Empire Outlets mall gets another $20M from the state

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Empire Outlets has received another $20 million in a state grant for improvements to the Staten Island Railway and to protect against storm surge, and comes shortly after a developer for the project donated to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's campaign.

Politico first reported the grant, which comes on top of another $47 million the St. George shopping mall previously received, both of which were approved by the Empire State Development -- ESD -- after developer Joseph Ferrara made donations to Cuomo.