Marvel is doubling down on New York as a filming site for its super hero adventures.<\/b>
\nALBANY \u2014 Two mighty forces have teamed up to flex economic muscle \u2014 Marvel and New York State.
As part of an agreement announced Monday by Gov. Cuomo, the comic book giant will produce an additional 75 episodes of its Netflix offerings, including its \u00ab\u00a0Marvel’s The Defenders\u00a0\u00bb miniseries, in New York.
The new episodes are an extension of a deal that Marvel Television, which is part of The Walt Disney Company, Netflix and the Cuomo administration first announced in 2014. The original pact called for just 60 episodes to be filmed in New York, administration officials said.
\u00ab\u00a0New York is home to world-class entertainment talent and opportunities, and this historic commitment from Disney and Marvel Television studios underscores our position as the film and television capital of the world, \u00a0\u00bb Cuomo said.
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In addition to Marvel’s \u00ab\u00a0The Defenders, \u00a0\u00bb shows that will be shot in New York include \u201cDaredevil, \u201d \u201cJessica Jones, \u201d \u201cLuke Cage, \u201d \u201cIron Fist, \u201d and a new series entitled \u201cThe Punisher.\u201d
Cuomo hailed the announcement as a success for the state’s film production tax credit, which offers refundable tax credits to film and television production companies that operate in the state. The program costs taxpayers $420 million annually.
\u201cThese productions will result in thousands of new hires and infuse our economy as we continue our momentum across the state, \u201d Cuomo said.
Fiscal watchdogs, however, have blasted the credit as an unnecessary subsidy to the entertainment industry.
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\u201cNew York already is an attractive location to production companies, \u201d said E. J. McMahon, research director at the Empire Center for Public Policy.
McMahon said the money would be better spent on other priorities, such as mass transit.
\u201cThere is an opportunity cost, \u201d McMahon said. \u201cIf some of the billions that have been spent over the years on the film and tax credit were spent instead on upgrading the subway\u2019s signal system, this might have been the cool summer instead of the summer of hell.\u201d
Cuomo administration officials argue the program has sparked $17 billion in economic activity and created more than one million jobs since Cuomo took office in 2011.<\/p>\n

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