(The Center Square) — New York State lawmakers steered tens of millions of dollars in pork barrel spending to pet projects last year, according to a new report by a fiscal watchdog.
The analysis by the Empire Center for Public Policy, released Monday, found that Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders distributed more than $83 million in non-competitive grants to nearly 300 projects in local governments and quasi-governmental agencies between April and December 2025.
The report’s authors said more than $72 million of the new spending came from a state “slush fund” that allows lawmakers and the governor to handpick grant recipients.
“The so-called pork-barrel grants are not awarded on a competitive or transparent basis, and most get disbursed outside the normal budget process, meaning state lawmakers never vote on the individual recipients,” they wrote.
The grants are distributed from the State and Municipal Facilities Program, a fund created in 2013 that allows the governor and lawmakers to direct money borrowed by the state Dormitory Authority to local pet projects.
Last year, New York County — which includes the five boroughs of Manhattan — received the largest grant amount, or about $17 million for 30 grants, according to the report.
That includes $2.3 million for the New York City Housing Authority for the “CCTV security cameras and related equipment” and $2.2 million to Pace University for a health lab secured by Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, according to the report.
Rockland County received 24 grants totaling more than $5.7 million, while Suffolk County received 19 grants totaling more than $2.9 million. Nassau County got $5.4 million, or 20 grants, from the program.
The largest grant during this period was a $3 million award to Brooklyn Public Library for the “purchase and installation of an HVAC system and renovations to the Flatlands Branch”. This comes in the face of a $380 million system-wide maintenance backlog that the Brooklyn library system reported in 2024.
The New York City Board of Education was the recipient of the largest number of grants during this period, receiving $5.5 million for 23 projects, the report noted. Those projects include a $650,000 grant for rooftop renovation at The Parkside School; a $500,000 grant for renovation of Athletic Field at Bayside High School; and a $500,000 grant for renovation of culinary and Activities of Daily Living rooms at PS 177Q, according to the report.
Among other top agencies, the Brooklyn Public Library received a total of $4.4 million for five grants, while the New York City Parks and Recreation received $3.1 million for nine grants.
The pork barrel spending comes as New York state faces a growing structural budget deficit, with the Division of the Budget projecting a cumulative three-year gap of $34.3 billion through fiscal year 2029.
The budget gaps are being driven largely by rising Medicaid costs, expenses for services for asylum seekers, and sluggish revenue growth, according to a recent report by New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapolil, who said the deficit threatens to reduce state reserves by $7.5 billion.
