Cuomo Full Of Crap Over Super Bowl Jobs

Dan Goldberg at Capital NY:

The day before the Super Bowl, Governor Andrew Cuomo sent out a press release touting the economic impacts of the big game.

It said that an estimated 1.5 million people visited Super Bowl Boulevard during four days and that spending by visitors will generate an estimated $280-300 million in economic activity in New York State. Those numbers came from Empire State Development.

The very last sentence of the press release reads: “Additionally, Super Bowl XLVIII is estimated to generate more than 2,400 full- time equivalent jobs, which will generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for New York State.”

There is no attribution for this number and repeated requests to the governor's press office asking for an explanation went unanswered.

Adding 2,400 full-time equivalent jobs would be quite a feat. Which is to say it's probably wrong. 

“That's a pretty crazy number,” said Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross. “That's almost certainly wrong.”

Matheson studied the job impact on Super Bowl host city's between 1969 and 1997 and found that, on average, the host gained 537 full-time equivalent jobs. And it's important to remember, Matheson said, studies like his looked at the “metro area” which would include New Jersey so some of those 537 jobs are outside of New York.

“2,400 is what economists would believe sports boosters would overestimate,” Matheson said.

So where did Cuomo's number come from?

Hard to know for sure, but there is a study from Conventions Sports & Leisure International, which offers consulting services to the convention, sport, entertainment and visitor industries, that said the Orange Bowl Festival would create 2,400 full-time equivalent jobs.

A full-time equivalent job is usually defined as 40 hours over a five-day work week, so two 20-hour jobs can count as one full-time job.

Where did that 2,400 number Cuomo hawked come from?

Why, out of his ass, of course.

He made it up.

Just the way he makes a lot of things up.

Cuomo inhabits his own reality, where numbers do things only he can see.

He does the same with his education stats.

Super Bowl Fans Show Affection For New Jersey

Wonder if Christie will get blamed for this too:

A record 27,000 people passed though the Secaucus Junction train station today, turning it into a virtual sauna and prompting shouts of “Jersey sucks” as football fans waited impatiently for trains to MetLife Stadium.

...


The rush on the station left some waiting hours in sweltering heat. Fans reported seeing some people pass out. “New Jersey sucks,” some shouted as they came off the New York trains. Many had peeled off coats and other outer layers of clothing, and were drenched in sweat from the high temperatures in the packed train cars.

As fans arrived at MetLife Stadium from Secaucus Junction they recounted horror stories of unbearable heat and massive crowds.

“Worse than a sauna,” said Jason Leavitt, a Denver resident who spent 2 1/2 hours today riding from New York Penn Station to MetLife Stadium his wife. “There were people passing out.”

And what was the reason for the tie up?

Seems like "security":
 

Security appears to have been a main contributor to the long waits at the transfer station. After passing bomb-sniffing dogs, detection equipment and dozens of police officers, riders waited in line to have their bags and clothing searched.

 At first, security staff were checking every bag, but by 2:45 p.m., more than three hours before the game, checkpoints were overwhelmed by the crowds and people they were pouring through.

Love it - first they're checking every bag, but by a quarter to three everyone's pouring though without anyone getting checked.

Classic stuff.

Glad this thing is over.

Ran to Hoboken yesterday, managed to get through much of downtown Jersey City without hitting any Super Bowl stupidity, although I hit a bit over by the Westin where the Seahawks were staying.

But Hoboken was yahoo central, with lots of people changing trains to get to Secaucus Junction or just getting ready to drink their faces off in one of the Hoboken bars.

Reminded me again why I'm glad I don't watch football anymore.

David Wildstein Ruins Super Bowl Weekend For Chris Christie

Ever since the letter David Wildstein's lawyer sent to the Port Authority alleging that Christie had lied about the GWB lane closures made it into the news on Friday night, Chris Christie has been having a miserable time.

First he had to sneak into Howard Stern's 60th birthday party on Friday so as not to have to respond to questions from the press about the Wildstein memo.

Then yesterday he got booed at a Super Bowl ceremony in Times Square even as the other politicians there seemed to have such a great time:

Mr. Wildstein’s letter came as the governor prepared to celebrate the playing of the Super Bowl in New Jersey.

The governor was booed at a Super Bowl event in Times Square on Saturday, where he sat on stage with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona and Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York. 

While the other three beamed and waved, Mr. Christie looked down. Mr. de Blasio sat next to Mr. Cuomo and punched him playfully throughout the ceremony, and the two giggled.

Ms. Brewer seemed to try to cheer up Mr. Christie. At ceremony’s end, reporters pushed toward the stage and Mr. Christie stepped to the back. When coaxed to the front by Ms. Brewer to pose for a photo, reporters asked Mr. Christie a barrage of questions.

“Governor,” one shouted, “any truth to the allegations?”

Mr. Christie said nothing and walked off the stage behind a giant speaker blaring Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”

Sad Chris Christie - this should be one of the best weekends of his life, with his state hosting the Super Bowl and he serving as its governor.

Instead, he looks like this:

 And this:

Yeah, not having a great weekend, is he?

Judging by how desperate he's gotten in pushing back against Wildstein, I'm betting the next few weeks don't get any better for him.

I wonder if this guy will ever return:

Cuomo Lights $5 Million In Tax Money On Fire For The Super Bowl

The Daily News, Post and Times are always railing about how tax money shouldn't be wasted on municipal employees, that there are better things to spend the money on.

They mean on stuff like this:

New York taxpayers are underwriting several parties in the coming days, including picking up $500,000 of the bill for reporters to eat and drink at a Super Bowl media bash at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan on Tuesday. Taxpayers also furnished $1 million for a vehicle to drive around the metropolitan region to promote the NFL championship game between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks.

And they're paying $2.5 million for fans to "celebrate all things football" in Times Square in the coming days.

The spending comes from $5 million Gov. Andrew Cuomo secured in the state budget for the New York/New Jersey Super Bowl XLVIII Host Committee. The East Rutherford, N.J.-based committee is putting on the NFL championship game Sunday at MetLife Stadium in the Garden State.

$1 million dollars for a vehicle to drive around and promote the most-hyped sports game of the year?

What's the point of that, exactly?

Oh, and $500,000 to fete reporters at a "media bash" at Chelsea Piers on Tuesday.

How come so expensive?

Here's why:

The state's contribution will pick up the tab for a number of things aimed at driving traffic to the Manhattan region, including the media party for more than 5,000 guests, including 3,500 journalists.

Spending $100 per head, the state will corral media members at "an unprecedented platform to feature and promote New York State products purveyors and wineries" with an I Love NY taste station.

Josh Vlasto, Cuomo's chief of staff, said more than 100 vendors that make New York products will be participating in the events; several will be giving out freebies.

Oy.

Cuomo and Company claim that the Super Bowl is bringing in all this extra money to the area, so the tax money expenditures are worth it.

But NJ.com ran a story reporting that the actual economic impact on the metro area from the Super Bowl will be 75% less than what the NFL projected when they were in the process of making the deal to have NYC/NJ host the game.

The article reported that NYC would make out much better than NJ, since NYC was bearing fewer costs and many of the big spenders attending the game would be spending most of their cash in NYC and not, say, Jersey City.

And which businesses were expected to do exceedingly well from the game?

"Strip clubs tend to do well," Matheson said. "I think most of those are locally owned."

Local restaurants and limo services could also capture some of that money and keep it in the local economy.

No word on whether Cuomo is promoting NY strip clubs as part of his "I Love NY" taste station.

In any case, happy Super Bowl week, everybody!

Know that some of your hard-earned tax money is going toward promoting this crap and loading people up on free food and booze.