Research

The spectacular breakup of a wind turbine off the coast of New England is highlighting a huge risk embedded in New York State’s strategy for achieving its green energy “Net Zero” targets. Read More

Editor's note: This post is the first adapted for the Empire Center by its new adjunct fellow, Roger Caiazza, who has a long and deep private industry background in environmental regulatory analysis and compliance. His frequently Read More

[Editor's note: This post was corrected after it came to light that records supplied by the Health Department gave wrong addresses for 44 grant recipients. The statistics and tables below were updated on July 18.] Read More

In a new subsidy for the health-care union 1199 SEIU, the Hochul administration is allowing the union's benefit fund for home care aides to shift some members into taxpayer-funded health coverage through the Essential Read More

How do New York public schools spend 36 percent more per student than neighboring Massachusetts while getting inferior results? Former Massachusetts State Board of Education member Dr. Roberta Schaefer identifies key differences in education policy between the two states. Read More

A state-ordered study of New York’s pandemic response has finally appeared, and it’s shaping up as a minor disaster of its own. Read More

Gov. Kathy Hochul has taken blistering criticism for postponing congestion pricing, a long-planned $15 toll on drivers entering lower Manhattan meant to reduce traffic — and collect $15 tolls. Most of the drama may be playing out in New York City, but pay attention, upstate: you stand to lose — or win — in this fight. Read More

The outflow of New York taxpayers to the rest of the country subsided from the previous year's record high during the second tax-filing period following the March 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, according to the latest (IRS). Read More

The newly released study of New York's coronavirus pandemic response falls far short of what Governor Hochul promised – and the state urgently needs – in the aftermath of its worst natural disaster in modern histor Read More

Rebounding from its biggest loss since the Global Financial Crisis, New York's Common Retirement Fund realized a strong investment gain of 11.55 percent in fiscal year 2024, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced. The Fund, which now stands just below $268 billion, supports pensions paid to members of the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS). Read More

This is the month when New Yorkers are due to finally receive an official report on the state's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the deadliest disasters in state history. Read More

Governor Hochul is taking heat after postponing the state’s years-old plan to charge drivers to enter lower Manhattan. As critics slam her for lacking “political courage,” it’s an appropriate time to examine some of the underlying issues that congestion pricing was meant to indirectly mitigate—because many if not most advocates were afraid to touch those issues themselves. And if congestion pricing proponents are to be taken at their word about their concern for MTA finances, or traffic, or air quality, they must show some of the same courage they’ve accused the governor of lacking. Read More