ALBANY — Two months after President Obama signed the massive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and sent billions of dollars in stimulus aid to Albany, New York has yet to see a single new job.
As of last week, Gov. Paterson had spent $1.8 billion and pledged another $11 billion of the state’s $25 billion stimulus share, largely to fund surging public-assistance programs and help school districts, local governments, health facilities — and the state itself — cope with huge deficits.
Most agree the money has helped avert some layoffs, such as the 5,000 city school staffers spared the ax by Mayor Bloomberg after the stimulus allowed Paterson to restore much of his proposed education cuts.
But more than 60 days since the stimulus package became law, construction workers have yet to turn a spade on any of the shovel-ready projects on the 775-page list compiled by Paterson’s special Economic Recovery Cabinet.