Misuse tax dollars? Falsify public records? Take kickbacks for votes and influence? You may go to jail, but you probably won't lose your taxpayer-funded pension, thanks to a loophole in a recent state law. Read More
Category: Media Coverage
In the end-of-session crush of last-minute actions, the Legislature quietly passed a bill that would make disciplinary procedures involving all police agencies, including the NYPD, subject to contract negotiations. Read More
Municipalities are grappling with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's challenge to consolidate and collaborate in order to garner the property tax rebates for their citizens included in the 2014-15 state budget. Sharing services looks to be the path forward, because taxpayers time and again reject mergers. Read More
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to give state workers an hour off to watch the U.S. play Germany in Thursday's World Cup match drew cries of foul from a constituency that's every bit as passionate as soccer fans: public employees. Read More
One in seven of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 71,837 employees took home more than $100,000 last year, according to the Empire Center. "A lot of people make a lot of money at the MTA," said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the think tank that routinely posts public payroll records online. Read More
The seven unions that staff the Long Island Rail Road may delay their threatened strike from July ’til September. Though it’s gracious of the unions to pretend to care about ruining Long Island’s tourist season, there’s no justification for any strike. Gov. Cuomo shouldn’t bow to election-season extortion: Standing firm could help him with voters in New York and nationwide. Read More
The Long Island Rail Road workers threatening to go on strike this year make livings that most New Yorkers can only envy. The average LIRR employee made $83,794 in 2013 — 62% higher than the city’s median household income — and more than a quarter of them boasted incomes north of $100,000, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
Nearly 10,500 MTA employees were on the six-figure-salary gravy train last year. More than 14%, or one out of every seven, MTA employees was paid at least $100,000 in 2013, a new report by the Empire Center for New York State Policy found. Read More