Tag: Economy

Nov 3

2025

Our risky casino economy

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An op-ed in The New York Times (gift link) makes a case that the U.S. economy emerging under Donald Trump is akin to a casino, replete with all the risks that go with it. He has ushered in … a casino economy, built on speculation and risk. Across markets and policy, wagers on the future are being made with other people’s money at a cost that could prove catastrophic. This economy is largely defined by froth. What was once a fluke has become the operating system of modern markets: like stock prices largely driven by sentiment rather than fundamentals (recall[...]

Posted 3 weeks ago

May 20

2025

Local DAs don’t prosecute wage theft cases

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Wage theft — the practice of an employer withholding pay or benefits from a worker — has been considered a felony crime in New York since September 2023. Yet in the 20 months since, not a single prosecutor in the eight counties of Western New York has brought a single case under the statute. It’s not for a lack of offenders. Data from state and federal labor investigators shows that at least a dozen cases have met the $1,000 threshold of felony larceny since the law changed. Cases from October, November and December 2023 show eight employers were found to[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Apr 17

2025

IDAs responsible for millions in tax breaks, fees

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Meetings of the Erie and Niagara county IDAs (top) and the Genesee County IDA industrial park (bottom). Across Western New York last year, some 639 companies were allowed to skip out on $91 million in tax payments. In exchange, those companies kept nearly 18,000 people employed.  The story doesn’t end there. The companies also paid fees to the industrial development agencies that issued those tax breaks — nearly $22 million in 2024. For nine of the 13 IDAs in the region, those fees covered 75 percent or more of their annual budgets. Those figures are spelled out in the annual[...]

Posted 7 months ago

Apr 8

2025

Tesla spends taxpayer ‘slush fund’ on new cafeteria

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When Tesla employees show up to work nowadays in South Buffalo, a cafeteria serving breakfast, lunch and dinner — along with snacks and coffee — awaits. But there’s no such thing as a free lunch: Tesla employees must pay for the meals, which include salads, pasta, pizza and sandwiches. The other catch? New York State taxpayers have footed the bill for the eatery, which cost $1.6 million to build. Records obtained by Investigative Post show the electric vehicle maker continues to spend taxpayer dollars each year on the factory, which the state spent $959 million to build and equip. The[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Mar 25

2025

Wage theft widespread in Western New York

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The theft of employee wages is widespread across Western New York, data from state and federal labor departments show. State and federal labor investigators found some 1,900 regional employers withheld $17.1 million in pay and benefits from 23,613 workers over the past decade.  That’s an average of $3,066 per affected worker, according to data collected by Documented and analyzed by Investigative Post. Some employers were found to owe a handful of employees large amounts — more than $40,000 in some cases — while others were found to owe many workers small amounts. The median worker was returned $500 due to[...]

Posted 8 months ago

Jan 23

2025

Subsidized ‘Falls restaurateur accused of wage theft

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A Niagara Falls business owner who is seeking a second round of tax breaks for his growing portfolio of fast food restaurants cheats workers out of wages and tips, nine current and former employees have told Investigative Post.  Muhammad Shoaib, who owns 10 fast food restaurants — including the Moe’s Southwest Grill, A&W Restaurant and Papa Johns Pizza in Niagara Falls — frequently fails to pay hourly employees overtime and managers the weekly minimum salary set in state law, six current and former employees said. Six employees also alleged that Shoaib has withheld thousands of dollars in credit card tips[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Dec 6

2024

State board doubles down on secrecy

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Union protestors look on at the former Wood & Brooks piano factory in Tonawanda. Photo by Garrett Looker. For more than a year, a state board created to determine whether highly subsidized development projects must pay prevailing wages has operated in secrecy. Since May, Investigative Post has pressed the Public Subsidy Board for records detailing its decisions, including on two Western New York projects. In response, the board has dug in its heels. A hearing officer for the state Department of Labor, under whose umbrella the subsidy board operates, issued a ruling last month upholding the agency’s denial of records[...]

Posted 12 months ago

Jul 31

2024

Rural IDA leader highest paid in New York

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Steven G. Hyde retires effective Aug. 1. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel. When he steps aside tomorrow, Steven G. Hyde — a Genesee County official — will retire as the highest-paid economic development leader in the public sector in New York. His $274,898 salary as president and CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center was nearly $25,000 more than Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2023 salary. It was also more than every other industrial development agency leader in the state. To wit: His counterpart in New York City earned $243,500 in 2023. His counterpart in Erie County made $205,000. His counterparts at[...]

Posted 1 year ago
Investigative Post