healthcare revenue and spending that lawmakers had not made public when approving the annual budget two weeks before. Read More

Hammond Submits CDPAP Testimony to Congress

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 and wa Read More