Former NYC Mayor De Blasio Hid Ferry Costs

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio fudged the numbers to hide that his administration poured almost $225 million into the city’s costly ferry system, while taxpayers subsidized $14.57 for each ride as passengers paid just $2.75 each.

The New York Post reported on those key findings from a recent audit released by city Comptroller Brad Lander.

De Blasio also wasted $66 million — including $34 million in “questionable vessel acquisition costs” — due to bad decisions by the officials in charge of the city’s Economic Development Corp., the 50-page report said.

While the EDC said it spent $534 million to operate the ferries for six and a half years ending last year, auditors found at least $758.5 million in ferry-related expenditures — a $224.5 million difference, Lander said.

The hidden spending, which included personnel costs and payments to vendors and, used $181 million in capital spending and $43.5 million in operating expenses, “obfuscating the actual cost of the NYC Ferry system,” according to the audit.

“If you just magically put your capital expenses below the line, you don’t have to show them — even though effectively it’s the same total set of costs in the system,” Lander said during a news conference at the NYC Ferry terminal in Manhattan’s Financial District, The Post reported.

De Blasio’s accounting gimmicks are the taxpayers’ loss, as they continue to pay for his administration’s ill-fated projects.

The #WasteOfTheDay is presented by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com