I could understand if these were 50" OLED displays or something… but alas, “I <3 NY”
Heard it on the radio today, this is the first link I found.
The first question Consumer Investigator Jennifer Lewke asked was: “Governor Paterson, do you think spending $900,000 on temporary signs is a wise investment of taxpayer dollars?”
“I’m not even going to discuss with you whether or not I think it’s a good idea, I’m just going to do it the way they said so that the money keeps coming,” Paterson responded.
Consumer Investigator Jennifer Lewke then asked the Governor, “Why are we spending $5,000 a sign, when other states are spending $500?”
“From where you’re standing, which way is Washington? Ask them, that is a federal requirement and we are in compliance with them.” Paterson responded.
Although Paterson said the signs were required, Senator Chuck Schumer, Congressman Dan Maffei and the U.S. Department of Transportation all say these signs are “highly encouraged” but not mandatory.
“We certainly never encouraged the signs to cost $5,000 a piece – that’s a real problem, since other states are much much less,” says Maffei.