Welcome to New York City’s most impressive disappearing act yet. Following our previous exposés of fiscal acrobatics and car service extravaganzas, we present something remarkable: $4.2 billion of taxpayer money that’s simply vanished from public view.
In what could be called innovative municipal recordkeeping, New York City has classified an astounding $4,201,873,479.51 under the vendor code “N/A (Privacy/Security)” in 2023. Of this impressive sum, $4,131,414,624.59 lists its purpose as “blank” – presumably because even “N/A” felt too specific. The remaining $70,458,854.92 gets the slightly more descriptive purpose of “N/A,” for those times when someone felt compelled to write something.
A sum of $4.2 billion is almost too massive to comprehend, let alone cover in a single post. So, let’s start small – with our borough presidents, whose modest contributions to this trend are particularly telling. After all, if routine expenses like office supplies and travel can be deemed too sensitive for public disclosure, what hope do we have of understanding the billions classified elsewhere? These smaller examples reveal a culture of opacity that has trickled down from the highest levels of city government to the most mundane of expenses.
Borough President Antonio Reynoso leads with $135,827.35 in classified spending. His office’s signature move? Converting $124,515 into “Professional Services Other” – a category that explains nothing while saying something. They’ve also managed to make $5,388 worth of books disappear from public scrutiny.
Vanessa Gibson’s office presents $30,680.41 in mysterious expenditures, including $13,618 in travel expenses to undisclosed locations. The destinations remain as mysterious as the purposes.
Under Donovan Richards Jr.’s watch, Queens contributes $13,345.20 in classified spending, featuring $9,100 in “Temporary Services.” The nature of these temporary services remains, appropriately, temporary.
Mark Levine keeps it modest with $6,358.10 in classified expenses, including an intriguing -$3.50 credit. Even refunds, it seems, can be confidential.
These are the hypocrites who want to abolish parking mandates.
But these borough-level activities are merely a prelude to the city’s larger production. Consider $4.2 billion – enough to fund significant public works – simply marked as confidential. More impressively, they’ve managed to make the purposes disappear as well.
When the purpose of $4.1 billion of spending is classified as “blank,” it raises questions about the very nature of public disclosure. The remaining $70 million marked “N/A” almost seems quaint in comparison.
