Culture Chronicle

Report Sees Corruption in State-Financed Institute
The New York Times - April 20, 2010
By Danny Hakim

An obscure upstate theater group that receives far more state aid than any of New York's world-renowned cultural institutions is rife with corruption, mismanagement, nepotism and possibly illegal conduct, according to a scathing report released on Tuesday by the state inspector general's office. The 127-page report accuses Patricia Snyder, the longtime artistic director of the group, the New York State Theater Institute, of improperly using state money to enrich herself and her family, while the institute's board and its chairman, David W. Morris, looked the other way or claimed ignorance. The report charges that Ms. Snyder treated the group as a personal fief: routinely doling out acting roles, directing jobs, production work and other benefits to herself and her family members. Ms. Snyder steered a total of more than $700,000 in payments to her husband, her two sons, her two daughters-in-law and to herself, the report said. For the full article, click here