(WSJ) — While Gov. David Paterson has declared that New York is facing an “unprecedented fiscal crisis,” the state has paid out millions of dollars to local nonprofit groups—including $28,500 for a tennis league, $11,000 for a lighthouse museum and $2,700 for a curling club—in grants that critics deride as pork-barrel spending.
In the month of April, after the deadline for passing a state budget lapsed, Albany sent out checks totaling about $6.5 million to reimburse the expenses of hundreds of groups that supporters say provide vital community services, including programs that help the elderly and the disabled, according to state data.