OPINION: A tax break for the stars
There is something about hearing “Live from New York,” or something to that effect, on TV. Or seeing the New York City skyline as the backdrop on an iconic talk show. Or having stars like Angelina Jolie, Ryan Gosling, Jack Nicholson, Daniel Day Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman tread the same ground as we mere mortals. It does a New Yorker proud.
And, yet, we’d venture that more than a few New Yorkers winced at the news that “The Late Show” will stay in New York when Stephen Colbert takes over as host next year — with the help of up to $16 million in taxpayer-supported tax credits and grants.
Prestige isn’t quite the same when you have to pay for it, is it? Especially when it’s your tax dollars, going to a successful TV show and a network that posted a record year last year — $3.2 billion in operating income on revenues of almost $15.3 billion.