Overtime Abuse at the MTA Persists Costing Taxpayers Millions

It appears that not much has changed at the MTA in regard to overtime abuse and mismanagement, at least in the case of the Signal Construction Unit at the Metro North Hudson and Harlem line, according to a forensic audit conducted by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and released earlier this month.

The $450 Million Price Tag for Riker’s Island Project – Is it Criminal?

Construction costs for new housing in New York City remain the highest in the nation–and that includes inmate housing on Riker’s Island which is paid for with taxpayer dollars.

The estimated cost of a 1,500-bed detention center on Riker’s Island, as stated in the Request for Proposal, is $450 million. This translates into $300,000 per bed, substantially higher than other areas of the country. In South Carolina, for instance, a new 1,500 bed prison facility would cost approximately $73,000 per bed for a total cost $109.5 million if constructed this fiscal year, according to Sharon E. Scott, Manager for Architectural/Engineering Services at the Department of Corrections in South Carolina.

Taxpayers As Captive Shareholders of America

Every American taxpayer is a captive shareholder in the United States of America with nowhere to run, financially speaking, to escape decades of flawed policies, mismanagement of our taxpayer dollars and questionable ethics in many facets of society, including the government sector. If we were shareholders in a publicly-traded company and disapproved of management’s handling of the business, we would either sell our shares or become activists to bring about change for the better. It appears that the latter is the only option open to those of us who care deeply about America.