Mission

The New York City Transparency Working Group supports efforts to use Information Technology to make New York City government more open and accountable, and to get the greatest public value from the city's wealth of digital information. The nycTWG is co-chaired by Gene Russianoff of NYPIRG and John Kaehny of Reinvent Albany.

Member organizations of the NYC Transparency Working Group work collaboratively to improve transparency of city government, but may not all endorse each position statement, correspondence, or policy proposal contained on this website. Please refer to individual statements or for the list of organizations which endorsed the positions or proposals contained in each document or page.

NYC Reforms, Opens Subcontractor Reporting System

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Today, New York City became the first municipality in the country to create a public database of subcontractors. In addition to recording payments to prime contractors, now subcontractors are recorded and tracked, and all this information is public. NYC Comptroller Liu’s office issued this press release, quoting TWG Co-Chairs Gene Russianoff and John Kaehny:

“New Yorkers will be getting a much more complete picture of how contractors and subcontractors are spending their tax dollars, thanks to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Comptroller John Liu,” said Gene Russianoff, senior attorney for the New York Public Interest Research Group.

 

“Congratulations to Mayor Bloomberg and Comptroller Liu,” said John Kaehny, Executive Director of Reinvent Albany and Co-Chair of the NYC Transparency Working Group. “Digitizing and reporting subcontractor payments is a huge leap forward in accountability and transparency. Though somewhat dry and esoteric, this new reporting system has big implications for reducing corruption and improving efficiency, and when fully in place, will make New York City one of the most fiscally transparent cities in the world. When the subcontractor data is put into the Checkbook NYC platform, it will become instantly available for the rest of government and the public to use.”

Governor Launches Open Budget NY

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Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the launch of OpenBudget.ny.gov, a new website that provides unprecedented access and transparency to New York’s budget. Open Budget’s easy-to-use tools, charts, and information are available to the public today in coordination with the Governor’s Executive Budget address.

Open Budget is a first step in Open New York, an initiative outlined in the Governor’s 2013 State of the State address, which will use technology to promote transparency, improve government performance, and enhance citizen engagement.

“Open Budget is bringing the people back into government by taking budget data out of government file cabinets and making it available to the public for the first time in an easy-to-access, downloadable form. This will facilitate research, analysis, and innovation,” Governor Cuomo said. “As a first step in my Open New York initiative, Open Budget provides a powerful tool for transparency and accountability, fostering citizen engagement and enhancing the public’s trust in government.”