Cuomo’s $15M film studio sells for $1

The Central New York Film Hub was supposed to shine a spotlight on Syracuse and bring 350 new jobs, but not all dreams come true in show business, let alone in politics.

The idea for the hub came from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but after the executives and producers his administration selected became embroiled in scandal, the $15 million state-of-the-art facility became a political hot potatoe that, on Friday, was gifted to a new local entity for the symbolic price of $1, as the New York Times reported. To date, only two full-time jobs were created as a result of the studio’s construction.

Among the string of lawsuits that seem to plague those involved in the project, builder COR Development is suing the state for back rent it claims to be owed, while two of COR’s executives and the former president of the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, Alain Kaloyeros, were charged with federal bid-rigging, according to the Times.

Though Cuomo has not been implicated, his association and earlier support of those accused has been seized upon by his political opponents against his re-election campaign.  [NYT] — Erin Hudson