Reports

As the largest commuter railroad in the nation, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is making a steady recovery from the pandemic with growing ridership, increased service routes into the Grand Central Madison terminal and on-time performance in 2023 that was better than in 2019. Still, the LIRR had 31% more delays from train car problems last year than in 2019, showing there are still areas that can improve, such as increasing preventative maintenance of older train cars.

Small businesses with fewer than five employees grew over 10% in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic. Very small businesses were a key source of new economic activity during the first half of the pandemic in the city, as they accounted for more than 71% of all businesses citywide. This report details the growth in New York City’s small businesses, the industries that were most affected, and the areas, Brooklyn and the Bronx, that saw the highest increases.

With the loss of $15 billion in congestion pricing revenue, the MTA has to reprioritize its 2020-2024 Capital Program. This report identifies over $21 billion in projects that potentially relied on congestion pricing revenue and are under review and suggests the Authority prioritize keeping the system in a state of good repair.

The North Shore, for many the gateway to Staten Island, has led the borough in population growth since 2010. The North Shore is located just north of the Staten Island Expressway and serves as an important freight and commuting hub. The area accounts for more than one third of the Staten Island population and its residents tend to be younger and more racially diverse than in other parts of the borough.

Higher-than-projected revenue and cost-saving initiatives have helped New York City’s fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget generate a projected year-end surplus of $3.9 billion that will be used to prepay expenses for the next fiscal year, helping the City balance its FY 2025 executive budget. While some of the fiscal challenges facing the City are not in its direct control, including the continued influx of asylum seekers, preparation and transparency remain paramount to navigating future uncertainty. Ultimately, future economic growth in the City, and thereby the State, relies on enhancing affordability and opportunity for all New Yorkers.

New York City’s tourism sector is approaching a complete recovery as visitor spending and related tax revenue have surpassed pre-pandemic levels. The City now estimates it will exceed pre-pandemic levels and welcome a record 68 million visitors by 2025. The number of visitors had reached a previous record of 66.6 million in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic devastated this thriving industry, resulting in a 66.5% decline in visitors to 22.3 million in 2020.

The MTA’s capital program for maintaining and upgrading the regional transit system faces significant delays due to potential funding shortfalls caused by the late implementation of congestion pricing. The MTA should explain how it intends to prioritize its needs so that its choices do not result in disinvestment in the system, noting that bringing riders back would be one of the most direct routes for the MTA to reduce its debt burden over the long term.

New York City’s full-time government workforce is expected to increase for the first-time year-over-year since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, high turnover and vacancy rates exist at several City agencies. The City should continue efforts to increase and expedite hiring where needed to ensure critical agencies and departments can meet demands and provide quality services to residents.

The majority of New York City’s capital projects are over their initial budgets and behind schedule, suggesting better monitoring and reporting could lead to adjustments to improve capital project delivery. Recent reforms to the City’s capital planning process have focused on improving the delivery of projects, but little detail is available in public documentation about what is fueling these cost and schedule overruns. With closer, more uniform monitoring of capital projects, the City can better identify where additional improvement is needed.

The size of New York City’s immigrant workforce was flat over nearly a decade. Through 2023, the foreign-born labor market grew 18.5% since 2015 nationally, while New York City’s declined 0.6%, according to data analyzed from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Still, in 2023, New York City’s 1.8 million foreign-born workers made up 44.3% of its total labor force, more than double the national share of 18.6%.

One Page Summary: Foreign-Born in the Workforce in NYC

The average annual Wall Street bonus dipped to $176,500 last year, a 2% decline from the previous year’s average of $180,000. Wall Street’s profits were up 1.8% in 2023, but firms have taken a more cautious approach to compensation and more employees have joined the securities industry, which accounts for the slight decline in the average bonus.

Better-than-projected revenues and planned cost savings benefited New York City’s budget outlook for Fiscal Year 2025, but outyear budget gaps remain large due to the end of federal pandemic aid and a lack of federal funding to support asylum seeker costs. Additional City funding for education and social services programs that support working-class families may be needed if those programs will be maintained at current levels in the future.  

In October 2023, the MTA issued its latest 20 Year Needs Assessment (TYNA), which provides an unrestrained view of the capital needs of the system. This report from the Comptroller’s office examines the TYNA, reviews the depth of work needed to upgrade New York’s regional transit and highlights the urgent need for the MTA to state its priorities and funding plans as early as it can.

New York City housing costs have grown more than 68% over the last decade, the largest increase of selected major metropolitan areas in the U.S. Housing affordability, which considers the incomes of households, has also worsened in New York City over the last decade, as median rent prices, in particular, grew faster than median incomes. Many New Yorkers may continue to be priced out of their preferred neighborhoods without a substantial increase in the supply of affordable housing units for low- and moderate-income households.

New York City faces spending risks that could increase its budget gaps for Fiscal Years 2025 through 2027 to an average of $12.6 billion annually, fueled by spending choices made during the pandemic, underbudgeting for recurring spending, and significant costs associated with the influx of asylum seekers into the five boroughs. While many of the fiscal challenges facing the City are not in its direct control, preparation and transparency remain paramount to navigating this uncertainty.

Population shifts during and after the COVID-19 pandemic are changing the face of New York City. In the wake of the pandemic, the City’s populace is overall older and wealthier, with a rebounding population of international migrants and declining shares of White and Black New Yorkers. The cost of living also rose as the pandemic subsided, making the City increasingly more expensive for lower income New Yorkers, who left in greater numbers in 2022.

This report examines PIT filings for the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 and follows up on DiNapoli’s May 2022 report that looked at pre-pandemic taxpayer migration trends.

The Hunts Point Food Distribution Center (FDC) is the largest food distribution center in the United States. The FDC distributes approximately 4.5 billion pounds of food annually, about half of which is for New York City. Modernizing FDC is critical to hardening the food supply for 22 million people in a 50-mile radius, protecting it from climate, power or other interruptions.

The South Bronx has undergone a period of revitalization that has enabled it to thrive as a cultural hotspot within the Bronx and New York City. South Bronx residents continue to face chronic health, economic and environmental challenges, and the City is seeking to address these issues while boosting economic growth. Continued focus on community benefits and active partnership among City departments, community-based organizations, and State and federal leaders, is critical for the long-term success of the South Bronx.

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Costs for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) program to provide transportation services for people with disabilities have declined in recent years, in part due to the MTA’s move to alternative transit services that provided $102.7 million in savings in 2022. Still, some measures of customer satisfaction initially deteriorated as a result of the move to “broker services” and must be monitored to ensure quality service.