John Liu has had a bumpy time as New York City Comptroller. Despite doing a solid job of keeping city agencies in check, he has been continually probed and prodded over his campaign money (remember when his 25-year-old Campaign Treasurer was arrested?). So naturally, the Post is now citing sources who say he's preparing to give up his current gig and risk it all on a run for Gracie Mansion (ahem). Good luck with that. more ›

Food prices keep going up, sure, but some of this is absurd! In its second audit this month related to food in the city, the Comptroller's office has called out the Department of Education for not being careful with its food contracts—with costly results [PDF]. Like, for instance, with the distributor who charged the DOE the same amount to deliver cases of "Beef - Gyro Strip" as it did to deliver cheaper and lighter cases of "Eggplant, breaded." And it goes on. After the audit, the Comptroller's office went and smacked down a Department of Education contract that inexplicably jumped $20 million dollars in a year! more ›

Just because John Liu has some campaign cash problems doesn't mean he doesn't have a job to do. Just ask the Parks Department, which just received a scathing audit from the Comptroller's office regarding its handling of concessions [PDF]. Though Parks strongly disagrees with the audit's findings, Liu and co. say that in the past three years the Department has left roughly $8.8 million in additional revenues on the table due to poor planning and mismanagement. The Parks Department's biggest mess-up over the years? Clearly the late Tavern on the Green. more ›

Even though the federal authorities are investigating his campaign finances, even though a fund raiser was arrested, and even though his political future is up in the air, NYC Comptroller John Liu still thinks he's got a shot at being mayor in 2013. He reportedly told a group of Chinese supporters, "I want to run for the highest office in New York City... Of course, there will be many challenges, some expected, some unexpected, on the election road." more ›

Today former state comptroller Alan Hevesi was supposed to be sentenced for "official misconduct," which in his case refers to the time he gave investment firms a chance to manage the billions in NY's pension fund in return for favors for his family, friends and associates. Hevesi faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison, and the judge who was to sentence him gave that maximum sentence last month to Hank Morris, Hevesi’s former political aide. But Hevesi could not be sentenced today, in part because his insides are bleeding. more ›

Last week, in light of an audit by the office of the comptroller, we wondered how long it should take to fix a broken fire hydrant (the audit found it took an average of 18.3 days citywide). And today the Department of Environmental Protection, which runs these things, tells us that the situation has improved something fierce since the audit, which looked at stats through 2009. Since setting a new standard that year, the DEP says they have gotten the average repair time down to seven days citywide, below their internal target of 10 days. Nice! more ›

Fire hydrants are an important part of the urban environment. After all, without them how are fire fighters supposed to fight fires? So you'd think keeping New York's 109,217 fire hydrants in good working order would be a top priority for the DEP (which is in charge of them). And yet a new audit from the comptroller's office would prove you wrong. more ›

After a ban on baked goods, city public schools were left with the option of selling "healthy" treats like Pop Tarts and reduced-fat Doritos for a boost in revenue. Except that isn't exactly working either. Due to a dispute between the Department of Education and the City Comptroller, commissions from at least $540,000 in profits have been kept from the schools. more ›

It's no surprise that taxpayer dollars pay for some ridiculous things. Today, the Post is outraged that the city has spent $3.3 million so far this year on food for workers and guests. The main problem is that city workers are not allowed to expense meals, yet seem to be hiding food under categories like "non-overnight travel expenses." That's right, city officials are being sneaky. more ›

Created on Thursday by City Comptroller John Liu, checkbooknyc.com lets taxpayers discover how their hard earned cash is being spent. For instance, the city has spent $3,771,246.41 this year on office furniture, and Mayor Bloomberg's office spent $5,500 on liquor! The city's law department also spent about $66,000 on car services, about six times as much as City Council staffers. Liu told the Daily News, "The more information we make available to the public, the more built-in incentives all of us in city government have to save taxpayers' money, which has really become more important than ever before." more ›

And the city just keeps getting better for men! According to a study released by City Comptroller John Liu's office last week, New York is one of the best places for men with college degrees to make money before they turn 30. Young men here typically earn $256,000 more over their lifetimes than peers in other parts of the country. They also tend to blow all that extra cash on Jägerbombs in Murray Hill. more ›

After gradually emerging out from under his scandal rock, former Governor Eliot Spitzer has stepped fully into the spotlight, with a sprawling profile in today's Times and the forthcoming issue of Fortune. The magazine interview, by Peter Elkind, is timed with the release of his new book on Spitzer, Rough Justice: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. In Fortune, Spitzer says a run for office in 2010 is "hard to see," but he also wants everyone to know this: "I've never said I would never consider running for office again." more ›

Gov. Paterson's controversial selection of a politically-connected casino company to operate slot machines at the Aqueduct Racetrack could delay a payment of $300 million to the state—widening the Albany budget shortfall to more than $2 billion as the fiscal year nears its end. "For at least five years, the state has counted on revenue from an Aqueduct deal to balance the budget," said Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. "We're still waiting to collect." more ›

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli thinks he's found a hidden pocket of funds that may help solve city schools' financial woes—problem is the money's locked away tight where no one can get to it. An audit revealed $615 million reserved for school employees to get accrued sick and leave time when they leave their jobs that, through some sort of mix-up, can't be accessed. more ›

Since taking office just 12 days ago, Comptroller John Liu hasn't just established a new code of decorum forcing staffers to rise from their seats when he enters the room and call him "Mr. Comptroller" — he's also eliminated dress-down Fridays! The Post reports that Liu — dubbed "King Liuy" by the tabloid — has nixed casual Fridays and ordered that workers arrive by 8 am, not 9 am. more ›

New city comptroller John Liu takes his job seriously — so seriously in fact that he requires his staffers to rise from their chairs when he enters the room and refer to him as "Mr. Comptroller." Liu introduced the mandatory formalities in meetings last week, and they already have "veteran denizens of the Municipal Building snickering behind his back," according to the Post. more ›

Well, that didn't take long at all. Just two months after he lost in a closer-than-expected race against Mayor Bloomberg, former city comptroller Bill Thompson says he will run for the city's highest office again. Despite rumors he would take on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, or run for state comptroller, Thompson told the Times: "I am not running for office this year; it is my intention to run for mayor in 2013." more ›

On the same day that Mayor Bloomberg celebrated his inaugural, his biggest adversaries began their terms with some harsh words for his administration. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu — who both are apparently already being considered as Democratic candidates for Mayor in 2013 — took Bloomberg to task during their inauguration speeches, setting a strongly adversarial tone for the Mayor's third term. more ›

The Rent is Too Damn High Party just cannot catch a break. Besides being shockingly omitted from last night's debate, Mayoral candidate Jimmy McMillan has had to stand by and watch the Board of Elections cut the d-word from his party's name, stripping it of all its cachet. And now an internal rift in the party has forced McMillan to turn his back on the Rent Is Too Damn High nominee for comptroller—and instead endorse his Democratic rival. more ›

Following this weekend's crash, the carriage horse debate surfaces in the headlines once again. CityRoom takes a look at the status of the industry after two years of getting audited by the city comptroller's office. They note that while certain things have improved, "the two agencies that oversee the business have acted too slowly in putting reforms into effect." more ›

According to the results going up at NY1, Bill Thompson scored a landslide victory over his opponents in the race for the Democratic mayoral nomination, leading Tony Avella by more than fifty percent. In other races, it looks like no one has reached the coveted 40% mark for Public Advocate or Comptroller— so you can look forward to a run-off election on September 29th. John Liu is currently in the lead for the Comptroller nod, with 38% to David Yassky's 30%. And in a surprising upset, Bill de Blasio has a 2% lead over Mark Green in the Public Advocate race, with 95% of the precincts reporting. In the battle for Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, D.A. Robert Morgenthau's preferred successor, easily beat Leslie Crocker Snyder 43% to 30%. In City Council race news, Alan Gerson appears to have lost District 1 to Margaret Chin, and Steve Levin seems to have scored a victory over a crowded field in District 33, which represents parts of Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint. More tomorrow! more ›

Payouts from the NYPD in settlements and judgments soared during the last fiscal year, according to a report from Comptroller William Thompson detailing the city's payouts. Overall, the city paid $567.9 million as a result of lawsuits, an increase of about 2% over the previous time period. But the NYPD's payouts increased 11% percent, to $102.8 during fiscal year 2008, which ended September 30th. Of that amount, $35.2 million was paid in settlements over charges of improper police action, up 40% over the previous year. more ›

New York City's budget gap will be as much as $1.9 billion in fiscal 2009 and could possibly balloon to as much as $5 billion by 2011, according to a wholly depressing new report from City Comptroller (and mayoral hopeful) William Thompson Jr. Is it okay to just go back to bed and pretend this isn't happening? Certainly, but the report's disheartening data will still be there tomorrow morning: The recession could cost the city some $935 million in tax revenues next year, a figure that includes a $525 million shortfall in real estate-related taxes, a $345 million reduction in personal income and business taxes, and a $65 million loss in property taxes. more ›

NYC comptroller William Thompson is proposing that the city plug the MTA's budget gap by raising automobile registration fees in the 12 counties served by the MTA’s trains and buses. If passed by the State Legislature, his plan would require drivers in the city and surrounding counties to pay $100 a year to register their vehicles. (The city currently charges $30 every two years.) According to the Times, drivers with vehicles weighing more than 2,300 pounds would have to pay an additional 9 cents per pound. By that measure, owners of Lincoln Navigators, which weigh in at 6,000 lbs., would owe the city $450 per year. Thompson says the revenue could add up to about $1 billion per year and serve as an alternative to the MTA's "devastating" budget proposal announced last week. more ›