COVID-19 erased New York’s Employment Gains over the Past Decade

From June 2011 to June 2019, New York saw employment increase by 388,440 – 4.4%. But by June 2021, the pandemic had erased all those gains. In June, the state’s employment was lower than in 2011 – by 72,916 jobs or 0.8%. Both before the COVID pandemic and in June 2021, New York’s job performance […]

New York’s Population Increased by 823,147 between 2010 and 2020 while Upstate’s Declined

Based on the newly released 2020 Census data, New York’s population grew by 823,147 residents – 4.25% – between 2010 and 2020. The State’s performance was similar to others in its region and not far from the median growth rate for all states – 5.9%. But, more than three-quarters of the population growth took place […]

Was Cuomo’s COVID Mandate Associated with Nursing Home Deaths? A Correction

I recently wrote about the relationship between Governor Cuomo’s policy requiring nursing homes to accept new residents discharged from hospitals with positive COVID-19 test results. The policy was in place from March to early May 2020. I compared my results with those of a study by Bill Hammond and Ian Kingsbury of the Empire Center, […]

The Empire Center’s Report on Nursing Home Deaths Answers Some Questions, Raises Others

The Empire Center’s February 18th Report, “COVID-positive Admissions Were Correlated with Higher Death Rates in New York Nursing Homes” shows an association between COVID-positive admissions and death rates in nursing homes in New York State, following the State Health Department order on March 25th, 2020 requiring that they accept recovering COVID patients. The Empire Center […]

The Botched COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout: 100 Million Doses in 100 Days Isn’t Enough

The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in New York State and elsewhere has been marred by confusion and limited supplies of vaccines. In New York, the state portal does not provide an easy way for people to identify all the locations that have the vaccine, or to sign-up, other than for sites operated by the […]

Poverty in Upstate Metropolitan Areas: Myths and Realities

We live in an era in which long-held attitudes about race have been heightened by political campaigns that attempt to mobilize fears among white voters about minority group members and immigrants.  These appeals have ranged from claims that President Obama is a Muslim who was born in Kenya and claims that criminal undocumented immigrants endanger […]

New York’s Explosion of COVID Cases and a Flawed Vaccine Roll-Out

When Covid-19 first appeared in New York in March of this year, the state, like other locations, faced a novel disease against which there were few defenses. New York faced a dire situation in March – hospitals in the New York Metropolitan area were overwhelmed.  With cases and hospitalizations skyrocketing, the State imposed a lockdown, […]

COVID-19: The Harsh Tradeoffs

COVID-19 created a series of dilemmas for policymakers at the state and federal levels.  Actions that would reduce the frequency of infection involved measures that would limit personal interactions, causing the loss of jobs, while reopening the economy proved to result in higher levels of infection, hospitalizations and deaths. But, the difficult policy choices were […]

Positive COVID Tests and Hospitalizations More than Doubled In New York After September 1st

The number of COVID-19 positive tests and hospitalizations in New York State has sharply increased since September 1st.  The number of daily positive tests identified on October 28th was 1,739, compared with 677 on September 1st – an increase of 157%.  Current hospitalizations increased from 457 to 1,042 during the same period – an increase […]

New York State Gave $2.6 Million to Build a Food Greenhouse that Pays One Dollar Above the Minimum Wage

In April of this year, Green Empire Farms in the central New York city of Oneida became notorious as the location of more than 170 Covid-19 cases.  The facility is a massive 2.8 million square foot greenhouse where vegetables and fruit, including strawberries and cucumbers, are produced.  County health officials believe that the outbreak occurred […]