Waste of the Day: Nothing Funny About Cuomo’s Spending
Topline: New York City residents might find the current mayoral race, which currently features former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and current Mayor Eric Adams — two officials with allegations of sexual harassment and corruption in their pasts, respectively — to be something of a joke.
History shows Cuomo is no stranger to laughter. He invested $16.6 million of state funds into the National Comedy Center in Jamestown before it opened in 2018, in a move the National Review’s opinions section called “a wacky scheme that could have been devised by Seinfeld’s buddy Kramer.” The money would be worth $21.8 million today.
Key facts: The museum’s state funding came from a $4.7 million grant, $6.7 million of tax breaks and more than $5 million from the Buffalo Billion program, which uses a combination of both. The U.S. Department of Commerce helped out with another $1.7 million grant.
The New York Times reported that Cuomo expected “scores of jobs” and “millions of dollars” for Jamestown’s economy after the museum opened. Investors said that the museum would turn a profit if it attracted 114,000 visitors per year. In its first 16 months of operation, only 66,000 people visited.
The National Review griped that “the governor’s economic policy is a running joke,” arguing the museum would be better suited for a large city than the “empty storefronts and underused buildings” of Lucille Ball’s hometown. Jamestown’s population at the time was just 31,000.
The National Comedy Center was later featured in Reader’s Digest’s list of 11 Bizarre Things the U.S. Government Actually Spent Money On, with the museum’s holograms of dead comedians a particular point of focus. Americans for Prosperity included it in a list of Five Outrageous Ways the Federal Government Has Wasted Your Money.
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Summary: Outrage and disappointment are perfectly valid reactions to the crazy ways the government spends its money. But sometimes, all you can do is laugh.
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