Tag: Economy

Few economic development initiatives in New York State’s history have been the subject of more marketing hype than START-UP NY, which created scores of tax-free micro-zones on and near college campuses around the state. Governor Andrew Cuomo has spared no superlatives in describing his expectations for the program, backing it with a slick, $47 million advertising campaign that touted START-UP as proof that “in New York State, we’re changing the way we do business.” But the results so far haven’t come close to living up to the governor’s rhetoric. Read More

Albany politicians and policy advocates say Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Start-Up NY program is off to a slow start, based on the first report released last week, just hours after the state budget was approved. Read More

Andrew Cuomo likes a good competition. Where should the state send school aid? Let’s have a contest. Who should build new upstate casinos? Let’s have another contest. What do we do about the aging Tappan Zee Bridge? Contest. How do we redesign the region’s major airports? Contest. Read More

The new state budget has managed to unite the free-market Empire Center and the far-left Working Families Party. This meeting of the minds came over a classic move: Lawmakers slipped in a provision granting a fat tax break on sales the of private planes and luxury yachts. Read More

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's signature economic development program, Start-Up NY, has been slow to start up in the Syracuse area. Read More

Members of the Business Council of Westchester visited Albany on Wednesday as part of a lobbying effort to reform laws the council believes are hurting the state. Read More

The Southern Tier has been among the most poorly performing regions of a weak upstate New York economy over the past four years. But you sure wouldn’t know it from listening to Howard Zemsky, the Buffalo developer recently named by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to chair the Empire State Development Corp. Read More

A little-noticed section of Governor Cuomo’s State of the State “Opportunity Agenda” calls for investing another $100 million in state money in startup companies—even as federal auditors probe Innovate NY, the state’s original dalliance with venture capital (VC). Read More