Suit over Cuo’s secret $247M ad spending

An advocacy group with ties to President Trump is suing the Cuomo administration, saying it has refused to disclose how the state spent $247 million in advertising for his pet economicdevelopment programs.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court by Reclaim New York, says the Empire State Development Corp. has stalled or denied legal requests for the information.

The group was cofounded by ex-White House adviser Steve Bannon and is funded by Trump donor Rebekah Mercer.

“No administration may spend hundreds of millions of tax dollars on glitzy promotions without basic public disclosure of how and why those dollars were used,” said Brandon Muir, Reclaim New York’s executive director.

The ads tout Cuomo’s pet programs under the economic-development agency — including Masterbrand, Taste NY, START-UP NY, NY Rising and several state-tourism initiatives.

Cuomo’s office recently refused to disclose how much it spent to run ads touting his executive order urging New Yorkers to pay their 2018 property taxes last month in order to avoid a loss of federal deductions.

A spokesman defended the Empire State Development Corp.’s work to “attract new businesses while ensuring New York compa- nies understand what is available from the state to help grow their businesses.”

The spokesman, Jason Conwall, accused Reclaim New York of “playing politics,” calling the group a “shadowy, Mercer-funded, ultra-right-wing front masquerading as a good-government group.”