Hundreds of New Yorkers are bracing for their pink slips right before the holidays at the same time the signature jobs program of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being audited by the state comptroller.
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced last week he is auditing Cuomo’s Start-Up New York program and its use of taxpayer funds.
"We're looking at the contract, The contract to provide those services, were the terms adhered to, first and foremost, and can we get some sense about what the return was for that money being spent?" DiNapoli said. "So stay tuned. Our auditors are very smart, and they're going to take a look at it."
The governor introduced Start-Up NY in 2013 to entice businesses to create jobs in the Empire State. Cuomo’s economic development program offers companies a 10-year tax break as a carrot.
If the purpose of the campaign was to lure businesses from other states, it is unclear why 50 percent of the advertising budget was spent on in-state ads, as the New York Times reported.
The governor claims that the program has created more than 2,000 jobs. However, a review of recent WARN notices by the Washington Free Beacon show several thousand jobs lost in the past six weeks alone. From Oct. 23 through today, new and amended WARN notices show more than two dozen companies have announced job losses and plant closings.
Beverage distributor Windmill will close its Brooklyn-based operations on Jan. 31, and 577 workers will lose their jobs. An additional 159 workers at its Montgomery plant will also be laid off.
Penguin Random House will begin laying off 286 workers between January and September of 2015. The company is consolidating its operations and closing its Broome County location.
According to its WARN notice, the Shorefront Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care will be closing in Brooklyn this week, and 482 workers will be affected. However, a spokeswoman for the nursing home said the facility is being sold to a new owner, and not closing. "Presumably," the spokeswoman said, the new owners will be rehiring some if not all of the workers. Whether that occurs or not is up to the new owners. The expected sale date is Dec. 11.
Another company, Forest Laboratories, announced 105 of its Long Island workers will be laid off. Details of layoffs at an additional seven cities throughout New York have yet to be announced. Forest Laboratories was purchased by Actavis, and its notice states, "relocation of most of its operations to New Jersey."
The New York GOP claims the Start-Up NY program and the more than $100 million spent were little more than an ad campaign for the governor.
"This will be a real test for Comptroller DiNapoli. If he’s serious about this audit and not just playing political games, this investigation will reveal what most New Yorkers already know: Start-Up NY is a thinly-veiled, taxpayer-funded ad campaign for Andrew Cuomo," said David Laska, director of communications for the New York Republican State Committee.
Technology executives have also criticized the governor’s program, calling it "too slow and complex to be useful."
Cuomo’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
The governor’s office has indicated the program has attracted 46 companies, creating more than 2,000 jobs. However, the governor’s numbers include companies that moved within the state to a Start Up New York zone to take advantage of the tax breaks.
"The problem with Start-Up NY is that only a select few businesses qualify for only a select few tax exemptions for only a select number of years. As for everyone else? They're still stuck in the most taxed, most regulated, least economically free, least business-friendly state in America," said Laska.
Critics of the program suggested there are easier ways to boost jobs in the state.
"Andrew Cuomo’s New York is the most taxed, most regulated state in America. If Cuomo cared about preserving jobs other than his own, he would promote serious tax and regulatory reform and permit the development of New York’s natural gas resources: safely regulated hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania has supported the creation of a quarter of a million new jobs," said Laska.
UPDATE 12:52 P.M.: A previous version of this article said the Shore Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care in Brooklyn was closing. The spokeswoman for the nursing home informed the Free Beacon following publication that the center is actually being sold to a new owner.