Complete report in PDF format
CONTACT: Tim Hoefer
(518) 434-3100
Complete payrolls for four school districts, updated teacher union and school superintendent contracts, and a new interactive user forum have been added today to SeeThroughNY.net, the government transparency website sponsored by the Empire Center for Public Policy.
The site’s searchable public payroll database–featuring names, titles and salaries of more than 800,000 government employees–now includes the 2008 payrolls of the Central Islip, East Islip, Nyack and Syracuse school districts. Additional school district payrolls will be added to the SeeThroughNY database soon, according to Tim Hoefer, the Empire Center’s communication director and coordinator of the transparency website.
Today’s updates also include newly negotiated contracts for 158 teacher unions and 126 superintendents throughout New York. Contacts for every school and BOCES district in the state can be downloaded from the SeeThroughNY website. Also included in today’s ”Version 2.0” launch is the SeeThroughNY Forum, a social networking tool that enables users to share, analyze and compare data from counties, cities, town, villages, school districts and public authorities throughout New York.
“This forum will provide the taxpayer, public employee, student and public official an avenue to voice their opinions and observations,” Hoefer said. “The discussions on this forum will help set the direction of New York’s governments fiscal policies moving forward.”
SeeThroughNY also provides searchable payroll databases for the New York State and New York City governments and for 19 state public authorities, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Also posted are legislative member items, operations spending by members of the Legislature, and a benchmarking tool allowing users to search, analyze and compare expenditure data from local governments. The website has attracted more than 875,000 unique visitors, who have downloaded more than 3.5 million pages of information, since it was launched on July 31, 2008.
The Albany-based Empire Center is a non-partisan, independent think tank.
You may also like
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
34 MTA Workers Made $200K+ In Overtime In 2025
Thirty-four employees of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) received more than $200,000 in overtime payments in 2025, as total annual pay surpassed half a million dollars for some, according to , the Empire Center’s governm Read More
Over Five Years Later, Arbeeny Family Support Still Critical to Promoting Government Transparency
Albany, NY — The Arbeeny family and the Empire Center are marking five years of partnership in remembrance of Norman Arbeeny, who passed away six years ago today after contracting COVID-19 in a Brooklyn nursing home.
To honor Nor Read More
Empire Center Breaks Down Albany’s Pork Barrel Spending
Albany legislators steered over $83 million in grants to 293 local projects between April and December 2025 , according to under a Freedom of Information Law request.
The governor and state legislators hand-picked the grantees for mor Read More
SeeThroughNY updated with latest union contracts
New York’s of state and local government union contracts has been updated with the latest collective bargaining agreements for local teachers, police, firefighters, libraries, and public authorities.
Among the on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center Read More
Five Retired New York Educators Collect Over $300k In Pensions
As state lawmakers consider enhancing retirement benefits for government workers, fresh data from the Empire Center confirm that existing pensions are generous compared to national norms. Read More
New York’s Education Shows Improvement, but Questions Remain
In the effort to improve transparency and accountability of New York’s education system, the Empire Center has sys Read More
Average Pay at Port Authority Surges as 11 Employees Collect $400k+
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