New York state taxpayers spent $1.5 million to keep the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island open during the recent partial federal government shutdown, and more than $52,000 for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s inauguration ceremony on Ellis Island.
The state spent about $65,000 a day to keep the Ellis Island immigration hall and the statue, which stands on nearby Liberty Island, open from Dec. 22 to Jan. 14 during the partial shutdown, according to Jason Conwall, a Cuomo administration spokesman. The expenditure, he said, promoted tourism at the popular sites, and some of the funds will be reimbursed.
For his New Year’s Day address, Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat in his third term, invited about 1,000 people—including lawmakers, business and labor leaders, lobbyists and clergy—to the Great Hall on Ellis Island. Republican leaders in the state Legislature didn’t attend, their representatives said, adding that they aren’t aware of any GOP legislators participating in the event.
Read more at Wall Street Journal.
{Matzav.com}
